The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000, to give PSVAR its full name is a piece of legislation which prescribes accessibility requirements for public service vehicles, i.e. coaches and buses etc.  Since the regulations’ inception in 2000 the general position has been that all new buses and coaches designed to carry more than 22 passengers used on local or scheduled services have been required to be fully accessible in accordance with the terms specified in the regulations.  Initially vehicles manufactured before October 2000 were exempt but the legislation was drafted in such a way as to allow for a staged roll-out of the regulations for older vehicles at set dates, the last one of which was on 1st January 2020 (see our article here to refresh your knowledge).  After this date only School to Home services (“STH”) and Rail Replacement services (“RR”) were exempt from the regulations, with a date of 31st March 2022 set for both STH and RR services to be included under the regulatory umbrella.

But, in December 2021 Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Transport Minister for Roads, Buses and Places) wrote to the Chief Executives of the Bus & Coach Trade Bodies, the Association of Transport Co-Ordinating Officers and the Rail Delivery Group  expressing her wish to ensure that disabled people can travel as easily as non-disabled passengers on coaches and buses, but acknowledging that when the regulations expire on 31stMarch 2022 the “lack of clarity on what will follow them could prevent local authorities, schools and colleges from making plans for the remainder of the current academic year”.  She therefore proposed extending the exemptions to 31st July 2022, but reminded all operators who are still using vehicles subject to the Regulations but unable to comply with them that they must be covered by a further exemption to operate such services, or be adapted to be compliant.  

Exemption Extension:

The extension of the exemption is applicable to operators with coaches that are non-compliant or partially compliant with PSVAR 2000 which are used to provide either or both of the following services:

  • A rail replacement (RR) service, transporting passengers to their destination when train services cannot run.

The deadline for applying for an exemption extension depends on whether you offer both services or just one or the other;  

  • For fleets providing both RR and HTS services the deadline is 17th May 2022; and
  • Your contact details
  • The vehicle identification number (VIN) for each vehicle in your fleet (whether it is PSVAR compliant or not)