During last 20 years of transformation from the centrally planned to the market economics, the Polish urban public transport systems have been significantly modernized, both in the functional and organisational way. Each city could choose an individual strategy, also in terms of possible usage of competition. The developed solutions differ from the monopoly of a communal company (Poznan, Rzeszow), through tendering of whole bus systems (Tczew) or its parts (for example in Warsaw and Gdynia since early 1990s) to deregulation and on-the-road competition in Zakopane. Some contracts are operated by international companies, but also national private firms, such as DLA in the region of Wroclaw or ITS in the region of Wroclaw, remain important market players. The point of the paper will be to synthesize current experience, previously hardly presented in English and known by the international audience. The off-the-road competition model and different tendering and contractual solutions when outsourcing the services to private companies are considered. This determines such important factors, as the risk and competence distribution between public and private sectors, managing competition within carriers and last but not least motivating them to delivering high quality services to the passengers. A comparison of the economic efficiency of different solutions is presented, based both on a cost model, as well as attractiveness to the passengers. For the covering abstract see ITRD E145999
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