Transport Act 1968

The Transport Act 1968 (1968 c.73) was an act of the parliament of the United Kingdom. The main provisions made changes to the structure of nationally owned bus companies, created passenger transport authorities and executives to take over public transport in large conurbations.

National Bus Company

The Act formed, form January 1, 1969, the National Bus Company by merging the bus operating companies of the government owned Transport Holding Company with those of the privately owned BET. NBC operated bus services throughout England and Wales outside of large cities, although independent operators still thrived in many rural areas.

cottish Transport Group

The Scottish Transport Group was also formed at the beginning of 1969. It combined the state-owned Scottish Bus Group and Caledonian Steam Packet shipping line.

Passenger Transport Authorities and Executives

The Act also allowed the formation of Passenger Transport Authorities to co-ordinate and operate public transport in large conurbations. The authorities were to be made up of councilors from the various local authorities in the area, while the executives were to be the operators of public transport: for the most part taking over the existing local authority bus fleets.Following consultation the following PTAs/PTEs were established under the Act:
*West Midlands on October 1, 1969
*SELNEC (South East Lancashire North East Cheshire) on November 1, 1969
*Merseyside on December 1, 1969
*Tyneside on January 1 1970
*Greater Glasgow on June 1 1973 (also operated the Glasgow Subway)

Subsidies for socially necessary but unremunerative railways

Section 39 of the Act introduced the first Government subsidies for railways which were unremunerative for British Rail but deemed socially necessary. Grants could be paid where three conditions were met: (i) the line was unremunerative, (ii) it is desirable for social or economic reasons for the passenger services to continue, and (iii) it is financially unreasonable to expect British Rail to provide those services without a grant.

Waterways

The Act made changes to the use of facilities controlled by the state-owned British Waterways. Reflecting the decline in the use of canals and rivers for freight distribution, waterways were divided into three categories:
*Commercial Waterways
*Cruising Waterways
*Remainder WaterwaysThe Act recognized the value of the waterway network for leisure use, and set up the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council to give advice to both government and British Waterways on all matters concerned with the use of the network for recreation.

Vehicle testing and driving hours

The Act made changes to the MOT vehicle test. Previously vehicles had been liable to annual testing ten years after first registration. This was reduced to three years from first registration. The Act also introduced maximum driving hours for goods drivers, and allowed the introduction of the tachograph to record driving periods.

ources

*Transport Act 1968 (1968 c.73)