Bus Safety Act 2009 (Vic) Improvements and benefits- the regulator’s perspective

1. Bus Safety Act 2009 (Vic)Improvements and benefits- the regulator’s perspective Stephen Turner Director, Bus Safety

2. What are the improvements and benefits of the Bus safety Act 2009 (Vic) (BSA)? The predecessor of the Bus Safety Act 2009 (Vic) (BSA) was the Public Transport Competition Act 1995 (PTCA). The PTCA regime served the community well for nearly 15 years. However, over 15 years, Victoria changed significantly in three ways: • the population grew by over one million • community expectations of safety and accountability for safety changed • the government at the time embarked on an extensive and comprehensive reform of all transport safety regimes.

3. Problems of the Public Transport Competition Act (PTCA) • PTCA focused almost solely on the bus operator and ignored the safety role of other key industry participants who can affect safety outcomes. • Bus accreditation focused on the ability to operate rather than on safety outcomes more generally. • Conditions of accreditation and the passenger vehicles regulations were prescriptive rather than performance-based. • The regulator had limited sanctions available when safety breaches occurred and was often forced to choose between sanctions that were either too strong or too weak. • The scheme did not apply to all ‘buses’.

4. Improvements and benefits sought from the Bus Safety Act 2009 (BSA) • Preventing deaths and injuries arising from bus operations • establishing a “best practice” regulatory framework to assist in maintaining and improving the Victorian bus industry’s good safety record • introducing safety standards for the mini-bus sector (40% of the Victorian bus fleet). • introducing broad based safety duties for all involved in providing bus services. • extending the range of enforcement powers and sanctions available to the safety regulator. • encouraging greater safety awareness across all types of bus operations. • providing a modern regulatory framework to assist the bus industry to adapt to the changing safety requirements of busier and more complex bus services.

5. Objects of the BSA • The safety of bus services • the effective management of safety risks in bus services • continuous improvement in bus safety management • public confidence in the safety of the transport of passengers by bus • the involvement of relevant stakeholders in bus safety • a safety culture among persons who participate in the provision of bus services.

6. Scorecard of TSV’s performance under the BSA Preventing deaths and injuries Score: silver star. Travelling by bus in Victoria is very safe. External research undertaken just prior to the BSA showed that bus travel was the safest form of transport in two of the accepted world standard metrics – billion journeys and billion hours – and was only just beaten by air travel in the metric of billion kilometres travelled. TSV incident data shows that since the commencement of the BSA both fatalities and injuries have been slowly reducing.

7. Scorecard of TSV’s performance under the BSA Establishing a “best practice” bus safety regulatory framework Score : Gold star. No other jurisdiction in Australia is as far advanced in establishing a safety outcomes focussed regime.

8. Scorecard of TSV’s performance under the BSA Introducing safety standards to the mini-bus sector Score: silver star. Feedback indicates that there are mini-bus operators and also others providing ad-hoc community and private bus services that we are yet to identify and get fully into the bus safety regime.

9. Scorecard of TSV’s performance under the BSA Involving relevant stakeholders in bus safety The signs are positive. Over the last three years when issues with bus safety have come to light, these issues have been resolved by involving all relevant stakeholders. Examples – Normanby road/school bus in Narrawong/bus stops in various locations (Cowes and South Gippsland for instance).

10. Scorecard of TSV’s performance under the BSA Encouraging a safety culture in the provision of bus services Score: gold star. BSA has moved safety and the primary consideration of safety to the forefront of bus services. We now have a regime that: • seeks safety outcomes • is based on stakeholders sharing in the achievement of these safety outcomes • provides appropriate accountabilities and regulatory tools for non-compliance.

11. Future operational and administrative issues

12. Deemed accreditation • One key issue is having deemed accredited bus operators apply for and be approved as accredited bus operators under the BSA before their deemed accreditation expires on 31 December 2015 – now less than 18 months away. • TSV has embarked on the ‘Get your A into G’ campaign to promote accreditation for deemed accredited operators. • To all deemed accredited bus operator I urge you to “Get your Accreditation in Gear”.

13. Risk based compliance - challenges in further improving our bus safety regime in Victoria • Gathering safety data • Analysing data and identifying safety trends • Targeting poor safety performance • Rewarding good safety performance • Resources, resources and resources

14. Safety culture / behavioural change The following challenges will take some time to bear the safety outcomes the community expects: • embedding safety in all aspects of bus operations • safety as a profit enabler • harmonising cross border safety regimes • meeting emerging safety challenges, including: • congestion in metropolitan areas • public misbehaviour • attracting and keeping sufficient bus drivers • minimising red tape.

15. End of presentation