Passenger Transport Services Act 2011 (Tas)

Passenger Transport Services Act 2011

An Act to provide for the oversight, regulation and safety of certain passenger transport services and the operation of regular passenger transport services and for related purposes [Royal Assent 15 December 2011]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

PART 1 - Preliminary

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Passenger Transport Services Act 2011 .

2. Commencement (1) Sections 1 , 3 , 68 and 69 and this section commence on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent. (2) The remaining provisions of this Act commence on a day to be proclaimed.

3. Interpretation (1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears – accredited means accredited under Part 2 as the operator of a passenger transport service or hire and drive passenger service, and accreditation has a corresponding meaning; accredited operator means a person holding accreditation; affiliated operator means an accredited operator who, under a contract or agreement in writing with a booking service provider, uses the safety, security and related systems of the booking service provider; annual fee means a fee prescribed under section 24A ; approved means approved by the Commission; authorised means authorised for the purposes of section 34 , and authorisation has a corresponding meaning; authorised officer means a person authorised by the Commission, under section 9(2) of the Traffic Act 1925 , in relation to a power or act under that Act or the Vehicle and Traffic Act 1999 ; body politic includes an agency or instrumentality of the body politic; booking service provider means a person who is a booking service provider under section 8A ; bus operator means a person holding accreditation in respect of a passenger transport service of the kind referred to in section 11(1)(b) ; Commission means the Transport Commission incorporated under section 4 of the Transport Act 1981 ; continuity fees means the fees, if any, required to be paid to ensure the continuity of an accreditation or authorisation, as referred to in section 24 and section 40(1) , respectively; conviction includes a finding of guilt without the recording of a conviction; employee includes a person engaged, either directly or indirectly, under a contract for services; external, accreditation, means accreditation that – (a) is issued, granted or conferred by an external regulator; and (b) confers on its holder, in that external regulator's jurisdiction, substantially similar status and entitlements as accreditation under this Act; external regulator means an agency of another State having responsibilities substantially similar to those of the Commission under Part 2 ; fare includes any form of financial consideration; hire and drive passenger service – see section 13 ; improvement notice means an improvement notice served under section 61A(1) , as amended, if at all, under section 61A(7) ; large passenger vehicle means, subject to any exceptions prescribed by the regulations, a motor vehicle with 10 or more seats; manned, motor vehicle, means a motor vehicle that is furnished with a driver; motor vehicle has the same meaning as in the Vehicle and Traffic Act 1999 ; notify means give notice in writing; on-demand passenger transport service means a passenger transport service in relation to which a fare-paying passenger is transported, in a manned small passenger vehicle, to a destination nominated by the passenger, but does not include a regular passenger service; passenger, of a motor vehicle, includes the driver of the motor vehicle; passenger service means any service that involves the carriage of passengers on a public street by means of a motor vehicle; passenger service contract means a contract between the Secretary and an accredited passenger transport service operator for the operation of a regular passenger service; passenger transport service – see section 11(1) ; person includes a body politic; public street has the same meaning as in the Traffic Act 1925 ; registered operator, in relation to a vehicle, has the same meaning as in the Vehicle and Traffic Act 1999 ; regular passenger service – see section 35 ; regulations means regulations made and in force under this Act; relevant responsible person means the responsible person for the accredited service in respect of which the expression is used; responsible person – see section 18(3) , (4) and (5) ; ride-sourcing driver means a person who arranges, by means of ride-sourcing software, to carry on journeys, in a ride-sourcing vehicle driven by the person, passengers who – (a) arrange, by means of ride-sourcing software, to be so carried; and (b) provide to the person financial consideration for such journeys only by means of a system for electronic transfer of funds that is provided as part of the ride-sourcing software; ride-sourcing software means computer software that enables – (a) requests, for passengers to be carried on journeys in motor vehicles, to be received; and (b) such requests to be communicated to, and accepted by, drivers of motor vehicles; and (c) such passengers to provide to such drivers financial consideration, for carriage on such journeys, only by way of the electronic transfer of funds by a system that is provided; and (d) identification of, and recording of the details of, such drivers and vehicles and the origin, destination and duration of such journeys; and (e) satisfaction rating services to be provided – by means of the computer software; ride-sourcing vehicle means a small passenger vehicle that is used by a person to carry on journeys, in the vehicle, driven by the person, passengers who – (a) arrange, by means of ride-sourcing software, to be so carried; and (b) provide to the person financial consideration for such journeys only by means of a system for electronic transfer of funds that is provided as part of the ride-sourcing software; rights of review means rights of review under Part 4 ; seat, of a motor vehicle – see section 5(3) ; Secretary means the Secretary of the Department; serious offence means – (a) an offence under sections 124 , 125A , 125B , 125C , 125D , 126 and 127 of the Criminal Code ; or (b) an offence under sections 158 , 167A , 167B , 170, 172 and 172A of the Criminal Code; or (c) an offence under Chapter XIX or XX of Part V of the Criminal Code ; or (d) an offence under section 7A , 37B or 37C of the Police Offences Act 1935 ; or (e) an offence under section 32 of the Traffic Act 1925 ; or (f) an offence under Division 1 of Part 3 , Part 4 or section 53 or 64 of the Vehicle and Traffic Act 1999 ; or (g) an offence prescribed by the regulations as a serious offence for the purposes of this Act; service means, according to the context, a passenger transport service, hire and drive passenger service or regular passenger service; service development plan means a document prepared by the operator of a regular passenger service setting out the operator's views regarding its potential for improvement under the operator's passenger service contract; service eligibility guidelines – see section 51 ; service operator means the person operating the service in respect of which the expression is used; small passenger vehicle means a motor vehicle with fewer than 10 seats or a motor vehicle that is approved under the Taxi and Hire Vehicle Industries Act 2008 for use as a wheelchair-accessible taxi, a remote area wheelchair-accessible taxi or a substitute wheelchair-accessible taxi; State includes Territory; statutory rule means a statutory rule for the purposes of the Rules Publication Act 1953 ; transport concern – see section 11 ; transport costs includes the cost of fuel, tolls, parking, entry fees and, if applicable, vehicle hire or leasing costs. (2) In this Act, a reference to a passenger service, passenger transport service, hire and drive passenger service or regular passenger service is taken to include a reference to a part of the service.