What's New

The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has told operators that they will be able to report serious incidents with greater ease through a new online form available on computer, tablet or smartphone. After working with the industry, it has created the new PSV112 form which can be found — here.

Measuring carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from commercial road transport only at the tailpipe, depending on the region, could double the true carbon picture in future fuel scenarios. This is the view of the International Road Transport Union (IRU) which argues that heavy-duty commercial vehicles, including coaches and trucks, emit just 950 million tonnes of CO2 annually at the tailpipe, using the tank-to-wheel standard, about 2.5% of global emissions.

Representing over 20,000 bus workers in London, Unite the union has strongly welcomed a decision by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to order a moratorium on bus operators in the capital introducing remote sign on procedures.

The roadmap is on track and easements planned for 12 April can go ahead, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed.

Up to £120 million will be made available through a new scheme which will allow local transport authorities to bid for funding to purchase zero-emission buses in order to reduce the carbon emissions from their local public transport and improve air quality.

Planned to start in June 2021, Irish Ferries will introduce a new service on the Dover–Calais route when it transfers the Isle of Inishmore to the route. Additional capacity will be added in the following months.

The Public Transport Ticketing Scheme Block Exemption specifies that certain forms of agreement between transport operators are exempt from the prohibition on anticompetitive agreements in the Competition Act 1998.

Innovative green projects creating the next generation of electric trucks and hydrogen-powered buses are set to secure nearly 10,000 UK jobs and save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions. This is the prediction of the Business Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, who is making over £54 million available for projects including hydrogen fuel cells for buses, and lightweight structures for electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).

An independent review into the deaths of London bus drivers from Covid-19, led by the UCL Institute of Health Equity (IHE), finds an earlier national lockdown could have saved lives. Available — here, the report notes that 22 out of the 27 drivers who died had ceased work by 3 April, meaning their infection would probably have been contracted pre-lockdown.

Drivers who are members of Unite, the UK’s largest union, have been advised to stop driving if their bus becomes overcrowded, in order to prevent the transmission of Covid-19.