NSW Audit Office - Financial Reports – 2003 - Volume 2 – Review of the Transport Co-ordination

Review of the Transport Co-ordination Authority’s Accreditation and Contract Management of Buses INTRODUCTION In April 2003 the Leader of the National Party wrote to the Auditor-General regarding the collapse of the Port Macquarie-based King Bros Bus Group (King Bros), which operates most of the school and public bus services on the State’s Mid North Coast. The Member was questioning the contractual arrangement between the Transport Co-ordination Authority (formerly the Department of Transport) and King Bros, noting that it significantly impacts on the transport of students and the general public within that region. We reviewed the policies and procedures adopted by the Authority in relation to its statutory obligations, in particular the accreditation of King Bros as an operator. BUS CONTRACTS AND ACCREDITATION The Director-General of the Authority awards contracts to various private and public (State Transit Authority) bus operators. In awarding these contracts, the Director-General has an implicit responsibility to ensure that operators provide reliable and safe passenger transport in their designated area of operation. An or must obtain accreditation from the Director-General in order to operate public passenger bus services in New South Wales. Section 7(2) of the Passenger Transport Act 1990 states that, in awarding accreditation, the Director-General is attesting: (a) that the accredited person is (or, in the case of an accredited corporation, ...