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First railways, then buses and taxis and, for a time, road freight – there has for many years been a tendency to treat transport as a utility, and nowhere more so than in the provision of roads. This article calls for the return of all forms of inland surface transport to the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Transport Act 1985 provided for light control of bus services in the UK, and for privatisation. Since 1997 there has been growing pressure for re-regulation, especially from the Passenger Transport Authorities in the former Metropolitan Counties. Steps toward this were taken in the Transport Act 2000. Now we have the Local Transport Act 2008, which could provide for this to be taken further; a Statutory Contract Scheme would enable the Integrated Transport Authority to remove commercial decision-making from bus operators and end all competition. Other parts of the new Act would allow further steps in the same direction. This article argues that its application should be carefully watched and criticised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common assumption that transport is a special case, an industry that is inherently proper for state intervention and control, if not ownership, is examined and questioned in the light of its history and contemporary legislation. An earlier version was presented at a meeting of the Edmund Burke Institute in Dublin in 1989. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mr Ken Livingstone and others have used London Transport as a political plaything in recent years. John Hibbs offers a radical solution to LT's dependence on the politicians - the removal of London's Underground system from the political arena by selling lines to private business. Buses, too, offer scope for swift improvement by sale to private interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After seeking to placate the local government lobby while retaining the benefits of private enterprise, the Labour government's policy for bus services is slipping into a dangerous compromise which will neglect the market while seizing assets from commercial operators. Behind this lies a policy leading to the return of bus services to public ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Editorial. Deals with a radical approach to road pricing. Definition of highway in English law; Concept of the freedom of the road; Politics of road pricing.

Reviews the status of the bus industry of Great Britain. Regulatory reform and restructuring brought about by the Transport Acts of 1980 and 1985; Criticisms of the bus transport system; Successes and failures; Positive projection for the future of the industry.

Presents comments on articles in the field of economics in Great Britain, which were previously published in the periodical 'Economic Affairs.' Student loans; Government regulation of the transportation industry; Problems of regulating to protect the environment; Application of chaos theory.

Outlines some of the problems with regards to railway privatization in Great Britain. Need for regulation of the railway industry; Need to ensure safety; Effect of government interventionist policies during the 1920s; Overriding importance of quality control; Observation that quantity and price controls are a charter for meddling politicians.

The fares increase in London Transport following Ken Livingstone's illegal rates surcharge reinforces the argument that public transport be removed beyond the reach of vote-buying politicians. Deregulation of coaches indicates that the market can provide a cheap and efficient alternative if town halls stop raising bureaucratic obstacles and subsidising municipal competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political pressure exists for the bus industry to be brought under local authority control by means of ‘Quality Contracts.’ These would take away from management the freedom for marketing, and especially for marketing by price, that was returned to them by the ‘deregulation’ of 1985. The proposed franchises would return the industry to the ‘bad old days’ and prevent its continued improvement through market forces from taking place. The Department of Transport considered the idea of franchises in 1985, but concluded that it would merely lead to monopoly power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contrary to the general liberalisation of transport policy that has followed in the European Union for some years now, a proposal is circulating in the Council and Parliament that would reverse all the gains that have been achieved from deregulation of bus and train services. It would return effective decisions to 'competent authorities' and it would drive out competent managers as they lost the freedom to manage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the articles on transport market in Great Britain, published in the February 1994 issue of the priodical 'Economic Affairs.' Aspects of the transport market; Specific modes of transport; Importance of contestability for transport industry; Infrastructure and environmental issues that underlie the provision of movement for goods and passengers; International cartel which governs civil aviation.

Focuses on proposed privatization of the railroads in Great Britain. Case for the restoration of competition in the railway industry; Average fleet size in commercial road transport.

Analyzes the superiority of the supply of transport in Great Britain. Private ownership for efficient transport; Characteristics of an urban public transport system; Benefits of transport subsidies to rich people.

Comments on potential distortions of the transportation market caused by the deregulation of the sector in Great Britain. Residual scope for state interference in the transportation sector; Analysis of pertinent topics and relevant issues; Implications on economics.

Cites Great Britain's bus industry as an example of how changes in public policies can shape the future of the industry. Precedence of the measures formulated by the Institute for Economic Affairs in the 1985 Transport Act; Analysis of the policies governing the bus transport system; Disadvantages of the continued implementation of the 1930 Road Traffic Act on the consumer and the bus industry.