Competition In Transportation

Issues of competition seem to have been neglected for a long time in the transportation sector. But the provision of transport services at competitive prices and quantities may have an important impact on economic development, both from a regional and a global perspective. This volume addresses such issues of competition in transportation. Part I deals with the air transport sector, part II is concerned with the road transport sector, part III takes a look at transportation costs and, in the final part, some visions of competition in transportation are discussed.

This report is the result of a 12-month effort. It provides recommendations which are appropriate to restore the health and ensure the competitiveness of the nation's transportation system in its service to individual Canadians and Canadian businesses. It discusses the impact of reform; impacts on safety, environment, and labour-management relations; the carriers (highway, air, railway, and marine); the challenge of keeping competition alive; transportation policy and the role of government; and the legislation and the agency.

This book evaluates the successes, failures, and factors that influence the competition for public bus transport services. Using Germany as a case study, the author explains the dichotomous system of a market with licenses for commercial services, where operators are granted exclusivity, and licenses for non-commercial services, where supplementary direct subsidies are tendered out by public transport authorities. The empirical analysis is based on primary data usually not publicly available, and supplemented by numerous expert interviews. The book aims to provide a basic understanding of the players and their options, offer insights into the German model, and make policy recommendations for those whose goal is to increase competition.

This book represents the proceedings of a conference held at Kobe University, that brought together some of the world's leading researchers in the field of transportation planning and policy. It contains a compendium of papers representing state-of-the-art research on topics of competition and regulation and system structure in air and maritime transportation. This book is a valuable resource for researchers and others who can use it as a starting point for advancing the state of knowledge in important topics of transportation systems management. It can also serve as a textbook for an advanced graduate course in transportation, economics, or public policy as applied to maritime transportation and air transportation. As such it is the first text of its kind.