Slow Progress Towards Bus Competition in the European Union

Abstract

This paper reports on a study of bus service competition and regulation within the European Union which was undertaken in 1997. It shows that, despite the widespread acceptance of the principles of open competition, harmonisation of regulation and subsidiarity of administrative decisions, there are still considerable differences in practice across Europe. No other country appears to be inclined towards the wholsale deregulation of bus services which was adopted in the UK but the favoured model of competitive tendering has not been universally adopted throughout Europe. Even when competitive tendering has been introduced, it is more often based on costs only and on a route by route basis. Area franchises, which give more scope for commercial innovation, have only been introduced in a small number of places on an experimental basis. Strict regulation has, so far, been seen as more important than open competition.