IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v29y2010i1p140-144.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contracting regimes for bus services: What have we learnt after 20 years?

Author

Listed:
  • Hensher, David A.
  • Stanley, John

Abstract

This paper reviews a number of themes that have played a crucial role in the debate on alternative contracting regimes for the provision of urban bus services. We have selected four crucial issues to reflect on: (i) contractual regimes (in particular competitive tendering as compared to negotiated performance-based contracts, as means to award the rights to provide service); (ii) contract completeness (focussing on ex ante and ex post elements); (iii) building trust through partnership; and (iv) tactical or system level planning for bus services. Experience in these areas suggests that competitive tendering has frequently not lived up to expectations and that negotiation is likely in many circumstances to deliver better value for money.

Suggested Citation

  • Hensher, David A. & Stanley, John, 2010. "Contracting regimes for bus services: What have we learnt after 20 years?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 140-144.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:29:y:2010:i:1:p:140-144
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739-8859(10)00048-X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David A. Hensher & Anne Yvrande‐Billon & Rosário Macário & John Preston & Peter White & Bill Tyson & D. M. Van de Velde & Bert van Wee & Joaquim José Guilherme de Aragão & Enilson Medeiros dos Santos , 2007. "Delivering Value for Money to Government through Efficient and Effective Public Transit Service Continuity: Some Thoughts," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 411-448, July.
    2. Hensher, David A., 2010. "Incompleteness and clarity in bus contracts: Identifying the nature of the ex ante and ex post perceptual divide," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 106-117.
    3. David A. Hensher & Ian P. Wallis, 2005. "Competitive Tendering as a Contracting Mechanism for Subsidising Transport: The Bus Experience," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 39(3), pages 295-322, September.
    4. Hensher, David A. & Stanley, John, 2008. "Transacting under a performance-based contract: The role of negotiation and competitive tendering," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1143-1151, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wegelin, Philipp & von Arx, Widar, 2016. "The impact of alternative governance forms of regional public rail transport on transaction costs. Case evidence from Germany and Switzerland," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 133-142.
    2. Hensher, David A. & Mulley, Corinne & Smith, Neil, 2013. "Towards a simplified performance-linked value for money model as a reference point for bus contract payments," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 232-238.
    3. Canıtez, Fatih & Çelebi, Dilay, 2018. "Transaction cost economics of procurement models in public transport: An institutional perspective," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 116-125.
    4. Wegelin, Philipp, 2018. "Is the mere threat enough? An empirical analysis about competitive tendering as a threat and cost efficiency in public bus transportation," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 245-253.
    5. John Stanley, 2011. "Public Transport Liberalization: Achievements and Future Directions," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), International Handbook of Network Industries, chapter 16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Vigren, Andreas & Pyddoke, Roger, 2020. "The impact on bus ridership of passenger incentive contracts in public transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 144-159.
    7. Germà Bel & Jordi Rosell, 2016. "Public and Private Production in a Mixed Delivery System: Regulation, Competition and Costs," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(3), pages 533-558, June.
    8. Nayan, Ashish & Wang, David Z.W., 2017. "Optimal bus transit route packaging in a privatized contracting regime," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 146-157.
    9. Odeck, James & Høyem, Harald, 2021. "The impact of competitive tendering on operational costs and market concentration in public transport: The Norwegian car ferry services," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    10. Stanley, John & Hensher, David A., 2008. "Delivering trusting partnerships for route bus services: A Melbourne case study," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(10), pages 1295-1301, December.
    11. Eerdmans, David A. & van Kooij, Sebastiaan C.E. & van de Velde, Didier M. & Westerink, Hans, 2010. "Are we doing it wrong or do we expect too much? Forces that push authorities to become public transport designers," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 133-139.
    12. Filippini, M. & Koller, M. & Masiero, G., 2015. "Competitive tendering versus performance-based negotiation in Swiss public transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 158-168.
    13. Francesco, Gastaldi & Lucia, Quaglino & Carlo, Stagnaro, 2012. "Il trasporto pubblico locale e la concorrenza. Cambiare paradigma per salvare il servizio: il caso ligure [Local Public Transportation and Competition. Changing Paradigm to Save the Service: The Ca," MPRA Paper 49464, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Wallis, Ian & Bray, David & Webster, Heather, 2010. "To competitively tender or to negotiate - Weighing up the choices in a mature market," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 89-98.
    15. Hensher, David A., 2021. "The case for negotiated contracts under the transition to a green bus fleet," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 255-269.
    16. Rosell, Jordi, 2017. "Urban bus contractual regimes in small- and medium-sized municipalities: Competitive tendering or negotiation?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 54-62.
    17. João M. Pinto & Mário Coutinho dos Santos & Pedro Verga Matos, 2021. "Contracting Out Public Transit Services: An Incentive Performance-Based Approach," Working Papers de Economia (Economics Working Papers) 02, Católica Porto Business School, Universidade Católica Portuguesa.
    18. Merkert, Rico & Hensher, David A., 2013. "Regulation, trust and contractual incentives around transport contracts – Is there anything bus operators can learn from public air service contracts?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 67-78.
    19. Hensher, David A. & Stanley, John, 2008. "Transacting under a performance-based contract: The role of negotiation and competitive tendering," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(9), pages 1143-1151, November.
    20. Augustin, Katrin & Walter, Matthias, 2010. "Operator changes through competitive tendering: Empirical evidence from German local bus transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 36-44.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:29:y:2010:i:1:p:140-144. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.