Abstract

The provision of route bus services in many developed economies has changed considerably over the years. Following an initial situation that typically involved private-sector provision up until the 1970s, as is still common among most developing economies, public-sector monopolies became the norm. A substantial swing to private-sector service provision then began in the 1980s, largely driven by a desire to reduce the growing call of services on the public purse and to provide scope for private-sector innovation, which was thought likely to improve customer services and reduce costs (Hensher and Wallis, 2005).