Conditions of Carriage
GoBus Conditions of Carriage
Effective from: October 2026
These Conditions of Carriage apply to all bus services operated by Go-Coachhire Limited, trading as GoBus ("GoBus", "we", "us", "our"), including our Go2 and CrossBus services. By travelling on any of our services you agree to these conditions.
Nothing in these conditions affects your statutory rights, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Equality Act 2010 and passenger rights legislation.
Contents
1. Our customer charter
2. Getting in touch
3. Our services
4. Getting on and off the bus
5. Wheelchairs, mobility scooters and accessibility
6. Pushchairs, prams and other wheeled items
7. Paying your fare
8. Contactless payment and Tap & Cap
9. Mobile and app tickets
10. Child fares and concessions
11. Dogs and other animals
12. Behaviour on our buses
13. Standing
14. Luggage and other property
15. Lost property
16. CCTV
17. Comments, feedback and complaints
18. Delays, cancellations and compensation
19. Your personal data
20. Changes to these conditions
1. Our customer charter
GoBus is one of Kent's largest independent bus operators, and has been part of the Kent community for nearly 20 years. Our aim is to keep improving our service in everything we do, including punctuality, reliability, vehicle cleanliness and staff training.
Our vision is to provide the best possible public transport service for the people of Kent and its visitors. We aim to:
deliver the most reliable service possible;
provide safe, clean, comfortable and accessible vehicles;
keep customers informed about changes to our services; and
run our network with polite, professional and well-trained staff.
2. Getting in touch
For bus times, journey planning, tickets, lost property or feedback, please contact us:
Website: www.gobus.uk
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01732 469800
In person or by post: GoBus, Bus Depot, London Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 8BY
Our depot office is open 08:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.
3. Our services
We agree to carry you and your property on the journey covered by your ticket, in line with these conditions.
Sometimes we may need to change, suspend, withdraw, cancel or divert a service, or change some or all of its operating times. We will tell you about planned changes in advance on our website, in the GoBus app and, where possible, at stops and on our buses.
Once you have boarded, we will do our best not to divert from the route or cancel the journey, but we may have to do so because of road closures, traffic, weather, breakdowns or other operational problems.
Timetable times are as accurate as we can make them, but journey times can be affected by traffic and other conditions outside our control. We cannot guarantee that a bus will depart or arrive at the published time, or that it will connect with any other service, including those shown as connecting services.
Go2 and CrossBus demand-responsive services
Go2 and CrossBus demand-responsive journeys must be booked in advance through the Go2 / CrossBus app or by phone. Pick-up times given when you book are estimates. Please be ready at your pick-up point at the time shown, as the vehicle may not be able to wait. If you no longer need a booked journey, please cancel it in the app as early as possible so we can offer the seat to someone else.
Kent Karrier passengers also travel in line with Kent County Council's Kent Karrier terms and conditions.
4. Getting on and off the bus
You must not get on or off a bus unless:
it is at a bus stop (or, on Go2 and CrossBus, at your booked pick-up or drop-off point), unless the driver expressly allows you to get off somewhere else;
it has stopped; and
the doors are fully open.
Please let other passengers get off before you get on. You must not use an emergency exit except in an emergency.
5. Wheelchairs, mobility scooters and accessibility
Wheelchairs
All our buses are accessible to wheelchair users and can carry a wheelchair that meets the "reference wheelchair" dimensions set out in the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000. Each bus has one wheelchair space.
The driver will lower the ramp, or kneel the bus, to help you get on and off.
Wheelchair users have priority in the wheelchair space. If the space is being used by other passengers, or by a pushchair or luggage, the driver will ask them to move or to fold their pushchair so that you can use it. Our drivers are trained to do everything they reasonably can to make the space available, but we cannot physically remove passengers. If the space cannot be made available, we are sorry, but you will need to wait for the next bus.
All our Go2 and CrossBus vehicles are also wheelchair accessible, so you do not need to tell us in advance.
We will not refuse to carry you because of your disability, except where it would not be safe to do so or the design of the vehicle or the stop makes it physically impossible to board, get off or travel safely.
Mobility scooters
Mobility scooters vary widely in size and weight, and not all can be carried safely. Please contact us before travelling with a mobility scooter so we can tell you whether it can be carried.
Assistance and information
Our drivers receive disability awareness training. If you need help, please let the driver know when you board. Our buses provide audible and visual information about the next stop and the route, in line with the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023.
Assistance dogs are always welcome on our buses (see section 11).
If your wheelchair or other mobility equipment is lost or damaged while we are carrying it and we are at fault, we will pay compensation in line with section 18.
6. Pushchairs, prams and other wheeled items
Unfolded pushchairs can usually be carried on our normal bus services. On Go2 and CrossBus demand-responsive vehicles, you will be asked to fold your pushchair (or other wheeled item) before boarding. If your pushchair cannot be folded, or you prefer not to fold it, and it takes up space that would otherwise be used by a fare-paying passenger, you will be charged £1 for it.
The wheelchair space may be used by pushchairs when it is not needed by a wheelchair user, on a first come, first served basis. You may be asked to fold your pushchair to make room for a wheelchair user (see section 5), and we would be grateful for your help.
When a child is in a pushchair in the space, the child must stay in the pushchair with the brakes on, and the parent or guardian must stay with them. Pushchairs must not block the gangway.
If the space is already full, you may be asked to take your child out of the pushchair and fold it before boarding.
The same applies to shopping trolleys, walking aids and other wheeled items.
Electric scooters and electric bikes
Electric scooters, electric bikes and their batteries are not allowed on our buses, for fire safety reasons.
7. Paying your fare
You can pay for your ticket:
by contactless bank card, phone or watch (see section 8);
with a mobile ticket bought in the GoBus app (see section 9);
with a valid pass (see section 10); or
in cash.
Our drivers carry only a small amount of change, so please have the right money ready if you are paying in cash. This helps keep buses on time.
When you have paid, please check that you have the right ticket. If there is a mistake, tell the driver straight away so that it can be corrected; we cannot correct it later.
Flat fares
We charge a flat fare on all our services, so the fare is the same however far you travel.
Ticket rules
A single ticket is valid for one journey between two points only; you cannot break your journey.
Tickets cannot be sold on, or passed to someone else for further use.
Damaged, altered or defaced tickets and passes are not valid for travel.
We cannot refund lost, damaged, altered or defaced tickets or passes.
You must keep your ticket for the whole journey and show it when asked by the driver, an inspector or any other authorised GoBus member of staff. If you cannot show a valid ticket, you may have to pay again.
If you cannot pay
If you cannot pay the correct fare, the driver may refuse to carry you, and you will need to make other arrangements.
The safety of young people matters to us, and we will never leave a young person aged 16 or under somewhere they could be vulnerable because they cannot pay. However, we do not consider a stop at or near a young person's home or school to be a vulnerable place, so travel may be refused at these locations if they do not have a valid ticket or the fare.
8. Contactless payment and Tap & Cap
You can pay with a contactless bank card, or a phone or watch with a payment card set up on it, on all our buses.
To pay, tap your card or device on the reader when you board. Please hold only one card or device near the reader, or it may take payment from the wrong card ("card clash").
Tap & Cap
Tap & Cap means you will never pay more than the relevant fare cap for the journeys you make. The caps, and the services they cover, are shown on our website. Fare capping does not apply on Go2 or route 88.3.
To benefit from fare capping, you must tap the same card or device for every journey. A card added to a phone or watch counts as a different card from the physical card, so stick to one.
Your bank may show several journeys as a single charge, and charges may appear on your statement a day or more after you travel.
When you tap, the ticket machine will issue a ticket. Please take your ticket and keep it for the whole journey, as you must show it if asked by the driver or an inspector.
If a payment is declined, the card may be blocked from further contactless travel on our buses until the unpaid fare has been paid.
You can create an account on the GoBus Passenger Portal to see your journeys, charges and how caps have been applied. If you think you have been charged incorrectly, please contact us through the Passenger Portal or at [email protected].
9. Mobile and app tickets
Mobile tickets can be bought in the GoBus app. Tickets that need to be activated must only be activated when your bus is in sight. We cannot consider refund requests for a ticket that was activated and then expired before your bus arrived.
All the ticket rules in section 7 also apply to mobile tickets.
10. Child fares and concessions
Children aged 4 and under travel free when accompanied by an adult.
Child fares apply to young people aged 5 to 16.
Young people aged 17 and 18 can also pay child fares, but the driver, an inspector or another authorised member of staff may ask for proof of age, including name and address.
Passengers aged 19 and over pay adult fares.
On school services, all passengers pay adult fares, whatever their age, unless they hold a valid pass or ticket that gives a discount on school services.
Older and disabled persons' bus passes
We take part in the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme. Older and disabled persons' bus passes are issued by your local council, which can tell you more about the scheme. Passes are valid at the times set by Kent County Council, which are at least from 09:30 to 23:00 Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
Kent Travel Saver and Kent 16+ Travel Saver
Kent Travel Saver and Kent 16+ Travel Saver passes are accepted in line with Kent County Council's terms and conditions. Kent and Medway Connected Cards are also used in line with Kent County Council's terms and conditions; discounted fares with a Kent and Medway Connected Card are only available to school students on school services.
Using passes
All passes, whether for free or reduced-fare travel, must be shown to the driver and, where the pass is a smartcard, read by the ticket machine every time you board.
11. Dogs and other animals
Assistance dogs are always carried free of charge, on any of our services.
Other dogs can travel on single-deck buses and on the lower deck of double-deck buses. You must carry your dog or keep it on a lead for the whole journey, and keep it under control at all times.
Other animals may be carried at the driver's discretion, and must be in a cage, box or carrier or on a lead.
12. Behaviour on our buses
All passengers are carried in line with the Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990, as amended.
We want every journey to be safe and comfortable for everyone. When getting on, travelling on or getting off any of our buses, you must not:
try to board before the doors are fully open and other passengers have got off;
smoke or use an e-cigarette or vape;
play music or other audio without headphones, or at a volume that may annoy other passengers or distract the driver;
spit;
damage or deface any part of the bus;
abuse, threaten or offend the driver, other staff or other passengers in any way;
block the gangway, stairs, doors or emergency exits;
leave litter or belongings on the bus;
throw anything from the bus;
talk to or distract the driver while the bus is moving, except in an emergency;
interfere with any equipment on the bus; or
alter or deface your ticket or pass.
This list is not complete, and other behaviour may also be treated as misconduct.
You must always follow instructions from our staff and the safety signs on our buses.
You must not sell, hand out or leave any items on our buses without our written permission.
Our staff have the right to work without fear of intimidation, abuse or assault. We will support the police in prosecuting anyone who abuses or assaults our staff or other passengers, and we may ban anyone, temporarily or permanently, from travelling on our services after an incident of misconduct.
13. Standing
The maximum number of standing passengers is shown on a notice on the lower deck of each bus.
If you choose to stand when seats are free, please move down the bus to let other passengers board.
Standing is not allowed on the stairs, in the doorway area, or on the upper deck of double-deck buses.
When standing, please hold on to the handrails, supports or seat backs for your own and others' safety.
14. Luggage and other property
The driver may refuse to carry any luggage or other item that they consider unsuitable. This includes, but is not limited to:
explosive, flammable, hazardous or dangerous goods;
open tins of paint or similar liquids;
sheets of glass;
bicycles that do not fold;
electric scooters, electric bikes and their batteries;
anything that could cause offence or injury to other people;
anything likely to damage the bus; and
anything too large to be carried safely.
Luggage must be stored safely so that it does not block the gangway, doors or emergency exits.
You are responsible for your own belongings, which are carried at your own risk.
15. Lost property
Lost property is handled in line with the Public Service Vehicles (Lost Property) Regulations 1978, as amended. You are responsible for your belongings while on our buses.
If you lose something on one of our buses, please contact us (see section 2) and we will check whether it has been handed in. We will only contact the driver of a bus in service in urgent cases, such as lost medication, or where losing the item could leave someone vulnerable.
If you find something on one of our buses, you must hand it to the driver straight away. Where possible, our drivers check their bus for lost property at the end of each journey.
Items found or handed in are kept securely overnight and taken to our depot office for sorting by 10:30 the next working day.
We keep lost property for one month. After that, unclaimed items are disposed of. Perishable items, such as food, are kept for 48 hours.
We may open a bag or package to identify its owner or what it contains. When you collect an item, we will ask you to prove that it is yours. If you would like an item posted to you, you must pay the postage and packing costs in advance.
16. CCTV
CCTV is in use on all our buses and at our depot. It is used to help keep passengers and staff safe, to prevent and detect crime, to investigate incidents, accidents and complaints, and to deal with insurance and legal claims.
CCTV footage may be passed to the police to help investigate crime, and may be used as evidence in criminal or civil proceedings. Footage from school services, or from journeys carrying school pupils, may be shared with the school or with Kent County Council to help identify those involved in, and investigate, an incident.
Footage is automatically overwritten after 30 days unless it is needed for an investigation. If you need us to keep footage of an incident, please contact us as soon as possible.
We handle CCTV footage in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our Privacy Policy explains more about how we use CCTV and your rights, including how to ask for a copy of footage of yourself.
17. Comments, feedback and complaints
Your feedback is important to us. It helps us find where we can improve, and if you tell us when something goes wrong, we have the chance to put it right.
You can contact us by email, post, phone or in person (see section 2). Please give us as much detail as possible, including the date and time, route number, bus number (shown inside the bus), where you got on and off, and a description of the driver if relevant.
Please contact us as soon as possible after an incident, ideally within 48 hours, so that we can investigate fully while details are fresh and before CCTV footage is overwritten. We will accept complaints made up to three months after the journey concerned.
We aim to respond within 7 working days. If we need longer to investigate, we will let you know. In any case, we will tell you within one month whether your complaint is upheld, rejected or still being looked into, and we will give you a final reply within three months of receiving it.
If your feedback is about a member of staff, we will investigate it fully, but we will not share the outcome of any action taken with that member of staff, as this is confidential.
If you are not happy with our response, you can contact Bus Users, the independent body that handles unresolved bus complaints:
Website: www.bususers.org/complaints
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0300 111 0001
Post: Bus Users, 22 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1PR
18. Delays, cancellations and compensation
We will always do our best to run every journey on time. However, we do not pay automatic compensation if a bus is late, delayed or cancelled. If you have been affected by a serious failure in our service, please contact us (see section 2) and we will consider your case.
If you have been charged incorrectly, please contact us and we will refund any amount you have been overcharged.
If a wheelchair or other mobility equipment is lost or damaged while we are carrying it, and this is our fault, we will pay compensation equal to the cost of replacing or repairing it, in line with Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 on bus and coach passenger rights as it applies in the UK. Where possible, we will also help to arrange temporary replacement equipment.
Nothing in this section affects your statutory rights.
19. Your personal data
Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use personal data, including for contactless payments, the GoBus Passenger Portal, our apps and CCTV. You can read it at www.gobus.uk/user-policies/privacy.
20. Changes to these conditions
We may change these conditions from time to time. The latest version is always available on our website, and the date at the top shows when it took effect.
Go-Coachhire Limited, trading as GoBus. Registered in England and Wales, company number 06490924. Registered office: Bus Depot, London Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 8BY.
Effective from: October 2026
These Conditions of Carriage apply to all bus services operated by Go-Coachhire Limited, trading as GoBus ("GoBus", "we", "us", "our"), including our Go2 and CrossBus services. By travelling on any of our services you agree to these conditions.
Nothing in these conditions affects your statutory rights, including your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the Equality Act 2010 and passenger rights legislation.
Contents
1. Our customer charter
2. Getting in touch
3. Our services
4. Getting on and off the bus
5. Wheelchairs, mobility scooters and accessibility
6. Pushchairs, prams and other wheeled items
7. Paying your fare
8. Contactless payment and Tap & Cap
9. Mobile and app tickets
10. Child fares and concessions
11. Dogs and other animals
12. Behaviour on our buses
13. Standing
14. Luggage and other property
15. Lost property
16. CCTV
17. Comments, feedback and complaints
18. Delays, cancellations and compensation
19. Your personal data
20. Changes to these conditions
1. Our customer charter
GoBus is one of Kent's largest independent bus operators, and has been part of the Kent community for nearly 20 years. Our aim is to keep improving our service in everything we do, including punctuality, reliability, vehicle cleanliness and staff training.
Our vision is to provide the best possible public transport service for the people of Kent and its visitors. We aim to:
deliver the most reliable service possible;
provide safe, clean, comfortable and accessible vehicles;
keep customers informed about changes to our services; and
run our network with polite, professional and well-trained staff.
2. Getting in touch
For bus times, journey planning, tickets, lost property or feedback, please contact us:
Website: www.gobus.uk
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 01732 469800
In person or by post: GoBus, Bus Depot, London Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 8BY
Our depot office is open 08:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.
3. Our services
We agree to carry you and your property on the journey covered by your ticket, in line with these conditions.
Sometimes we may need to change, suspend, withdraw, cancel or divert a service, or change some or all of its operating times. We will tell you about planned changes in advance on our website, in the GoBus app and, where possible, at stops and on our buses.
Once you have boarded, we will do our best not to divert from the route or cancel the journey, but we may have to do so because of road closures, traffic, weather, breakdowns or other operational problems.
Timetable times are as accurate as we can make them, but journey times can be affected by traffic and other conditions outside our control. We cannot guarantee that a bus will depart or arrive at the published time, or that it will connect with any other service, including those shown as connecting services.
Go2 and CrossBus demand-responsive services
Go2 and CrossBus demand-responsive journeys must be booked in advance through the Go2 / CrossBus app or by phone. Pick-up times given when you book are estimates. Please be ready at your pick-up point at the time shown, as the vehicle may not be able to wait. If you no longer need a booked journey, please cancel it in the app as early as possible so we can offer the seat to someone else.
Kent Karrier passengers also travel in line with Kent County Council's Kent Karrier terms and conditions.
4. Getting on and off the bus
You must not get on or off a bus unless:
it is at a bus stop (or, on Go2 and CrossBus, at your booked pick-up or drop-off point), unless the driver expressly allows you to get off somewhere else;
it has stopped; and
the doors are fully open.
Please let other passengers get off before you get on. You must not use an emergency exit except in an emergency.
5. Wheelchairs, mobility scooters and accessibility
Wheelchairs
All our buses are accessible to wheelchair users and can carry a wheelchair that meets the "reference wheelchair" dimensions set out in the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations 2000. Each bus has one wheelchair space.
The driver will lower the ramp, or kneel the bus, to help you get on and off.
Wheelchair users have priority in the wheelchair space. If the space is being used by other passengers, or by a pushchair or luggage, the driver will ask them to move or to fold their pushchair so that you can use it. Our drivers are trained to do everything they reasonably can to make the space available, but we cannot physically remove passengers. If the space cannot be made available, we are sorry, but you will need to wait for the next bus.
All our Go2 and CrossBus vehicles are also wheelchair accessible, so you do not need to tell us in advance.
We will not refuse to carry you because of your disability, except where it would not be safe to do so or the design of the vehicle or the stop makes it physically impossible to board, get off or travel safely.
Mobility scooters
Mobility scooters vary widely in size and weight, and not all can be carried safely. Please contact us before travelling with a mobility scooter so we can tell you whether it can be carried.
Assistance and information
Our drivers receive disability awareness training. If you need help, please let the driver know when you board. Our buses provide audible and visual information about the next stop and the route, in line with the Public Service Vehicles (Accessible Information) Regulations 2023.
Assistance dogs are always welcome on our buses (see section 11).
If your wheelchair or other mobility equipment is lost or damaged while we are carrying it and we are at fault, we will pay compensation in line with section 18.
6. Pushchairs, prams and other wheeled items
Unfolded pushchairs can usually be carried on our normal bus services. On Go2 and CrossBus demand-responsive vehicles, you will be asked to fold your pushchair (or other wheeled item) before boarding. If your pushchair cannot be folded, or you prefer not to fold it, and it takes up space that would otherwise be used by a fare-paying passenger, you will be charged £1 for it.
The wheelchair space may be used by pushchairs when it is not needed by a wheelchair user, on a first come, first served basis. You may be asked to fold your pushchair to make room for a wheelchair user (see section 5), and we would be grateful for your help.
When a child is in a pushchair in the space, the child must stay in the pushchair with the brakes on, and the parent or guardian must stay with them. Pushchairs must not block the gangway.
If the space is already full, you may be asked to take your child out of the pushchair and fold it before boarding.
The same applies to shopping trolleys, walking aids and other wheeled items.
Electric scooters and electric bikes
Electric scooters, electric bikes and their batteries are not allowed on our buses, for fire safety reasons.
7. Paying your fare
You can pay for your ticket:
by contactless bank card, phone or watch (see section 8);
with a mobile ticket bought in the GoBus app (see section 9);
with a valid pass (see section 10); or
in cash.
Our drivers carry only a small amount of change, so please have the right money ready if you are paying in cash. This helps keep buses on time.
When you have paid, please check that you have the right ticket. If there is a mistake, tell the driver straight away so that it can be corrected; we cannot correct it later.
Flat fares
We charge a flat fare on all our services, so the fare is the same however far you travel.
Ticket rules
A single ticket is valid for one journey between two points only; you cannot break your journey.
Tickets cannot be sold on, or passed to someone else for further use.
Damaged, altered or defaced tickets and passes are not valid for travel.
We cannot refund lost, damaged, altered or defaced tickets or passes.
You must keep your ticket for the whole journey and show it when asked by the driver, an inspector or any other authorised GoBus member of staff. If you cannot show a valid ticket, you may have to pay again.
If you cannot pay
If you cannot pay the correct fare, the driver may refuse to carry you, and you will need to make other arrangements.
The safety of young people matters to us, and we will never leave a young person aged 16 or under somewhere they could be vulnerable because they cannot pay. However, we do not consider a stop at or near a young person's home or school to be a vulnerable place, so travel may be refused at these locations if they do not have a valid ticket or the fare.
8. Contactless payment and Tap & Cap
You can pay with a contactless bank card, or a phone or watch with a payment card set up on it, on all our buses.
To pay, tap your card or device on the reader when you board. Please hold only one card or device near the reader, or it may take payment from the wrong card ("card clash").
Tap & Cap
Tap & Cap means you will never pay more than the relevant fare cap for the journeys you make. The caps, and the services they cover, are shown on our website. Fare capping does not apply on Go2 or route 88.3.
To benefit from fare capping, you must tap the same card or device for every journey. A card added to a phone or watch counts as a different card from the physical card, so stick to one.
Your bank may show several journeys as a single charge, and charges may appear on your statement a day or more after you travel.
When you tap, the ticket machine will issue a ticket. Please take your ticket and keep it for the whole journey, as you must show it if asked by the driver or an inspector.
If a payment is declined, the card may be blocked from further contactless travel on our buses until the unpaid fare has been paid.
You can create an account on the GoBus Passenger Portal to see your journeys, charges and how caps have been applied. If you think you have been charged incorrectly, please contact us through the Passenger Portal or at [email protected].
9. Mobile and app tickets
Mobile tickets can be bought in the GoBus app. Tickets that need to be activated must only be activated when your bus is in sight. We cannot consider refund requests for a ticket that was activated and then expired before your bus arrived.
All the ticket rules in section 7 also apply to mobile tickets.
10. Child fares and concessions
Children aged 4 and under travel free when accompanied by an adult.
Child fares apply to young people aged 5 to 16.
Young people aged 17 and 18 can also pay child fares, but the driver, an inspector or another authorised member of staff may ask for proof of age, including name and address.
Passengers aged 19 and over pay adult fares.
On school services, all passengers pay adult fares, whatever their age, unless they hold a valid pass or ticket that gives a discount on school services.
Older and disabled persons' bus passes
We take part in the English National Concessionary Travel Scheme. Older and disabled persons' bus passes are issued by your local council, which can tell you more about the scheme. Passes are valid at the times set by Kent County Council, which are at least from 09:30 to 23:00 Monday to Friday and all day at weekends and on bank holidays.
Kent Travel Saver and Kent 16+ Travel Saver
Kent Travel Saver and Kent 16+ Travel Saver passes are accepted in line with Kent County Council's terms and conditions. Kent and Medway Connected Cards are also used in line with Kent County Council's terms and conditions; discounted fares with a Kent and Medway Connected Card are only available to school students on school services.
Using passes
All passes, whether for free or reduced-fare travel, must be shown to the driver and, where the pass is a smartcard, read by the ticket machine every time you board.
11. Dogs and other animals
Assistance dogs are always carried free of charge, on any of our services.
Other dogs can travel on single-deck buses and on the lower deck of double-deck buses. You must carry your dog or keep it on a lead for the whole journey, and keep it under control at all times.
Other animals may be carried at the driver's discretion, and must be in a cage, box or carrier or on a lead.
12. Behaviour on our buses
All passengers are carried in line with the Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers) Regulations 1990, as amended.
We want every journey to be safe and comfortable for everyone. When getting on, travelling on or getting off any of our buses, you must not:
try to board before the doors are fully open and other passengers have got off;
smoke or use an e-cigarette or vape;
play music or other audio without headphones, or at a volume that may annoy other passengers or distract the driver;
spit;
damage or deface any part of the bus;
abuse, threaten or offend the driver, other staff or other passengers in any way;
block the gangway, stairs, doors or emergency exits;
leave litter or belongings on the bus;
throw anything from the bus;
talk to or distract the driver while the bus is moving, except in an emergency;
interfere with any equipment on the bus; or
alter or deface your ticket or pass.
This list is not complete, and other behaviour may also be treated as misconduct.
You must always follow instructions from our staff and the safety signs on our buses.
You must not sell, hand out or leave any items on our buses without our written permission.
Our staff have the right to work without fear of intimidation, abuse or assault. We will support the police in prosecuting anyone who abuses or assaults our staff or other passengers, and we may ban anyone, temporarily or permanently, from travelling on our services after an incident of misconduct.
13. Standing
The maximum number of standing passengers is shown on a notice on the lower deck of each bus.
If you choose to stand when seats are free, please move down the bus to let other passengers board.
Standing is not allowed on the stairs, in the doorway area, or on the upper deck of double-deck buses.
When standing, please hold on to the handrails, supports or seat backs for your own and others' safety.
14. Luggage and other property
The driver may refuse to carry any luggage or other item that they consider unsuitable. This includes, but is not limited to:
explosive, flammable, hazardous or dangerous goods;
open tins of paint or similar liquids;
sheets of glass;
bicycles that do not fold;
electric scooters, electric bikes and their batteries;
anything that could cause offence or injury to other people;
anything likely to damage the bus; and
anything too large to be carried safely.
Luggage must be stored safely so that it does not block the gangway, doors or emergency exits.
You are responsible for your own belongings, which are carried at your own risk.
15. Lost property
Lost property is handled in line with the Public Service Vehicles (Lost Property) Regulations 1978, as amended. You are responsible for your belongings while on our buses.
If you lose something on one of our buses, please contact us (see section 2) and we will check whether it has been handed in. We will only contact the driver of a bus in service in urgent cases, such as lost medication, or where losing the item could leave someone vulnerable.
If you find something on one of our buses, you must hand it to the driver straight away. Where possible, our drivers check their bus for lost property at the end of each journey.
Items found or handed in are kept securely overnight and taken to our depot office for sorting by 10:30 the next working day.
We keep lost property for one month. After that, unclaimed items are disposed of. Perishable items, such as food, are kept for 48 hours.
We may open a bag or package to identify its owner or what it contains. When you collect an item, we will ask you to prove that it is yours. If you would like an item posted to you, you must pay the postage and packing costs in advance.
16. CCTV
CCTV is in use on all our buses and at our depot. It is used to help keep passengers and staff safe, to prevent and detect crime, to investigate incidents, accidents and complaints, and to deal with insurance and legal claims.
CCTV footage may be passed to the police to help investigate crime, and may be used as evidence in criminal or civil proceedings. Footage from school services, or from journeys carrying school pupils, may be shared with the school or with Kent County Council to help identify those involved in, and investigate, an incident.
Footage is automatically overwritten after 30 days unless it is needed for an investigation. If you need us to keep footage of an incident, please contact us as soon as possible.
We handle CCTV footage in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our Privacy Policy explains more about how we use CCTV and your rights, including how to ask for a copy of footage of yourself.
17. Comments, feedback and complaints
Your feedback is important to us. It helps us find where we can improve, and if you tell us when something goes wrong, we have the chance to put it right.
You can contact us by email, post, phone or in person (see section 2). Please give us as much detail as possible, including the date and time, route number, bus number (shown inside the bus), where you got on and off, and a description of the driver if relevant.
Please contact us as soon as possible after an incident, ideally within 48 hours, so that we can investigate fully while details are fresh and before CCTV footage is overwritten. We will accept complaints made up to three months after the journey concerned.
We aim to respond within 7 working days. If we need longer to investigate, we will let you know. In any case, we will tell you within one month whether your complaint is upheld, rejected or still being looked into, and we will give you a final reply within three months of receiving it.
If your feedback is about a member of staff, we will investigate it fully, but we will not share the outcome of any action taken with that member of staff, as this is confidential.
If you are not happy with our response, you can contact Bus Users, the independent body that handles unresolved bus complaints:
Website: www.bususers.org/complaints
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0300 111 0001
Post: Bus Users, 22 Greencoat Place, London SW1P 1PR
18. Delays, cancellations and compensation
We will always do our best to run every journey on time. However, we do not pay automatic compensation if a bus is late, delayed or cancelled. If you have been affected by a serious failure in our service, please contact us (see section 2) and we will consider your case.
If you have been charged incorrectly, please contact us and we will refund any amount you have been overcharged.
If a wheelchair or other mobility equipment is lost or damaged while we are carrying it, and this is our fault, we will pay compensation equal to the cost of replacing or repairing it, in line with Regulation (EU) No 181/2011 on bus and coach passenger rights as it applies in the UK. Where possible, we will also help to arrange temporary replacement equipment.
Nothing in this section affects your statutory rights.
19. Your personal data
Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect and use personal data, including for contactless payments, the GoBus Passenger Portal, our apps and CCTV. You can read it at www.gobus.uk/user-policies/privacy.
20. Changes to these conditions
We may change these conditions from time to time. The latest version is always available on our website, and the date at the top shows when it took effect.
Go-Coachhire Limited, trading as GoBus. Registered in England and Wales, company number 06490924. Registered office: Bus Depot, London Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 8BY.