‘Regulated deregulation’ of local bus services—An appraisal of international developments

The deregulation of the British bus sector (outside London) in 1986 was the start of a debate on the merits of ‘deregulation’ and ‘competitive tendering’. The period that followed was rich in lessons. New Zealand was at the time the only other country engaging in a reform based upon market initiative (implemented in 1991). Other countries chose for a less extreme and more consensual way to introduce competitive incentives, choosing the fundamentally different competitive tendering (CT) path. As a result, the so-called ‘Scandinavian model’ developed, based upon the London example of route tendering. Later the Netherlands adopted a network tendering approach, resembling the French practice of network tendering though with more operator freedom.     

Long-term development of express coach services in Britain

Express coach services compete for longer distance market with car and rail, and largely cater for the leisure, tourism, and visiting friends and relatives. markets. Britain deregulated its express coach system in 1980, and it is now opportune to examine long-term impacts of that change. The initial impacts were reviewed by the authors in 1986 (Robbins & White, 1986) but such impacts do not necessarily match long-term outcomes. Monitoring of the British system has been conducted by examining service changes and data on ridership, together with financial performance of the main operator groups and technical press coverage. It can be shown that a dominant position has been retained by the major operator (National Express), with a continued decline in the role of smaller independent operators in the all-year-round daily network. However, new competition has emerged from other large groups (most notably Stagecoach ‘Megabus’ in 2003). The paper analyses the operating and marketing strategies of the new operator and contrasts these strategies with those adopted in the 1980s. Implications for the future development of the network in Britain are outlined.     

Workshop 3B: Governance,ownership and competition issues in deregulated (free market) public transport: Lessons that can be learnt from developed and developing economies

The past emphasis in this conference series has been on the best ways to deregulate regulated public transport markets. This workshop reverses this process by examining the best ways to regulate deregulated public transport markets. A hierarchy of regulatory needs is identified and three hybrid models examined, based loosely on experience from Great Britain, New Zealand and Sweden. It is argued that deregulated public transport markets are a global phenomenon but regulatory measures should reflect local requirements. The resultant process of glocalisation might result in regulatory measures that focus on the rules of law and their enforcement in emerging public transport markets (such as urban transport in Sub Saharan Africa and for the soon to be competitive inter urban market in Germany) but that focus on guidance for network integration and incentivisation for welfare maximisation in more mature public transport markets (as in Great Britain, New Zealand and Sweden).     

Evaluating the long term impacts of transport policy: An initial assessment of bus deregulation

Local buses in Britain, outside London, were ‘deregulated’ as a result of the 1985 Transport Act, with most of the organisational changes implemented in 1986 but many of the ownership changes occurring over a longer period. By contrast, in London, the 1984 London Regional Transport Act introduced a system of comprehensive tendering – but it took 10 years for the organisational and ownership changes to be fully implemented. This paper examines the long term impacts of these changes. A key issue when examining long term changes is that of the counterfactual – what would have happened if the changes had not occurred? An econometric model of the demand for local bus services in Britain is outlined and used in conjunction with extrapolative methods for key variables such as fares and bus kms to determine demand-side counterfactuals. Some analyses of subsidy and of costs will also be outlined. This will then permit the examination of welfare change by estimating changes in consumer and producer surpluses, updating earlier studies. It is found that outside London, bus demand declined strongly, at least up to the year 2000 and some of this reduction can be ascribed to deregulation. By contrast in London, demand has generally been increasing. However, in both areas operating costs also declined strongly, again up to 2000, but since then there have been strong increases in costs and subsidy. Our initial finding is that there are net welfare increases both outside and inside London, but with welfare increases per capita being five times greater in London than elsewhere. However, sensitivity analysis shows that our results are sensitive to the specification of the modelling system and assumptions made concerning the counterfactual, particularly for the results for London.     

Port competition in Latin America and the Caribbean: the role of concessions and competition policy

Appropriate port regulation and competitive forces tend to be related to higher levels of operational and economic performance of ports. From a policy-making perspective, pursuing efficiency and securing competition in ports to reach a level playing field is a two-step process requiring (1) ex-ante regulations to set the rules that maximize the competition for the market, especially when the policy objective is to attract private operations to ports on competitive concession processes and (2) ex-post competition policy to monitor and preserve competition in the market. This paper studies port regulation in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) from a competition perspective, analyzing both ex-ante and ex-post policies implemented in the region. The analysis reveals that the competitive environment in LAC is low, giving room for possible anticompetitive practices in the LAC port sector. Since the end of the 1990s, approximately 80% of container terminals in the region were granted to only five companies. Chile and Mexico have been found to be the best practices in the region, with better conditions assuring robust competition in the market. The main policy implication from this analysis is the need for a stronger involvement of antitrust agencies throughout the port concession processes.     

Regulating the regulator: The impact of professional procuring bodies on local public transport policy and its effectiveness

During the past 15 years competitive tenders have become a common procedure when procuring local bus services in Europe. In particular, tenders with gross cost contracts and the so-called Scandinavian model have gained popularity, resulting in a vast amount of research on optimal contractual relationships between government and operators. This paper pays attention to a rather neglected part of the Scandinavian model: the construction of professional procuring bodies and their relationship to the local public administration, focusing on its implications for policy steering and service performance.The paper outlines briefly two different perspectives of analyses of organisational models: one perspective is anchored in principal-agent theory and institutional economics; and the other perspective in political science. Empirically, the article is based on an evaluation of the relation between two Norwegian counties and the administrative company responsible for planning and procuring public transport services. This evaluation indicates, firstly, important common challenges for the county administration due to lack of regional administrative competencies in relation to the administrative company, which also hampers the county’s role as coordinator of policy areas of importance for public transport. Secondly, due to increased transaction costs, the establishment of administrative companies does not seem compatible with contracts relying on net cost solutions with huge scope for operator initiatives.     

Competition in Brazilian bus and coach services - The results of recent competitive tendering processes

This paper analyses the terms and the results of a sample of some recent Brazilian bidding processes for the concession of public passenger transport services: namely, urban and metropolitan bus or regional coach services. The analysis is based on selected issues relating to competitiveness and upon the legal framework that applies in this sector. It was concluded that, given the lack of bidding processes for concessions in the bus and coach sector in Brazil, the fact that some bidding processes have been carried out should be considered a sign of progress. However, these auctions have not necessarily prioritised competitiveness, since many barriers to entry into the systems were imposed by the bidding terms. Future competitive tendering processes should seek to abide by stricter principles of competitiveness, if they wish to avoid the entire effort expended on conducting such processes serving only to mask nothing more than formal obedience to the law and to discredit the bidding process in the eyes of Brazilian citizens.     

长江水路与沿江铁路运输的竞争分析

在长江经济带中,水运发挥着基础性的作用,但沿长江铁路即将通车,两者间的竞争不可避免。本文通过两者间的竞争分析,为探寻两者的和谐合作之路打下基础。     

Ten years after bus deregulation in Japan: An analysis of institutional changes and cost efficiency

The local bus market in Japan was deregulated in 2002. This study examines the impact of this deregulation on the market structure and the operators' cost efficiency over the last ten years. First, we perform a qualitative before-and-after-deregulation analysis of Japan's bus market, finding that there has been little change in the structure of the Japanese bus market so far. Second, we investigate the effectiveness of the deregulation and internal organisational factors by using a dataset of publicly owned (municipal) bus companies. We estimate the total cost frontier functions in order to examine their effects, showing that it is the internal organisational factors (i.e. governance structure) that affect the operator's efficiency, not deregulation. In fact, the coefficient of subsidies to companies is positive, with statistical significance, thereby suggesting that cost efficiency decreases as the subsidy ratio increases. The coefficient of the contracting-out (MCGL) dummy also obtains statistically significant results; thus, we provide an account of how contracting out clearly improves operators' cost efficiency. The deregulation variable did not show significant results.     

Rail access charges in France: Beyond the opposition between competition and financing

Access charges to the railway infrastructures, and in particular of the high speed lines, poses many theoretical and practical questions. Besides the need to decide whether it is better to apply a principle of marginal cost or a full cost approach, a difficulty arises with regard to the possibilities of competition between various operators. France is especially affected by this problem since access charges are particularly high while at the same time competition is non-existent. Is this absence of competition explained by the high level of access charges? After describing the principles which underlie the pricing scheme for high speed trains in France, this paper attempts to find out if these tolls constitute a barrier to entry. After building a model that summarizes the components of supply and demand on the Paris–Lyon journey, this paper shows that the considerations relating to demand (peak hour or off-peak hour) are more fundamental than access charges, which do not in themselves constitute a barrier to entry. Barriers exist, but they involve access charges in relation to the allocation of slots which would make it possible to guarantee certain profitability to a new entrant. Break-even points are proposed which show that SNCF's potential competitors have margins for manoeuvre.     

共有人与承租人优先购买权冲突问题

从三个方面深入分析在房屋买卖过程中出现的共有人与承租人优先购买权冲突时应确定的原则。     

The human talent and its role in ISM Code effectiveness and competitiveness in the shipping industry

The present study empirically evaluates the role of human talent in the effective implementation of quality management systems in the shipping industry context. Specifically, we analyze the relationships among top management commitment to quality, ISM (International Safety Management) Code effectiveness and competitiveness as well as we assess the influence of talent in these associations. We test our research hypotheses using a sample of 199 shipping companies located in Greece. The findings show that ISM Code effectiveness acts as a mediator between top management commitment and shipping company competitiveness, while the different talent philosophies were found to moderate this relationship.     

海峡两岸海事监管法律制度的冲突及解决

文中分析了海峡两岸海事监管法律制度发生冲突的原因及其可能产生的问题,以区际法律冲突解决理论为指导,结合海峡两岸实际,提出参加共同的海事条约、制定全国统一海事监管法律、签署两岸专门协议等三种解决两岸海事监管法律冲突的途径。     

航运发展中安全管理与生产经营的关系

近年来，我国航运业快速发展，从整体上来看其综合实力已经得到显著提高，已经具备了安全、科学的发展条件。但是航运企业快速发展的过程中生产经营与安全管理之间仍然存在很多问题。特别是在金融危机后，航运企业在注重利益化的发展中，安全问题较为突出，在重大安全隐患无法得到有效控制的情况下.     

The political economy of ports in the United States and Great Britain

Abstract

This is an exploration of the political economy of ports in the United States and Great Britain. A number of technical, economic, and political issues concerning ports are examined. Particular attention is paid to the institutional evolution of ports from private to public ownership, and its consequences for port efficiency. The paper concludes with a set of recommendations designed to reverse the trend toward port nationalization in both countries.     

The effect of governmental subsidies and the contractual model on the publicly-owned bus sector in Japan

The publicly-owned municipal bus sector that provides local transport in Japan is in a difficult situation because of operating deficits, inefficient operations and management, and budgetary constraints of expanding subsidies, and thus, it needs to be restructured to improve efficiency. This paper investigates the impact of subsidies and contractual settings on the cost structure of the publicly-owned bus sector in Japan. A trans-log cost function has been estimated by pooling cross-sectional data of 527 observations over the time period of 1990-2006 for a cross-section of 31 publicly-owned transport companies in Japan. Our analytical results confirm that governmental subsidies to this sector negatively affect the cost structure, while the contractual model may have a positive impact. We also discuss the implications of these results for Japan’s public transport policy.     

CAN现场总线在舰船阀门驱动和控制技术的应用

在现代化的运输网络系统中,阀门有着举足轻重的作用。然而传统的手动阀门有着很大的局限性,因此结合电阀门和CAN现场总线的优点,本文提出基于电控技术的海通阀,该阀门能够进行远程控制;同时本文阐述CAN现场总线的通信原理、结构以及特点;给出电控阀门驱动设计的整体方案,分析各个模块的功能,着重介绍下位机阀门控制系统的设计原理;最后介绍基于CAN现场总线的通信接口设计原理,分析该总线通讯接口的优点。本设计在阀门控制中采用了CAN总线将上位机与下位机构成一个控制系统,这对通海阀的自动智能化提供了实验和理论依据。     

长三角地区船舶产业集群与船舶行业技术预见研究

本文通过对产业集群、行业技术预见的研究,探讨了船舶行业开展技术预见的定位和方法,提出了长三角地区船舶产业集群发展的设想。