The conflict between competition policy and the wider role of the local bus industry in Britain

Since the Transport Act of 1985, the local bus industry in Britain (outside London and Northern Ireland) has been subject to deregulation, removing previous restrictions on routes, service levels and fares. This also marked a reversal of the previous emphasis on co-ordination of services provided by different operators, and introduced competition law as applying to other industries to the local bus sector. This has been in conflict with other policy objectives aimed at stimulating greater use of public transport, such as harmonisation of ticketing systems. The underlying issues are examined, and recent changes in policy. The Local Transport Act of 2008 offers an opportunity to resolve some of these problems, and its application in Oxford is discussed as the first substantial example to date. However, a strong conflict remains between the role of competition agencies and other aspects of policy.     

为英国市场提供的改进型电动车组Desiro UK

Siemens公司为英国铁路区间交通开发了能适应当地各种不同需要的动车组家族Desiro UK.动车组设计考虑了两种不同的电流制、不同的车辆和列车长度以及端车的两种不同车头形式.主要影响牵引设备和车辆控制设计的准入程序是一特殊的挑战.     

单一货币与认同--关于英国对欧元态度的社会心理分析

英国迟迟不愿加入欧元区是欧洲一体化过程中一个颇有争议的问题。从理性选择的角度并不能令人信服地解释英国对欧元的态度。通过英国对欧元态度的社会心理分析,我们看到单纯的物质利益原因并非英国拒绝加入欧元区的充分理由。从英国民族认同和欧洲认同的关系来看,英国长期视欧洲为他者,对欧洲缺乏认同感。这是英国对欧政策的重要思想根源,而用经济理由拒绝欧元则是对英国人真实想法的一种掩饰。     

英国学徒培训制度的发展轨迹

学徒培训制度是英国古老的职业教育制度,这一制度几经延续、承袭发展到今天,从形式到内容都打上了许多现代印迹。它既承袭了英国传统学徒培训制度的基本特点,又带有现代社会的鲜明时代痕迹,力求从根本上解决学校职业教育脱离工商企业实践的弊端,以现代形式使英国传统学徒培训制度焕发出新的生机。     

Commercialising the management and maintenance of trunk roads in the United Kingdom

Public funding of new infrastructure from money raised through taxes or borrowing has been questioned globally in recent years. One alternative solution has been to finance major capital projects through Build, Operate & Transfer (BOT) schemes. In the United Kingdom, the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) has become established as the procurement method of choice for many projects and services in central and local government. It is a natural development of other changes in government administration which have been introduced over the past few years. Projects delivered in this way enable government to become a buyer of services on behalf of the public rather than a direct provider of those services to the public, taking advantage of private sector management skills and resources in their delivery. The PFI has demonstrated its ability to deliver value for money solutions in projects across a range of capital-intensive public services, but the greatest success in delivering projects has been in the transport sector. This paper outlines how the British Government's Highways Agency has restructured and commercialised the management and maintenance of the strategic road network for which it is responsible, and how it has been at the forefront of developing successful privately financed projects. The paper explains the Agency's particular version of BOT – Design, Build, Finance and Operate (DBFO) projects. These projects are delivering new and improved road construction and maintenance, providing better services to users of the country's strategic road network and achieving significant value for money savings for taxpayers.