CTA manage a national programme of quality-assured education and training for the CT sector and beyond, ensuring that organisations are able to deliver safe, legal and comfortable journeys. Through our training, workshops and webinars we help our members enhance their skills and knowledge on transport services, regulatory frameworks, safety and customer service.

MiDAS, our flagship training scheme, is the Minibus Driver Awareness Scheme, which has been the gold standard for enhancing the safety and care of passengers for 30 years. The scheme provides a nationally recognised standard for the assessment and training of drivers and passenger assistants to ensure that they have the skills and knowledge to provide safe, legal and comfortable journeys to passengers.

There are a number of courses available under the MiDAS umbrella, including MiDAS Standard and Accessible, Passenger Assistant Training (PATS) and MiDAS Car and MPV. 

Updated Passenger Assistant Training (PATS) 2026 

PATS helps to ensure that passenger assistants have the skills, knowledge and confidence to support safe, legal and comfortable journeys for passengers.

• The self-paced, interactive online course builds the essential knowledge of the roles and responsibilities of passenger assistants, with real life perspectives from passengers, parents and passenger assistants. This ensures consistency and standardisation, giving you the reassurance that all learners have received the core information they need.
• The follow up workshop, and additional accessible sessions, ensures that the core knowledge can be applied. With the support of an Assessor, learners can ask any questions they have from the online learning and continue developing their knowledge as they learn from their peers.
• The new online system ensures you can monitor compliance through monitoring progress, viewing certificates and access any important updates or changes.
• The enhanced quality assurance can give you confidence that passenger assistants are receiving the training they need, to a quality standard. By aligning with regulatory expectations and focusing on quality assurance, this revised process reinforces the importance of maintaining high standards.

Safe, legal and comfortable journeys are essential for passengers, ensuring they can live their lives. The role of passenger assistants is often one which is overlooked and undervalued in making that happen. Watch our short film, Passenger Centred Journeys for a taster of how PATS helps put passengers at the centre of safe, legal and comfortable journeys.