Increased coordination in public transport—which mechanisms are available?
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2010
Subject Area
mode - bus, mode - rail, organisation - contracting, place - europe, operations - coordination, economics - operating costs
Keywords
Bus service, Railway service, Coordination, New Public Management, Organisation, Transport policy
Abstract
After several years of New Public Management reforms within public transport, coordination seems to receive increased attention. With examples of actual as well as suggested changes taken from Denmark, Sweden and the UK the aim of the article is to analyse and classify the mechanisms utilized and suggested to increase coordination between core stakeholders within passenger railway services and bus services. Four distinctive mechanisms of coordination are suggested, namely organisational coordination, contractual coordination, partnership coordination and discursive coordination. Each coordination mechanism has its strengths and failures. The article also debates to what extent the mechanisms conflict with three core characteristics of New Public Management: Unbundling of the public sector into corporatized units; more contract-based competitive provision; and greater emphasis on output controls.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Sørensen, C.H., & Longva, F. (2010). Increased coordination in public transport—which mechanisms are available? Transport Policy, Vol. 18, (1), pp. 117-125.
Comments
Transport Policy Home Page: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/0967070X