Minibus Parking issues

physmath

Dear All,
I'm planning to take a school group of 13 students around scotland in a 15 seater minibus (a transit minibus rental) and I'm wondering about parking in the cities. Can I park legally on the street and just put the normal pay and display ticket on the window? I'm likely to need to do this several times throughout the trip both in the daytime and evening and I get the feeling that the minibus will exceed a normal parking space by quite a bit in length (and possibly width), requiring some special parking considerations. Anyone know for sure whether this is a big deal?
Thank you for your time responding. I really appreciate any contributions!
Andrew

scotsbob

Can't answer your question directly.
However I know of a person in much the same situation who simply contacted local schools along her route and got permission to park in the schools car parks.

physmath

An interesting idea, thanks! Only problem is that I'll be doing it in July when the Scottish schools have closed for summer and that may mean no one to open the gates. But I appreciate your reply and I'll keep some version of it in mind (maybe colleges, or local businesses)

RichardD1970

When I hired a Minibus a few years ago I was advised by the person who dropped it of to me, that if I parked and took up two spaces, to get two P&D tickets. Don't know if that is true or not and the situation never arose.

physmath

Hm, an interesting idea, thank you. I wouldn't have thought of that. Might be my last ditch method if I can't think of anything else.

demystified

Worked in a fair few schools myself and they're rarely closed during school holidays as the caretakers will be in as they have contractors etc in to to work plus special classes, etc. At the school I work they even have caravanners in and turn the fields into a camping site, presumably to try and maximise the school revenues.

They will usually lock the gates by 4 or 5 in the aternoon though. Also you might have trouble contacting them as theres rarely a receptionist on duty. Of course this applies to english schools,scottish schools might have different rules.

specialboy

Aside from the parking issue, will you be driving? as you say the vehicle is longer and wider than a car and with the additional potential hazard of 15 excitable kids behind you its not a good idea unless youre a confident driver.

londonTiger

do you need a special license to carry passsengers on a minibus? only asking because you sound very new to it so might be worth looking into.

Watched a trffic cops documentry, a guy was pulled over and had his minibus confiscated and one of the reasons was the driver did not have the extenion in his license to carry passengers on a minibus.

specialboy

As long as the OP has got a full licence, has held it for at least 2 years, is over 21 and is driving on a voluntary basis they will be ok to drive a 16 seater mini bus.

gingerdad

Most 15 seat mini buses should fit in a normal bay. Unless it's a long wheel base sprinter.

agrinnall

specialboy wrote: »

As long as the OP has got a full licence, has held it for at least 2 years, is over 21 and is driving on a voluntary basis they will be ok to drive a 16 seater mini bus.

I'm not sure that I agree with this - a D1 licence is required, and that stopped being included automatically some time in the 1990s.

https://www.gov.uk/driving-licence-categories

Minibuses

Category D1

You can drive vehicles with:

• no more than 16 passenger seats
• a maximum length of 8 metres
• a trailer up to 750kg

Also, I believe the school must hold a Section 19 Permit (although I imagine they probably already do).


https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/section-19-and-22-permits-not-for-profit-passenger-transport/section-19-and-22-permits-not-for-profit-passenger-transport#section-19-permits