CONTESTABILITY IN THE UK BUS INDUSTRY? THE NATIONAL BUS COMPANY, AND THE "TILLING MARK II" EFFECT

Authors

R Langridge
R Sealey

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2000

Subject Area

mode - bus

Keywords

United Kingdom, Transportation policy, Tilling Mark II effect, National Bus Company (United Kingdom), Motor bus transportation, Market structure, Market assessment, Laws and legislation, Intercity bus transportation, Great Britain, Government agencies, Economic policy, Bus transportation

Abstract

Contestable Market theory has been described as the 'Fourth Age of Transport Policy.' Politicians and economists applied this theory to achieve lower output cost without a need for structural change. In the U.K., this theory provided the rationale behind the 1984 'Buses' White Paper. However, the subsequent atomization of the National Bus Company ordered by Nicholas Ridley, the then Secretary of State for Transport, went against the contestability theory. The subsequent reoligopization of the industry merely revisited the past and could be described as the Tilling Mark II effect.

Comments

Transport Policy Home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0967070X

Recommended Citation

Langridge, R, Sealey, R. (2000). CONTESTABILITY IN THE UK BUS INDUSTRY? THE NATIONAL BUS COMPANY, AND THE "TILLING MARK II" EFFECT. Transport Policy, Volume 7, Issue 2, p. 105-115.