An overview of public transport reforms in Great Britain and forecasts for the future

A well known series of reforms in the 1980s and 1990s have radically altered the structure of the public transport, namely bus and rail, market in Great Britain. The author attempts to draw a set of lessons for other countries from the experiences in Great Britain. The paper reviews the impacts of these reforms by drawing 20 lessons from the bus industry and 20 lessons from the rail industry and then distilling these into 10 generic lessons. The author stresses the importance of regulatory and ownership cycles, with the main impacts being on demand, costs, subsidy, and consumer expectations. At an aggregate level, it seems that competition for the market is more effective than competition in the market. However, at a more disaggregate level, the picture is less clear. If the public transport industry in Great Britain is to undergo a sustained revival, then a further turn in the regulatory cycle is probably required. Other countries can learn from the British experience provided it is appreciated that optimal regulatory and ownership structures are time and place specific.