Privatisation, Regulation and Competition: A Thirty-year Retrospective on Transit Efficiency

The past few decades have seen transit patronage decrease in all Western countries, including Europe and the United States, lagging far behind the substantial growth in mobility that has occurred during the same period. Among the more important factors offered by many authors to explain the observed reductions in public transit have been the rising levels of real income and decreasing relative costs of private travel. Combined, these factors have led to significant increases in automobile ownership and population shifts from central cities to suburbs, both of which reduce the demand for public transit. An important implication of the changing land-use patterns is the need for public transit to adapt their operations – including routes, service frequency, work rules and fare structures – to meet the changing needs of their customers and to provide more efficient transit services. Yet, throughout the past thirty years, public transit systems have either been reluctant or unable to significantly alter their operations.