The Transport Act 1985 was an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It introduced privatised and deregulated bus services throughout

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and came into effect in October of 1986. The Act was created as a response to growing concern about the environmental effect the private transportation was having and the public's objection to an increase in

road construction A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

. The Act was introduced by Nicholas Ridley and it committed to reduce the amount the public paid for commercial objects. This was achieved by reducing the control governments had of bus systems and reducing the subsidies to bus companies. The Conservative government also believed the removal of

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

and local government control would lead to an increase in competition between companies. The deregulation of Buses applied throughout Great Britain, excluding bus services in Greater

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and was led by the

Conservative government Conservative or Tory government may refer to: Canada In Canadian politics, a Conservative government may refer to the following governments administered by the Conservative Party of Canada or one of its historical predecessors: * 1st Canadian Mi ...

. Public transport remains under direct public control in Northern Ireland.

Deregulation and Elimination of Barriers

Proposal

In 1984 a proposal to deregulate local bus services was published in the white paper ''Buses'' and in more detailed consultation papers. Part I of the Act brought these proposals into effect. Deregulation, elimination of barriers, and the transfer to the private sector were some of the major changes the Act established. Privatisation and

bus deregulation Bus deregulation in Great Britain was the abolition of Road Service Licensing outside of Greater London for bus services. This began in 1980 with the abolition of Road Service Licensing for long-distance bus services and was extended into local ...

came into effect on 26 October 1986. Local authorities were required to transfer their municipally-owned bus services to separate companies. Although most of these companies have since been

privatised Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

, with the exception of

Lothian Buses Lothian Buses is a major bus operator based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is the largest municipal bus company in the United Kingdom: the City of Edinburgh Council (through Transport for Edinburgh) owns 91%, Midlothian Council 5%, East Lothian ...

in Edinburgh; a few other

municipal bus companies A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom. Most municipal bus companies disappeared between 1968 and 1974 before (o ...

remain today. The Act also mandated that

local governments Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

publish statements of their own policies for bus services deemed socially vital that were not operated by commercial companies.

London

London faced a different type of deregulation. The standard deregulation that applied to other cities in the United Kingdom was not applied to bus services in Greater London; instead, the Act brought about a system of franchised routes operated by private companies but managed by

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

Ltd. This meant that, although the bus companies in London were

, London's government still retained the ability to regulate the companies. At the time the Act was put into place, the London bus companies were governed by the

London Regional Transport Act 1984 The London Regional Transport Act 1984 (1984 c. 32) was an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which created the statutory corporation named London Regional Transport. It received royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monar ...

Transport Act 1985: Deregulation (Part I)

Part I of the Act

eradicate The word "Eradication" is derived from Latin word "radix" which means "root". It may refer to: *Eradication of infectious diseases (human), the reduction of the global incidence of an infectious disease in humans to zero *Eradication of infectiou ...

d, excluding London, the need for the required road service licence throughout the

. Part I replaced service licensing with a system of registration. This caused licensing authorities losing many of their powers and made it possible for operators to register new routes. For an operator to register a new route the licensed operator had to supply the traffic commissioner with information of the proposed route, the timeline for the trip, stopping arrangements, the

vehicles A vehicle (from la, vehiculum) is a machine that transports people or cargo. Vehicles include wagons, bicycles, motor vehicles (motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, mobility scooters for disabled people), railed vehicles (trains, trams), wate ...

to be used, and the terminal points. In accordance with the Act the traffic commissioner had to received the registration at least 42 days prior to when the route is to be run. It was mandatory for the notice to go through the

traffic commissioner The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain are responsible for the licensing and regulation of the operators of heavy goods vehicles, buses and coaches, and the registration of local bus services in Great Britain. History The Road Traffic Ac ...

for a licensed

bus operator This is a list of the world's bus operating companies listed by country, with countries placed alphabetically by continent and country. Wherever possible, each country's bus operating companies are divided by the nature of their operations. Opera ...

to operate. After approval, the operator was required to run the route according to the specifications provided in the registration. Deregulation also led to firms being able to charge any fares they wish, run routes, and freely enter and leave the market. This was accomplished by reducing the amount of subsidies local governments could provide for services.

Transport Act 1985: Privatisation (Part II)

Privatisation proposals were put forth to change the structure of the bus industry. The bus industry was managed mainly by

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, infra ...

companies in the years prior to 1985.

Privatisation Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

was introduced by the

as a way to achieve better access to private capital and more committed management. In order to achieve this goal, the Conservative government made it so local governments could only provide subsidies for services and prohibited subsidies that would promote low fares.

Aftermath

The Act changed how bus services were run in the

. The Act introduced the largest change in the framework of bus services in over five decades and it replaced the prior publicly owned and highly regulated bus service with a largely competitive commercial system. Additionally, the removal of

made it so different firms had to bid on the right to operate with subsidized services.

References

{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1985 1985 in transport Bus transport in the United Kingdom Transport policy in the United Kingdom Economic liberalization History of transport in the United Kingdom Transport legislation Privatisation in the United Kingdom