Route and service drivers
Scheduled public bus services, where passengers board and pay along the way.
Bus Driver Authority
Not a licence class — a separate accreditation that sits alongside one. Here is what it is, who needs it, and how the two fit together.
What it is
A licence gets you driving. An authority gets you working.
A Bus Driver Authority is the accreditation that allows you to drive a bus commercially — carrying passengers for a fare or as part of a service.
The two things are separate, and people mix them up constantly. Your licence class determines what size of vehicle you are permitted to drive. Your authority determines whether you are permitted to drive it for hire or reward, with passengers on board.
You need both. Holding an HR licence does not by itself let you drive a route bus, and holding an authority is meaningless without the licence class the vehicle requires.
BDA
Who needs one
If passengers are paying, you need it
School bus drivers
Contracted school runs. Additional checks usually apply on top of the authority itself.
Charter and tour drivers
Private hire, tours, transfers and event work — anything carried out for hire or reward.
Worth checking first
Requirements for a Bus Driver Authority are set by the transport authority, not by us, and they change from time to time. They cover things like medical fitness, driving history and background checks. Talk to us before you start and we will walk you through what currently applies and where the application sits.
Ask us about a BDALicence pairing
Which class goes with which bus
The class you need is set by the bus, not by the job title. Get the vehicle details from the operator before you book any training.
- LR — smaller buses up to 8 tonnes. Community transport, courtesy buses and minibus work.
- HR — larger rigid buses with three or more axles. Most route and school service vehicles sit here.
- HC — needed only where the vehicle is a heavy combination, which is unusual in passenger work.
We train the licence class and prepare you for assessment in a bus rather than a truck, which matters more than people expect — the mirrors, the overhang, the door and the passenger load all behave differently.
What we help with
- Working out which licence class the role actually requires
- Licence training in that class, one-on-one
- Understanding the authority application and what it asks of you
- Assessment preparation in a passenger vehicle
- Passenger-specific road craft: stops, kerbs, doors and load shift
Common questions
About bus authorities
In practice most people sort the licence class first, because the authority is tied to being able to drive the vehicle at all. But the two processes can overlap, and the authority application takes time of its own. Start the conversation early so neither one is waiting on the other.
For the licence side, an HR licence covers rigid vehicles of that size whether they carry freight or passengers. For commercial passenger work you still need the authority on top. And practically speaking, a bus drives differently to a tipper — we would recommend at least a familiarisation lesson before an assessment.
The driving side depends on your experience. The authority side depends on the transport authority's processing and on checks that are outside anyone's control, so we will not promise you a date for it. What we can do is make sure nothing is held up at our end and tell you what to chase and when.
Get started
Driving buses for work?
Tell us the operator and the vehicle and we will sort out which class and what the authority involves.
Monday to Sunday · 7:00 AM – 9:00 PM
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