Bed Time Reading

I should imagine that there’s a palpable sense of relief in Cardiff, Wales. Cardiff Bus had apologised at a recent public inquiry following a critical OFT report into the way in which it dealt a blow against former competitor 2Travel.

It appears it wasn’t mere coincidence that a Cardiff Bus no-frills service came and went at the same time as 2 Travel. The Welsh traffic commissioner accused Cardiff Bus of serious misconduct and that it came close to losing its repute. But there was no revocation that comes with such a loss of repute and no suspension or other punishment. The OFT report a year earlier exacted no punishment, either.

Cardiff now

What the OFT report made clear was that this was the first time ever of findings regarding illegal predatory actions. This in itself would normally lead to a loss of good repute and a consequent revocation, said the traffic commissioner.

What probably saved Cardiff Bus was a general level of ignorance within the industry as to what was and was not an acceptable reprisal. Given the OFT report and the high profile inquiry, it’s unlikely a traffic commissioner would be so lenient in the future.

Those outside the bus industry will fail to understand what almost losing your repute actually means. It’s extremely serious, especially for a large and heretofore respected operator.

Cardiff then

Yet, it has to be said that Cardiff Bus had a right to defend itself against a predator. And, my understanding of the situation that’s now almost five years old—and the memory fades—was that 2Travel operated on a handful of routes only and even then patchily: basically largely off-peak against Cardiff’s 18 hours a day operation. What’s new is that 2Travel apparently was only 70 per cent and not the expected 95 per cent compliant regarding punctuality or reliability.

There’s a balance between acting to protect your business and being seen as predatory. Perhaps this balance is now almost impossible to achieve. Medium and large operators would do well to take the advice of the Welsh traffic commissioner and study the Cardiff Bus OFT report carefully. Bed time reading.

Those who feel that Cardiff Bus were let off the hook might wonder what would’ve happened had the traffic commissioner revoked its licence, grounding all 250 buses...