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Public–private contracting and incentives for public transport: Can anything be learned from the Sydney Metro experience?

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Listed:
  • Gordon, Cameron
  • Mulley, Corinne
  • Stevens, Nick
  • Daniels, Rhonda

Abstract

The New South Wales (NSW) government created the Sydney Metro Authority to design, build and operate a completely separate underground Metro rail system to supplement the existing public transport network in Sydney. By the time the NSW government abruptly cancelled the entire Metro project in early 2010, the authority had conceived and designed a contract that was proceeding to procurement. This paper examines the nature of the proposed Sydney Metro contract in relation to its performance framework and compares this to the frameworks in current contracts for bus, rail and ferry public transport in Sydney. Against this background, the paper examines the extent to which the Sydney Metro approach has had an impact on subsequent public transport contracts in the context of the literature on public private contracting and incentives for public transport procurement. The paper concludes that little has been implemented, although the other mode contracts now enable more performance measurement and incentivisation. In particular, the decision to award contracts to existing (and mostly public sector) operators appears to have acted as a brake on developing these performance elements.

Suggested Citation

  • Gordon, Cameron & Mulley, Corinne & Stevens, Nick & Daniels, Rhonda, 2013. "Public–private contracting and incentives for public transport: Can anything be learned from the Sydney Metro experience?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 73-84.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:trapol:v:27:y:2013:i:c:p:73-84
    DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2013.01.009
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Wretstrand, Anders & Holmberg, Bengt & Berntman, Monica, 2014. "Safety as a key performance indicator: Creating a safety culture for enhanced passenger safety, comfort, and accessibility," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 109-115.
    4. Phil McManus & Graham Haughton, 2021. "Fighting to undo a deal: Identifying and resisting the financialization of the WestConnex motorway, Sydney, Australia," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(1), pages 131-149, February.
    5. Ahmadabadi, Ali Akbari & Heravi, Gholamreza, 2019. "The effect of critical success factors on project success in Public-Private Partnership projects: A case study of highway projects in Iran," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 152-161.
    6. Xiao, Zengqi & Lam, Jasmine Siu Lee, 2019. "Willingness to take contractual risk in port public-private partnerships under economic volatility: The role of institutional environment in emerging economies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 106-116.
    7. 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.

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