http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...s-deregulation

This article and the report behind it make interesting reading. They seem
to suggest that the London way of franchising bus routes is the clear way
forward.

Lew 1 wrote:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...s-deregulation

This article and the report behind it make interesting reading. They seem
to suggest that the London way of franchising bus routes is the clear way
forward.

Owen Jones, as a well-known leftie, is of course in favour of nationalising
everything, so he's actually advocating municipal ownership and operation
of buses, which isn't what we have in London.

TfL controls the routes and fares, but the buses themselves are operated
by, and mainly owned by, private companies, under contract with TfL. The
operators have to compete for contracts, which do change hands from time to
time. That seems to me to be a good combination.

On 2016-01-21 17:08:06 +0000, said:

As well as being a state socialist, Owen Jones overlooks the success
stories, however few, of bus privatisation outside London.

And how, while Lothian is a picture of how to do it (give or take the
no change policy) in a city that is ideal for bus operation, some of
the other municipals are, and were, dire. I haven't heard a kind word
said about Warrington for ages, for instance.

I'd be more inclined to say that tendering areas for exclusive
operation would work better, with a looser specification giving more
commercial freedom. Petty spats between operators don't help matters,
and it's not as if bus operators with de-facto monopolies actually seem
to abuse this even now.

Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the @ to reply.

In article ,
(Neil Williams) wrote:

On 2016-01-21 17:08:06 +0000, said:

As well as being a state socialist, Owen Jones overlooks the success
stories, however few, of bus privatisation outside London.

And how, while Lothian is a picture of how to do it (give or take the
no change policy) in a city that is ideal for bus operation, some of
the other municipals are, and were, dire. I haven't heard a kind
word said about Warrington for ages, for instance.

I'd be more inclined to say that tendering areas for exclusive
operation would work better, with a looser specification giving more
commercial freedom. Petty spats between operators don't help
matters, and it's not as if bus operators with de-facto monopolies
actually seem to abuse this even now.

That is assuming that the local political leadership have a clue how to run
a transport network. Some do but most don't. Bus managers don't do much
better, hence the places where bus ridership has gone on declining, but more
do than the local politicos I suggest. And I speak as a retired local
politician.

--
Colin Rosenstiel