Drama Drama Drama

The folks at Brighton’s The Big Lemon are in the news again. They seem to be turning a crisis into a drama.

A 1,000-word message from the company reveals that last time around over 150 people wrote to the traffic commissioner in support of The Big Lemon. That’s a lot of people, given that mostly, most of us are apathetic, most of the time. The commissioner doesn’t seem to have heeded this unprecedented upsurge in public support. Instead, Lemon bosses believe the traffic commissioner will this morning consider whether The Big Lemon should face a public inquiry.

Although Lemon bosses may feel that the traffic commissioner is being harsh, do readers feel that such an action is unreasonable where an operator may be playing by its own rules? Would a larger operator think about acting in this sort of fashion?

The Big Lemon started in September 2007. It was at the end of November that The Big Lemon told its drivers it was facing problems. Revenue did not meet expectations. Upon hearing the announcement, too many drivers deserted The Big Lemon.

To say that the company was in an invidious position was an understatement. If it wanted to stand a chance of retaining an O licence, it needed to give the required notice for cancellation. The Big Lemon then took the unprecedented step, in early December, of requesting direct appeals from its passengers to the commissioner. The Big Lemon managed to get an ‘interim, leaner service’ at short notice, basically at peaks and during the evening, coinciding with Brighton student movements, from 7 January. This apparently expires today.

The Big Lemon applied at the end of December for a new permanent timetable. It sought to circumvent the 56-day period by suggesting that the new service replaced its existing one. This is something that often happens when a commercial service is first deregistered and then re-registered following the award of a contract. The commissioner has yet to grant what is the second application at short notice—which may mean a gap in service.

Instead, the traffic commissioner may therefore act by calling a PI. Perhaps The Big Lemon's been a little naïve, perhaps it's been a victim of circumstance, perhaps it's been a little too honest. In its favour, it does appear to have been upfront about its difficulties and it's certainly kept passengers and staff informed in a refreshing sort of way.

In fact, the travelling public will no doubt feel that the bureaucracy of bus operation is pointless and tiresome. The Big Lemon will be seen as entirely reasonable. It will no doubt continue its support for the company. Unless, of course, there’s that gap in service. And so it is that there's a little drama being played out in Brighton, Leeds and Eastbourne, the likes of which we haven't seen in the bus industry before.