What national guidance applies to the use or withdrawal of request-stop and hail-and-ride arrangements on rural bus services, including wha…

Under the Transport Act 1985 local bus services, which includes request stops and hail-and-ride arrangements must be registered with the Office of the Traffic Commissioner. The registration of services is devolved and subject to the Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2001. To ensure that all operators are adhering with the regulatory regime, the Office of the Traffic Commissioner produced a guide entitled “Local Bus Services Registration in Scotland: Guide for Operators”, which sets out the procedures for the registration, variation or cancellation of local services.As part of the regulatory process, operators are required to provide notice of their intention to vary or cancel services to the relevant local authorities in whose area the services have stopping places. This advance notice gives authorities the opportunity to consider whether to take action to support services where they consider them to be socially necessary.In 2024, Transport Scotland published Best Practice Guidance on Community Engagement, which was developed in collaboration with local authorities, passenger representatives and operators, and sets an expectation that communities should be consulted on changes to bus services. However, there is no statutory requirement for operators to consult passengers or local communities about proposed service changes. Operators must, however, give notice of such changes by displaying the relevant information on board vehicles for a minimum of 21 days.