ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the rights of passengers in carriage by road. Basic concepts describe the differences between buses and coaches, the modal split of inland passenger transport, and the fact that the legal framework for passengers’ rights in carriage by road is the most recent to be delineated. A brief history shows the development of bus transport in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Despite the fact that the Convention on the Contract for the International Carriage of Passengers and Luggage by Road (CVR) of Geneva of 1 March 1973 does not have many contracting parties, this convention is an important source of law for international road transport. The CVR convention never became part of EU law, and the first important piece of legislation in this area is Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 concerning the rights of passengers in bus and coach transport and amending Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004. Regulation 181/2011 provides for a minimum set of rights for passengers travelling by bus and coach within the framework of the European Union and includes the following rights: to non-discriminatory transport conditions, to information, to compensation and assistance in the event of accidents, of continuation, re-routing, and reimbursement in case of cancellation or long delay, of assistance in case of cancelled or delayed departure, of disabled passengers and passengers with reduced mobility, to submit complaints to carriers and national enforcement bodies, and the enforcement of passenger rights.
