A THEORETICAL COMPARISON OF COMPETITION WITH OTHER ECONOMIC REGIMES FOR BUS SERVICES.

THIS PAPER USES A THEORETICAL MODEL TO COMPARE THE ECONOMICS OF BUS SERVICES OPERATED UNDER FOUR DIFFERENT REGIMES: COMPETITION, MAXIMISATION OF NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT (SUBJECT TO THE CONSTRAINT THAT THE SERVICE MUST BREAK EVEN), UNREGULATED MONOPOLY, AND UNCONSTRAINED MAXIMISATION OF NET ECONOMIC BENEFIT. A TIME SEGMENT FROM AN INFINITELY-LONG DAY, AND A BUS ROUTE WITH FINITE TIME CYCLE OF 60 MINUTES, ARE CONSIDERED SEPARATELY. THE ANALOGY BETWEEN SPATIAL COMPETITION, SUCH AS THAT BETWEEN SHOPS, AND TEMPORAL COMPETITION BETWEEN BUSES IS USED. IDEAS FROM SPATIAL COMPETITION ARE COUPLED WITH THE EXPONENTIAL DEMAND MODEL DRAWN FROM PUBLIC TRANSPORT.(Author/publisher).