Terms and conditions for the sale of spare seats on school transport contract buses
1. The scheme is concerned solely with spare seats on Home to School contract buses which arise when the numbers of pupils entitled to free transport are less than the capacity of the vehicle which the contractor has undertaken to provide in a tender which we have accepted.
2. As resolved by Members of the Council, spare seats will be made available firstly to pupils living within the school catchment area based on plan distance from the school (as the crow flies). Only when this demand is satisfied will places be offered to 'out-of-catchment' pupils based on plan distance from the start of the bus route. Remaining places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis during the year.
3. Contract buses will not be diverted or extended so as to cater for pupils taking up spare seats, nor will vehicle sizes be increased.
4. Spare seats will only be made available at the discretion of the City and County of Swansea up to the maximum practicable loading of a vehicle. In the interests of comfort and well-being of the pupils, the practicable maximum loading of a vehicle may be less than that strictly allowable by law. For the purposes of determining the number of available spare seats, full attendance of pupils will be assumed.
5. In order to take up a spare seat on a school transport contract bus, a pupil must be in possession of and show to the driver on demand, a pass purchased from the City and County of Swansea. Passes are obtainable from the School Transport Team and applications can be completed online:
6. No spare seats are sold for nursery aged children.
7. Applications will be dealt with in the order in which they are received by the School Transport Team.
8. Refunds will only be payable when pupils either:
a) change address and cease to travel, or
b) change address and become eligible for free transport, or
c) are displaced by additional pupils entitled to free transport, and the valid pass is returned to the School Transport Team.
Refunds will be calculated from the date which the pass is received in the Directorate of Place.
9. Purchase of a spare seat for the whole year does not guarantee its continued availability for that period. If the number of pupils entitled to free transport increase such that the practical capacity of the vehicle would be exceeded it will be necessary to displace pupils who are taking up spare seats.
10. A lost or damaged pass can be replaced at a cost of £5.00. Applications for a replacement pass can be made online using the school bus card replacement.
11. Charges for spare seats will be reviewed annually.
12. Seats will not be available until October and it will be necessary for parents to make their own transport arrangements until that date. Applicants are advised that they should not expect to receive notification of their success or otherwise in obtaining a spare seat until the end of September. This has been taken into account in determining the cost of a seat.