On the buses

Tory Ministers, who were clearly not regular bus users, thought the relaxed rules would lead to greater competition among operators, lower fares and more efficient services.

It has not worked.

Two-thirds of services outside London are run by just five companies. It means the travelling public have little, if any choice – the reverse of the Thatcher administration's intentions.

And, furthermore, these firms – FirstGroup, Stagecoach, Arriva, National Express and Go-Ahead – are still entitled, despite their wealth, to 1.2bn a year in public subsidies to run those non-profitable services deemed to be in the public interest.

Given the prevailing concerns about the difficulties being encountered by new operators, and how limited competition is driving up fares, many will welcome the review that was instigated yesterday by the Office of Fair Trading.

The worry is that the Competition Commission's wheels tend to move even more slowly than the buses in the snow – and that the OFT inquiry raises expectations unduly.

What it needs to do is put safeguards in place to comply private operators to meet targets on punctuality, provide essential services for a reduced subsidy and set fares within certain parameters.

If this was backed up by tough powers that enabled local authorities to revoke the licences of firms when their performance fell below a set benchmark, then even more people might – just – be persuaded to leave the car at home and use public transport. This will not happen, however, while passengers are treated as second-class citizens.