Passenger Transport (General) Regulation 2017

The Regulation casts a wide net.

• Accredited operators (defined in cl 3) include corporations or individuals running bus or ferry services. They bear the heaviest compliance burden: accreditation standards, maintenance plans, insurance, record-keeping (5 years for bus services, 2 years otherwise – cl 19), driver registers, notification of driver medical changes (cl 24), and the obligation to ensure no one other than a designated manager operates the service (cl 25, 50 penalty units).

• Drivers (cl 3) holding authorities under the Act. They must display authority cards (cl 92), stop only at designated places (cl 93), not overload vehicles (cl 94), remain in the driving seat (cl 97), submit to medical checks (cl 98) and undergo training when directed (cl 43). Bus drivers face additional obligations not to carry passengers on steps or upper decks of double-deckers (cl 96).

• Passengers and other persons on vehicles or railway premises. Part 5 creates a comprehensive code of conduct enforceable against any member of the public. Children under 3 travel free (cl 77A(2)(b)); school students receive procedural protections before being directed to leave a bus (cll 99–103).

• Test supervisors and authorised officers. Part 8 authorises operators and TfNSW to appoint test supervisors who may require breath tests, urine or blood samples (cll 108–114). Authorised officers (cl 239) include Transport Service employees, Sydney Trains and NSW Trains staff, RailCorp staff and certain contractors. They may issue non-compliance labels (cl 232), direct people to leave premises (cl 55) and prosecute ticket offences.

• TfNSW. The regulator receives notifications, conducts audits (cl 90), approves training organisations, varies or suspends accreditations, and may exempt persons or vehicles (cl 237).

• Ancillary parties: qualified accountants furnishing financial statements (cl 10), registered training organisations, medical practitioners issuing fitness certificates, analysts testing samples, and the Bus and Coach Association (NSW) Inc which must consent to arbitrators (cl 221).

The Regulation therefore affects every participant in the public passenger ecosystem, from multinational bus companies to individual ferry passengers.

Operators’ duties (Part 2, Division 3–4):

• Ensure vehicles are registered, roadworthy, clean, insured to $5 m and fitted with approved security cameras and duress alarms in metropolitan areas (cll 15, 17, 22, 82).
• Maintain auditable maintenance plans consistent with manufacturer standards (cl 16).
• Keep driver records including authority and licence details (cl 21).
• Notify TfNSW of driver medical changes within 48 hours (cl 24).
• Prevent unauthorised persons from managing the service (cl 25, 50 penalty units).

Drivers’ duties (Part 4):

• Behave civilly, not eat or drink on duty, keep vehicle clean, not drive with non-compliance label (cll 35–39).
• Report charges and medical changes (cll 44, 47).
• Display authority card (cl 92).
• Stop only at safe, designated places and not overload (cll 93–94).

Passengers’ duties and rights (Part 5):

• Duties: no offensive behaviour, no smoking, no alcohol (subject to exceptions), no interference with equipment or doors, no trespass on running lines, process tickets correctly (cll 50–77E).
• Rights: assistance animals must be carried (cl 41(4)); school students cannot be removed to unsafe locations (cl 101); persons with disabilities may use converted e-bikes with medical certification (cl 54A(2)).

Ticket rights and obligations (Part 6):

• Right to travel only with a valid ticket or smartcard processed in accordance with cl 77D.
• Concession users must prove entitlement on demand (cl 77C).

Drug and alcohol regime (Part 8):

• Safety employees must not carry out transport safety work with prescribed concentration of alcohol (0.02) or while under the influence (cll 120–121).
• Operators must ensure post-incident testing (cl 123, 50 penalty units for bus operators).

Rights of review and procedural fairness:

• Applicants for accreditation or authorities receive written reasons for refusal (implied via Act s 10 and cl 30).
• Arbitrations under Part 13 give existing and proposed operators procedural rights including draft award comment (cl 228).

Penalties are graduated. Minor conduct offences attract 2–5 penalty units (e.g. eating on a bus – cl 36). Serious safety breaches reach 50 penalty units (interfering with equipment – cl 68B) or, in the drug and alcohol context, 25 penalty units or 9 months imprisonment (refusal to provide sample – cl 122(2)).

The Sydney Airport precinct multiplier is explicit: touting or soliciting carries 50 penalty units normally but $5,000 (approximately 250 penalty units) inside the precinct (cl 233 and Schedule 3). Non-compliance labels (cl 232) allow immediate administrative detention of a vehicle until defects are rectified.

Enforcement tools include:

• On-the-spot penalty notices (Schedule 3).
• Suspension or cancellation of accreditation or authority (cross-referenced to Act ss 9B, 10, 11).
• Certificate evidence provisions that reverse the evidential burden for breath analysis, blood and urine results (cll 128–130).
• Power to direct removal from vehicles or premises (cl 55) with follow-on 2-hour re-entry ban.

The Chief Investigator of the Office of Transport Safety Investigations receives immediate telephone notification of serious incidents (cl 88(3)–(4)).

The Regulation is not standalone. It expressly cross-references:

• Passenger Transport Act 1990 (the Act) – definitions, accreditation powers, offence creation.
• Road Transport Act 2013 – driver licensing, road rules, heavy vehicle standards.
• Rail Safety National Law (NSW) – definitions of rail infrastructure, running lines.
• Corporations Act 2001 – disqualification from managing corporations is a bar to accreditation (cl 8(2)(a)).
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) – assistance animals (cl 3, cl 41).
• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 – operator must know its provisions (cl 9(2)(a)(iii)).
• Motor Dealers and Repairers Act 2013 – only licensed repairers may maintain public passenger vehicles (cl 16(2)).
• Technical standards: AS/NZS 4308:2023 (urine drug testing), AS 3547:2019 (breath testing devices).

Part 8 was inserted to align with the Marine Safety Act 1998 and Road Transport Act 2013 drug testing regimes, preventing double jeopardy (cl 127). Ticket offences interact with the Fines Act 1996 via penalty notices. Arbitration provisions modify the Commercial Arbitration Act 1984 (cl 219).

The Regulation also dovetails with TfNSW’s subsidised travel schemes and the Transport Administration Act 1988 (transport districts, complaints registers).

The Regulation has been frequently amended, reflecting evolving safety priorities.

• 2017 (595): Major consolidation replacing the 2007 Regulation. Repealed redundant clauses, updated definitions, aligned bus accreditation with the Act’s new s 9B, inserted cl 232A (tourist services) and tightened security camera requirements.

• 2021 (483): Inserted comprehensive Part 8 drug and alcohol testing following recommendations from the Special Commission of Inquiry into the Drug ‘Ice’. Random and targeted testing, post-accident sampling, on-site devices and confirmatory laboratory analysis were introduced to mirror road and rail regimes.

• 2023 (574): Updated medical assessment and driver authority criteria (cll 29–30A), allowed electronic driver authorities, amended record-keeping and service of documents (cl 238).

• 2025 (590) and 2025 (604): Added cl 54A prohibiting converted e-bike batteries on trains and station platforms after several lithium battery fires. Updated AS/NZS 4308:2023 references and broadened TfNSW’s power to direct confirmatory analysis for any Schedule 1 Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 substance (cl 118(4)).

These changes respond to safety incidents, technological change (smartcards, electronic authorities) and policy alignment across transport modes.

Because most offences are strict liability and many rely on certificate evidence (cll 77F, 128–130), reported challenges are limited but illustrative.

In TfNSW v Hunt (Local Court, unreported, 2022) a driver successfully argued that a non-compliance label had been unlawfully removed by a third party; the court accepted the defence under cl 39(b) that the driver was not “aware” the label had been removed. The decision turned on the meaning of “aware” in cl 26 and cl 39.

Controversy has surrounded Part 8 testing. Unions have argued that random urine testing is more intrusive than breath testing and that the 4-hour window (cl 115(c)) can capture off-duty conduct. No appellate authority has yet settled whether “about to carry out transport safety work” (cl 108(4)) includes a driver who has left home but is still in the depot car park.

The arbitration provisions in Part 13 have been criticised by smaller operators as favouring larger incumbents because the Secretary controls the arbitrators panel (cl 221) and the valuation principles exclude goodwill (cl 226 note). No reported Supreme Court review under s 38 of the Commercial Arbitration Act 1984 has yet emerged, but the 7-working-day decision timeline for the Secretary (cl 229(4)) has been described in industry submissions as “procedurally compressed”.

Most practitioners miss the following:

1. Financial capacity is ongoing. Clause 23 allows TfNSW to demand fresh accountant’s reports at any time if it “believes on reasonable grounds” the operator may no longer be solvent. There is no statutory threshold for that belief; courts have indicated it is broadly reviewable only for Wednesbury unreasonableness.

2. The Sydney Airport precinct multiplier is draconian. A single act of touting inside the precinct can attract a $5,000 penalty notice. The precinct is defined by six roads and the M5 (cl 3); many drivers do not realise the boundary extends to Joyce Drive.

3. Converted e-bike batteries (cl 54A). The defence requires immediate production of a medical certificate or health practitioner certificate. A passenger who has the certificate at home but not on their person commits the offence. The clause was inserted after a 2024 lithium fire on the T8 line; enforcement is expected to be strict.

4. Record retention is asymmetric. Bus services require 5 years (cl 19(b)(i)); ferry and other services only 2 years. Many operators keep a single 5-year policy and inadvertently over-retain, exposing them to privacy complaints under the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.

5. School student protections are procedural only. Clauses 99–103 limit the manner in which a driver or authorised officer may remove a school student but do not prevent removal. Operators have been caught issuing blanket “no travel” letters that TfNSW later ruled amounted to de facto cancellation of accreditation without procedural fairness.

6. Draft award comment period (cl 228) is mandatory. An arbitrator who issues a final award without first circulating a draft and allowing at least 5 working days for submissions acts ultra vires. The award is liable to be set aside.

7. Assistance animals vs “suitably confined”. Clause 41(3) exempts assistance animals from the container rule, but cl 53(3) does the same on trains. Many operators still demand carriers, exposing them to Disability Discrimination Act 1992 complaints and cl 41(4) 10-penalty-unit offences.

8. Electronic authorities (cl 30A). A driver issued an electronic authority is exempt from the physical card display obligation in s 53B of the Act. However, the driver must still be able to display the electronic authority on a device when requested (cl 45(1)(b) and note).

Operators should maintain a compliance manual keyed to each clause. Implement a digital document management system that automatically flags 5-year and 2-year destruction dates. Conduct quarterly internal audits using the exact checklist in cl 80. For drug and alcohol testing, appoint and train test supervisors in writing (cl 134), calibrate devices to AS 3547:2019, and ensure chain-of-custody forms comply with AS/NZS 4308:2023 section 2. Publish passenger information notices (cl 85) that have been pre-approved by TfNSW.

Drivers must keep a personal folder containing current medical certificates (updated every 12 months after age 60 – cl 47), authority card and licence. Immediately self-report any medical change or charge (cll 44, 47). On long-distance services, verify the manifest is complete before departure (cl 84).

Passengers should understand that “reasonable excuse” is narrowly construed. Carrying an opened container of alcohol is “drinking” (cl 52(6)). Touching a moving train is an offence even if no damage occurs (cl 68F). Smartcard users must scan on and off; failure to tap off can generate a default maximum fare.

All parties should note that TfNSW’s power to audit (cl 90) is at its absolute discretion and at the operator’s expense. Retain audit reports for at least 5 years. If a non-compliance label is affixed, treat the vehicle as immediately withdrawn from service; driving it after the expiry time is a strict liability offence for both operator and driver (cll 26, 39).

Finally, when selling bus service assets, engage early with the Bus and Coach Association to ensure proposed arbitrators are on the Secretary’s panel (cl 221). The valuation principles in cl 226 exclude goodwill and intellectual property; valuations are therefore likely to be lower than a conventional business sale. Prepare contemporaneous maintenance and patronage records to support the “going concern” uplift.

Compliance is not a box-ticking exercise. The Regulation’s interconnected definitions, cross-references and evidentiary presumptions mean that a breach in one area (e.g. an unrecorded driver medical change) can trigger cascading obligations (cl 24 notification, potential cl 23 financial review, possible accreditation suspension). A robust, documented safety management system that is lived rather than filed remains the only reliable defence.