New buses boost but old rules dog community transport

Halesworth - The Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin MP stopped by this small Suffolk market town today on his way to open a new road in Lowestoft to announce that Halesworth Area Community Transport (HACT) had been successful in its application to the £25 million Community Transport Vehicle Fund for a new 16 seat minibus.

HACT had applied in January 2015 for funding for a 16 seat coach-built
disabled accessible vehicle to replace their only one available for hire to schools and
community groups which can be driven on a Category B (normal car) license. The new vehicle will also be used to train drivers to achieve their MiDAS certification. HACT's other vehicles are over the weight limit for a 

HACT very successfully operates a scheduled Section 22 service (the 511  Halesworth Hoppa) which is a lifeline to people in Halesworth and Holton. It  also provides Section 19 services to many local groups. 

For over four years, HACT has lobbied the Secretary of State and other officials about the challenge to community  transport operators of a dwindling supply of volunteers who can drive 16  passenger minibuses over the MAM limit on a car license ( D1 entitlement). Otherwise the operators need to invest at least £2000 (which is unsecurable from a volunteer) in  training for each volunteer to pass a PSV. 

The DfT has responded to suggestions to make the PSV test free of charge to CTOs that it gives them an unfair advantage over commercial operators.

In April 2013 Sue Jay, the chair of Suffolk Community Transport, took the  opportunity of a visit to Suffolk by the Department for Transport's chief  civil servant Graham Pendlebury to advise him that this licensing burden is  hampering the recruitment of volunteer drivers. The Community Transport Association has also advised its members that faced with this challenge, they should switch to using smaller and lighter minibuses for  their fleets - advice HACT has evidently heeded.

The CTA told the DfT that "D1 (issue) must be the top of  the heap for policy change" when the DfT was consulting on how the European  Union helps or hampers transport in the UK. The DfT then put the question to the CTA, given that D1 is EU  legislation, "what room does the DfT have to create a solution?" 

HACT  considers the simplest solution is to make an exception to raise the MAM  weight limit for community buses with volunteer drivers operating a section  22 route because the drivers (with MiDAS certification) would be familiar  with their vehicles and the regular scheduled routes and this was a very  different safety scenario to a school or community group using a minibus on  a one-off trip. HACT considers the UK members of the European Parliament  must present that proposal to the EU. 

Though they need lightweight vehicles for Section 19 services; a fleet of them would greatly limit  HACT's service flexibility and would also negatively impact its revenue opportunities. With an average of 60 passengers per day in Halesworth, community  transport operators like HACT could not meet passenger demand with 8  passenger minibuses without a huge decrease in hard-won efficiency. HACT  must use 16 passenger vehicles to meet present demand on a 50 mile daily  route (4 to 5 cycles) within its resources of vehicles and volunteer  staffing. Heavier vehicles are essential as a 16 passenger  coach-built vehicle is a much more accessible, efficient, versatile and comfortable vehicle than a smaller (and so lighter) van conversion. HACT's passenger cost per mile is still a  place where no commercial operator dares to tread without some form of  subsidy.