Summary - TST 8
TRANSPORTES, SERVICIOS Y TELECOMUNICACIONES
Margaret Walsh & Corinne Mulley
Twentieth Century Public Policy in Motorised Bus Transport: The United States and the United Kingdom Compared
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Key words:
Motorbus; USA; UK; Public Policy.
[ Abstract ]
This article examines the contested issues of government po-licy in shaping the development of the motorbus industry in the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) in the twentieth century .These issues include free competition, the relationship between public and private transport, the desirabi-lity of a national transport policy, the maintenance of services that were not purely economic, but which provided a public service and the role of subsidies. Policies in both countries suggest that the weakening position of motorbus transport stemmed both from the popularity of the private automobile and the difficulties facing government in establishing or managing policies using mixed modes of transport. Despite a greater capacity to plan public transport in the UK and despite a greater awareness of environmental issues the motorbus has not flourished. Most concepts of public service and communal well-being have faded before the widespread demand for individual mobility.
[ Abstract ]
This article examines the contested issues of government po-licy in shaping the development of the motorbus industry in the United States (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) in the twentieth century .These issues include free competition, the relationship between public and private transport, the desirabi-lity of a national transport policy, the maintenance of services that were not purely economic, but which provided a public service and the role of subsidies. Policies in both countries suggest that the weakening position of motorbus transport stemmed both from the popularity of the private automobile and the difficulties facing government in establishing or managing policies using mixed modes of transport. Despite a greater capacity to plan public transport in the UK and despite a greater awareness of environmental issues the motorbus has not flourished. Most concepts of public service and communal well-being have faded before the widespread demand for individual mobility.