On the eve of a crucial debate and vote in the European Parliament, the European collective passenger transport and travel industries call for practical and adapted passenger rights in EU bus and coach transport services, based on a sound impact assessment.
 
Prior to the pivotal Parliamentary debate and vote on 30-31 March 2009, ECTAA, ETOA, UITP and the IRU, the four associations representing the European collective passenger transport and travel business, call upon Members of the European Parliament’s Transport and Tourism Committee to privilege practical and adapted passenger rights rules, in the interest of customers and businesses alike.

The European bus and coach transport and travel industry calls for a thorough impact assessment of the overall cost implications resulting from the implementation of the proposed rules, in order to guarantee an informed debate before any decision is taken.

Tom Jenkins, ETOA’s Executive Director, insisted that “Like all legislation, these measures seem virtuous: extending rights to coach passengers looks just. It feels tidy. But such measures do not take place in a vacuum. Coaches are both the safest form of road transport and have the least environmental impact. Yet, every year, we see a decline in the proportion of people choosing to take holidays by coach. The reasons for this drift towards cars are complex, but it is manifestly bad for road safety and the environment. One thing we can say is that this drift is not caused by lack of “rights”: what comparative rights do car users enjoy?  This proposal is obviously counter-productive. It is an attack on a socially beneficial but fragile industry, and provides help to people who do not require or seek it”.

IRU Vice President, Graham Smith, highlighted: “The bus and coach sector has a vested interest to improve quality and extend the range of services it provides, in order to improve the care of its customers, including customers with disabilities. However, the industry calls for proportionate and feasible rules on passenger rights. Indeed, if requirements are impractical and operators cannot afford to run the service, passenger rights are useless.”

According to the President of the UITP EU-Committee, Guido del Mese, “the multi-modal integration of road, rail and waterborne public transport is key for the attractiveness of our urban and regional networks, which are used by 60 billion passengers annually. The proposed modal approach is counterproductive and should be abandoned for our sector. In addition, the proposed regulation ignores the reality in urban and regional public transport and many provisions could not be applied”.

Akis Kelepeshis, President of ECTAA, said, “The introduction of similar rights for bus and coach passengers to those granted in other modes of transport will increase the appeal of the sector, and is therefore much welcomed. Yet, certain provisions, including the proposed liability regime, must be adapted to the specificity of the sector, which is dominated by small and medium-sized companies”.