Transport Ministries: Public Transport A (PTA Series) Files

MT 147

1962-1979

This series contains files of the Public Transport A Division and its successor the Public Transport Industry and Investment Division of the Ministry of Transport and the Department of the Environment.

The files relate to road passenger transport policy, and the transport aspects of local government organisation, including policy concerning the Transport Bill 1968, passenger transport authorities, passenger transport executives, the Transport Holding Company and the National Bus Company.

Some files in the PTA series were re-registered from the RT and TPU series.

Additional papers relating to the National Bus Company can be found in FH

PTA Series

Public Record(s)

English

• Department of the Environment, Public Transport Industry and Investment Division, 1970-1972
• Ministry of Transport, Public Transport A Division, 1968-1970
• Ministry of Transport, Urban Transport Group, 1966-1970

320 file(s)

Open unless otherwise stated

from 1998: Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

from 1995 to 1996: Department of Transport

Topics

Road Transport

Transport management

Series is accruing

Files selected for this series concern related legislation and policy formation, precedent cases and organisational aspects of the public transport system; they also include examples of significant innovative proposals and developments in the public transport field.

The Public Transport A Division was created in January 1968 under a departmental reorganisation of the Urban Transport Group and took over some of the duties of Transport Planning Urban and Road Transport (Passenger) Divisions as well as being responsible for bringing about the major changes in public transport introduced in the Transport Act 1968. It consisted of two branches with the following distribution of responsibilities: PTA 1, with responsibility for general policy on Passenger Transport Authorities and Passenger Transport Executives; the transport aspects of local government reorganisation; and urban transport research and development; and PTA 2 with responsibility for road passenger transport; policy in connection with the National Bus Company, its organisation, annual investment programme and financial viability; the control of bus services in the Passenger Transport Areas; the co-ordination of bus undertakings outside London; and the administration of the bus grant schemes.

In 1972 the Division was re-named the Passenger Transport Industry and Investment Division, although its functions remained broadly the same. It continued to use the PTA prefix until the end of 1976 when this was superseded by the PT1 prefix, which is still in use.