At present, there is a strong tendency for the involvement of private companies in the development of transport systems. The question is whether these companies start to determine how the transport system should look like. It has been found that for urban public transport the design objective strongly determines network characteristics and the cost structure. If the transport company's objective is used, the result is a very coarse network, which is not very attractive for travellers, but which is profitable. The traveller's objective yields attractive but expensive network structures. Objectives formulated from the local authority's point of view cause attractive networks, but still to a small loss. It is concluded that the local authorities should decide what the objectives of the urban public transport are. These authorities should, of course, bear the financial consequences of these choices. The challenge for transport companies is then to increase patronage given the authority's objectives. (A)
Abstract