ATCO - Transport Professionals

ATCO Response to the Competition Commission’s Provisional Decision on Remedies

ATCO cautiously welcomes some aspects of the Competition Commission’s Provisional Decision on Remedies, while also considering that the report fails to address some fundamental issues.

The proposals to reinforce measures which may increase competition are welcomed. However competition for tendered service contracts is, in ATCO’s view, at least as important an aspect of competition in the bus industry as head-to-head competition on a route, which evidence shows is not always in the passengers’ best interests. None of the measures proposed appear to work to significantly improve this aspect of competition.

Further, much of the devil lies in the detail of the proposals, both in relation to the potential for unintended adverse consequences, and in terms of how some of the suggested new powers can in practice be applied. Engagement with ATCO and other representative bodies such as PTEG and CPT will be essential in working up the proposals in more detail to achieve workable solutions.

To comment on the individual proposals in particular:

1. Powers to enable Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to make networks more integrated in relation to ticketing are to be welcomed. But more detail is required on whether, or how, a LTA can impose a multi-operator ticket price on commercial operators, and whether this can include both corridors and wider areas in addition to the whole authority area. Further guidance is required on how these tickets should be priced relative to existing ticket offers, in order to minimise revenue loss or risk to operators while at the same time providing better connectivity to the public in a way which is designed to increase travel opportunities.
2. Crucially, the report does not address the need to better co-ordinate timetables, either where there are competing services on a corridor, or where there is potential for a more integrated approach through linking services where this would benefit the travelling public – e.g. between an inter-urban corridor and a city/ town network or rural area, or from one route to another.
3. Improved passenger information through a more collaborative approach is welcomed, but is likely to require greater local authority powers and funding, unless there is a new duty on bus operators, to enable a truly integrated approach to information on bus services and ticketing to be achieved. Similarly, ATCO would be keen to work with partner organisations on how this can best be achieved.
4. The proposed greater scrutiny on operator mergers and the resultant potential monopoly situations is welcomed.
5. The proposal to give LTAs new powers to obtain accurate information from operators on services being deregistered is welcomed. However the proposals in relation to the role of the Traffic Commissioners on timetable changes does not seem to go far enough, given that, in the past, government guidance saw merit in limiting timetable changes to set dates in the year. To limit timetable changes to a limited number per year, to be set by agreement with the LTA, would be an important measure to provide the travelling public with confidence about the services that are operating; LTAs should be given the power to implement this: a statutory national framework could be beneficial. Exceptions would need to be made for e.g. short term changes or short notice required due to external factors.
6. The Competition Commission is right to identify the potential effect of partnerships on competition, but at the same time it needs to be understood that the public interest should be the most important criteria when assessing whether aspects of a partnership are acceptable, not the impact on competition per se. The benefits to the travelling public of partnerships with individual operators, as opposed to area partnerships with all operators, need to be understood.
7. The principles proposed in the remedy around bus stations are welcomed; these should include those operated by local councils/ PTEs, as well as reflecting where they operate services or tendered services.
8. While proposing measures that may increase competition, the Remedies largely fail to address the key concerns of many bus users across the country, namely the threat to services, and particularly in rural areas where there are few or no commercial services, resulting from the Spending Review and the squeeze on local government finances. Whether people have a service, or not, is undoubtedly more important to bus users overall than whether there is competition or not.

A focus on increasing on-street competition, which by definition can only occur where there are commercially viable services, misses the point, and ATCO does not feel that encouraging this type of competition is the most important issue facing bus services.

In summary, ATCO’s view is that the main failings in bus services will not be resolved by further debate on whether there should be greater or less primary regulation, but around the absolutely key issues of funding for socially necessary bus services, and how LTAs can achieve significant progress towards a much more integrated public transport network. These, after all, are the prime conditions needed to achieve real modal shift and to improve people’s lives through greater and better travel opportunities.

Unless these issues are identified as fundamentally important, and resolved, it is hard to consider how significant benefits for the travelling public can in practice be achieved.

ATCO would welcome the opportunity to work with the Competition Commission, government and industry stakeholders on identifying the detailed measures required to improve the bus offer and provide real and sustainable benefits to the travelling public.

Contact details

For further information please contact:

Bruce Thompson
ATCO Chair
Telephone: 01392 383244
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.