U.K. BUS DEREGULATION: A QUALIFIED SUCCESS WITH MUCH STILL TO OFFER CUSTOMERS AND SOCIETY AT LARGE

Deregulation of the U.K.’s bus industry is frequently held responsible for its decline in patronage, especially when compared with London's regulated market results. This paper argues that deregulation has given able managements the opportunity to develop their markets, whilst introducing a tight regulation by the Office of Fair Trading which has acted against the interests of bus passengers. The paper draws on the results of a number of experiments in the market, particularly by the Stagecoach group — the largest private U.K. bus operator — to illustrate how the new‐found commercialization of the industry, which is the product of deregulation in the mid‐eighties, has benefitted the customer, and brought market growth. It concludes by posing a number of questions for politicians, challenging them not to turn away from the process of commercialization, but rather to deal with the imperfections by fine‐tuning it.