PASSENGER RIGHTS: AN OVERVIEW Alberto Rho Chairman of the Transport Committee Director Legal and Corporate Department in ATM

2 The beginning The European Commission launched this legislative initiative in 2008 in order to cover also the bus and coach transport after having dealt with air and rail sectors.

3 The reason why The text of this draft Regulation has been written taking into account a long distance transport and the rights of people moving in Europe, who should expect the same situation and protection wherever they are.

4 The “misunderstanding” The rights of citizens cannot be ignored in cities, where the majority of people live and therefore the Regulation should apply also to local transport. But unfortunately it is not so easy to adapt the text to a different situation – from long to short distance.

The examples Luggage – Chapter II. Art 9 liability fo lost and damaged luggage Reservation Chapter III – Art 10, Art.11 Information – Art 12 Terminal – Art 14 Assistance on board – Art 15 Training – Art 18 Delay – Chapter IV – Art 20 5

6 The point of view of the operator The operators welcome the idea of considering the rights of people and of protecting the weakest. We are already involved in a number of initiatives in this direction, namely the Charter of Mobility The contract with the Municipality points out the quality standard and the level of protection to be achieved

Weaknesses There is not a real need for a Regulation on urban- suburban transport There are too many differences from long distance to short distance transport Integrated networks: different rights depending on the chosen mode? The majority of costs to be afforded are in the budgets of the Municipalities. 7

Examples of increasing costs for the Municipalities Infrastructure: accessible bus stops (average cost of adaptation is thousand euros each). Contract cost : the service obligation could change in term of personnel (more assistance on board), training, communication, insurance cost, etc. This would lead to an increased contribution given to the operator. Fares: even the citizen should face increasing costs due to a possible increase in fares. 8

The Cooperation of the Operators with the Transport Authorities Service quality is the way to meet passenger rights It is delivered by the operators It must be planned by the transport authorities we should always cooperate on these issues to reach voluntary commitments 9

Next step To be very active and work together to adress the institution a common message: there are other ways to achieve the goal of fulfilling passenger rights (mainly voluntary commitments) To ask for the implementation of the platform envisaged in the Action Plan (Action 2-theme 2) as a moment of discussion between institutions and stakeholders 10

The legislative iter 27 April: Trilogue 10 May: dead-line for presenting emendments 1° June: Vote TRAN July: EP plenary session 11