Summary
The Department for Transport's guidance to operators on the 2023 regulations that require audible and visible next-stop information on local buses and coaches in Great Britain, including an induction loop at priority seats and wheelchair spaces.
Key findings
- Under the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023, local bus and coach services in England, Scotland and Wales must give route, upcoming stop, termination and diversion information in audio and visual form. Vehicles first used from 1 October 2019 must comply by 1 October 2024, those first used from 1 October 2014 by 1 October 2025, and those first used from 1 January 1973 by 1 October 2026.
- Says relevant information "must be made available to someone that uses a hearing aid in conjunction with an audio frequency induction loop ... when they are seated in a priority seat or wheelchair space", and that further information given beyond the legal minimum should also be available through the loop.
- Recommends working with suppliers to avoid audio interference, and a schedule for regularly testing the loop "because its operation may not be apparent to a driver or engineer who does not use a compatible hearing aid". Signs next to priority seats and wheelchair spaces should show the loop symbol with a T.
- Suggests operators consider an additional, separate induction loop so that passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing can talk with the driver when boarding or alighting, signed as available, and says audible advertisements should not be sent through the loop.
- Says that making passengers use their smartphones does not by itself meet the law, because relevant information must be provided on board and be available to any passenger; it notes that the share of disabled people with smartphones remains significantly lower than in the population as a whole.
- Sets announcement volume at least 3 dB above the measured ambient level at any seat or wheelchair space, with a maximum of 84 dB.
- The regulations themselves (SI 2023/715, regulations 12 and 13) require information in both audio and visual form, require audio information to be capable of being heard by a hearing aid user in a priority seat or wheelchair space, define the loop as one usable with "a working telecoil hearing aid", and say an operator "must not require passengers to use a personal electronic device" to receive relevant information, without defining that term.
- Neither the guidance nor the regulations mention Bluetooth or Auracast.
- The vehicle-age timetable separates first use on or after 1 October 2019 (application from 1 October 2024), 1 October 2014 to 30 September 2019 (from 1 October 2025), and 1 January 1973 to 30 September 2014 (from 1 October 2026). Vehicles qualifying for the guidance's separate status for partially equipped vehicles have an application date of 1 October 2031.
- The sections on existing information systems and implementation dates allow vehicles meeting specified audio and visual conditions from 1 October 2023 until 1 October 2031 to meet the remaining requirements, including regulation 13 on audible information and the loop. The minibus exemption depends on design capacity (16 or fewer passengers); the heritage exemption is tied to first use before 1 January 1973.
- The Using websites and apps passage says required information must be provided onboard and available to any passenger; it does not limit this to priority seats or wheelchair spaces. The existing-information-system transition lists regulations 8(2), 10, 11, 13 and 14, with specified exceptions, rather than the general onboard-information duty.
Limits
Guidance on regulations, read from the HTML version updated on 17 October 2024 (a change adding a temporary exemption for rail replacement coaches). The loop duty covers priority seats and wheelchair spaces, not the whole vehicle, and the guidance names no loop performance standard. Exemptions include services using vehicles designed for 16 or fewer passengers, qualifying excursions and tours, vehicles first used before 1 January 1973, and demand-responsive transport; some existing information systems have a further transition period to 2031. The regulations themselves (SI 2023/715, made 27 June 2023) were read only for the clauses summarised in the findings.
Read the original
Cited in
- What works for announcements and ticket counters on buses, trains, stations and airports?Partly answered
Cite this source
Department for Transport. Providing accessible information onboard local bus and coach services. GOV.UK. 26 April 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/providing-accessible-information-onboard-local-bus-and-coach-services/providing-accessible-information-onboard-local-bus-and-coach-services (accessed 13 October 2026).
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