Local bus services registrations within the West of England
From Monday 1 May 2023, the Traffic Commissioner’s Office has delegated bus service registration powers for services within the West of England Enhanced Partnership area to the West of England Combined Authority.
This means that for local bus services that operate wholly within the West of England Area (i.e. Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire) the West of England Combined Authority is now the Bus Services Registration Authority and bus registrations applications must be submitted via the new West of England Bus Registrations Authority (WEBRA) system.
For bus services that operate within the West of England Partnership Area but travel to or from neighbouring authority areas, registrations must continue to be submitted to the relevant Office of the Traffic Commissioner (OTC).
It is important to note that this gives the West of England Combined Authority and the Traffic Commissioner power to reject any registrations that do not meet a requirement set out in the West of England Enhanced Partnership.
Local Bus Service Registrations data
- All local bus registration applications received in periods of 7 days (also known as Notices & Proceedings on the Traffic Commissioner's website)
- A record of all registration applications received by the West of England Combined Authority since 1 May 2023
- All active bus service registrations processed by the West of England Combined Authority
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Bus services changes schedule
From January 2024, bus operators can only submit bus registration applications to the West of England Bus Registrations Authority to operate a new service, change or cancel an existing service*, twice a year – in line with the West of England Enhanced Partnership (EP)‘s requirements.
The agreed “effective from” change dates are displayed in the table below. Operators will therefore have to submit their application by 70 days to their local Transport Authority for the consultation period, and by 42 days to the West of England Bus Registrations Authority ahead of the agreed “effective from” change dates.
| Year | Change date 1 | Change date 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | April 7th | September 1st |
| 2025 | April 6th | August 31st |
| 2026 | April 5th | August 30th |
| 2027 | April 4th | August 29th |
| 2028 | April 2nd | September 3rd |
| 2029 | April 1st | September 2nd |
| 2030 | April 7th | September 1st |
*Please note cross-boundary applications (for services operating in and outside of the West of England area) are still required to submit bus registration applications to the Office of the Traffic Commissioner, and where these are not required to comply with the West of England EP requirements, they may still fall outside the agreed “effective from” change dates above.
Bus operators wishing to submit registrations
The West of England Enhanced Partnership (EP) Plan and Scheme places obligations on the West of England Combined Authority, North Somerset Council and bus operators working within the Enhanced Partnership area.
These are defined and described in the West of England Enhanced Plan and Scheme document. The obligations on bus operators apply to “Qualifying Services” under the West of England Enhanced Partnership Plan. A Qualifying Enhanced Partnership Service is defined as a registered local bus service operating within the geographical area of the Enhanced Partnership, with the exception of:
- A Local Service that starts or finishes outside the EP Area and which is available for the general public to board at five or fewer bus stops in the EP Area on journeys into the EP Area and which is available for the general public to alight at five or fewer bus stops on journeys out of the EP Area
- A Local Service that operates to an academic institution outside the EP Area for the principal benefit of students of that institution
- A Local Service that operates in conjunction with sporting and other events for the specific purpose of carrying attendees to and from such events
- A Local Service that is not available for use by the general public
- A Local Service registered under a Community Bus Permit
- A Local Service operated under a registration live at 1 October 2022 consisting of no more than two timetable journeys per day under a common route number that operates to an academic institution for the principal benefit of students of that institution.
The West of England Enhanced Partnership is subject to change and you are advised to always refer to notifications of changes sent from us or the latest version available online.
Notice periods
Notice periods for registration applications to be submitted to the West of England Combined Authority will mirror those set nationally by the Department for Transport (DfT)/OTC. Currently:
- Normal notice period: 42 days*
- Section 22 services: 28 days*
- For Christmas/New Year, Easter and public holiday variations: 21 days
*To which should be added the 28-day period for local authority notification (14 days for Section 22 services).
Short-notice applications
Short-notice applications will be considered in the same manner as would the OTC, which is as defined under Regulation 7(2) of The Public Service Vehicles (Registration of Local Services) Regulations 1986.
Registration application process for services wholly within the West of England area
Operators wishing to submit a registration for services that operate wholly within the West of England area for the first time should register for a WEBRA system account with the West of England Combined Authority by emailing [email protected].
Operators are still required to submit registrations at 70 days’ notice and registrations submitted at short notice may be declined.
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Operator must login to the WEBRA system, complete the relevant form for pre-registration (new or change/cancellation) which includes a Qualifying EP service requirements section, asking for confirmation of the service’s compliance with EP requirements, and supply a TransXChange (TXC) XML file including all stops along the route as well as a map, timetable and route description. The relevant registration form should be completed at least 60-70 days from the proposed start date of the new service or change to the service if the operator can provide their own TXC file, and at least 70 days if the operator cannot produce their own TXC files and require the support of the West of England Data Coordinator to generate a file.
The registration will be checked including verification of the supplied service data and a proforma will be generated by the relevant Transport Authority. Once the checks have been completed and the proforma generated, the operator must make a payment for the registration and proceed to official submission of the registration before it can be formally reviewed and approved.
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Operator must login to the WEBRA system, complete the relevant form for pre-registration (new or change/cancellation) which includes indicating on the Qualifying EP service requirements section that the service is not a Qualifying EP service, and supply a TransXChange XML file including all stops along the route as well as a map, timetable and route description. The relevant registration form should be completed at least 60-70 days from the proposed start date of the new service or change to the service if the operator can provide their own TXC file, and at least 70 days if the operator cannot produce their own TXC files and require the support of the West of England Data Coordinator to generate a file.
The registration will be checked including verification of the supplied service data and a proforma will be generated by the relevant Transport Authority. Once the checks have been completed and the proforma generated, the operator must make a payment for the registration and proceed to official submission of the registration before it can be formally reviewed and approved.
Registration application process for cross boundary services
Operators wishing to submit a registration for cross boundary services (has a service registered at any stopping point outside the West of England area boundary), should continue to register the service with the Traffic Commissioner but follow the instructions below to guarantee that the West of England Combined Authority and/or North Somerset Council are aware of the service.
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Operator must provide a copy of the registration to be sent to the relevant Traffic Commissioner to [email protected] at 70 days’ notice.
The operator must also complete the relevant Qualifying EP service requirements form.
The registration will be checked including verification of the supplied service data and a proforma will be generated by the relevant Transport Authority so that the registration may be submitted to the Traffic Commissioner.
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Operator must provide a copy of the registration to be sent to the relevant Traffic Commissioner to [email protected] at 70 days’ notice.
The operator will need to indicate on the Qualifying EP service requirements section that the service is not a Qualifying EP service.
The registration will be checked including verification of the supplied service data and a proforma will be generated by the relevant Transport Authority so that the registration may be submitted to the Traffic Commissioner.
Please note: If you want to complete the form below using your computer, you must download the file to your machine and open in Adobe Acrobat Reader (or higher). Opening the file in your browser will not allow you to complete the fields.
Qualifying Enhanced Partnership bus service requirements form Download pdf PDF approximately 170.37 KFees & Payment
For parity, fees will be initially aligned to those paid to the OTC. Currently, these are:
- Local bus service – £60
- Community bus service – £13
Service cancellations will remain free of charge.
Once the pre-registration application has been accepted, operators must pay the fee online with a bank card using the online payment link supplied in the notification email.
Receipt of payment will then need to be uploaded to the ongoing application in the WEBRA system, the receipt of payment will be checked, and the registration application may then be submitted for formal review and approval.
The fees will be reviewed by the West of England Combined Authority on an annual basis and operators will be notified with at least 30 days’ notice of any changes.
Latest West of England Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme
- The West of England Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme latest version can be found on the West of England Combined Authority's website by following the link below.
