The British deregulation of public transport in 1986 has resulted in a strong improvement of the efficiency of bus companies and in a more careful evaluation by public authorities of the need to subsidise specific services. But is the performance of the British deregulation better than that of the Dutch regulation ? To stimulate the discussion, this paper makes an objective comparison of the achievements of both systems (in terms of level of service, fare level and level of subsidisation) for the free market in an English city and a regulated market in a comparable Dutch city (Den Bosch). The comparison between the regions of Den Bosch and York show that it is wrong to believe that the level of service in York would be poor, despite the much lower level of subsidisation and the introduction of competition. In general, it can be said that the level of service is higher in York than in Den Bosch. The fares are, roughly speaking comparable and rebates are available for specific target groups in both areas. Partial data show that the subsidisation in Den Bosch is a multiple of that in York (at least five times larger). (A)
Abstract