“We the undersigned call on the Competition Commission to change the rules governing bus service competition in order to encourage and enable smaller providers (such as the Big Lemon Bus Company) to successfully operate services and not allow the market to be dominated by huge established monopolies who are currently in a position to squeeze out any competition. In particular we wish to draw attention to the situation in Brighton. The Big Lemon Bus Company is an ethical social enterprise which environmentally and sustainably sources its fuel from waste cooking oil. Unlike its rival, the Big Lemon does not have the resources to run 280 buses or to operate only the services where it faces competition below cost price. It has therefore had to end its 42 route leaving its competitor as the sole provider of that service and paving the way for a hike in fares. The current rules inevitably mean that established giants in the market place become monopolies, ticket prices rise and the number of services fall. This sends out the wrong message to other small providers that are looking to offer services and represents a very bad deal for bus users.”

University of Sussex Conservative Society University of Sussex Labour Society University of Sussex Economics Society Mike Weatherley MP (See below for feature on his website) Simon Kirby MP has also written to the Competition Commission on behalf of this petition who have also passed on the comments to the Department of Transport and to the Office for Fair Trading (Please comment if you would also like to be a sponsor)