PROCEEDINGS: CONFERENCE ON INTERCITY BUS TRANSPORTATION. REMARKS OF ROBERT BRUTON

Assuming that a political decision is reached to have a federal intercity bus subsidy program, it will be primarily to support continuation of service where regulatory reform has caused an abandonment of service. If such a program is to overcome the objection to all subsidy programs, that they cannot be controlled, it must be confined to those specific cases where abandonment of service has actually taken place or is inevitable. If this is a basic requirement for subsidy eligibility, it opens the way for dealing with another objection to subsidy programs, the problem of removing carrier incentives for efficiency. If, however, subsidies are only provided in those cases where existing carriers have abandoned service, the way is clearly open to provide subsidies to alternative carriers, and to ask for competitive bids. This may seem to be a radical approach, but given the high level of concern about waste and inefficiency in federal spending, such an approach may be tried. (Author)

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• Supplemental Notes:
  • The remarks presented by the author appeared in TRB Unpublished Report No. 20, Proceedings: Conference on Intercity Bus Transportation.
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Bruton, R
• Publication Date: 1980-12

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 29-30
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Board Unpublished Report
  • Issue Number: 20
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transportation; Economic efficiency; Intercity bus lines; Policy; Politics; Settlement (Structures); Subsidence (Geology)
• Uncontrolled Terms: Efficiency
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Economics; Finance; Highways; Law; Motor Carriers; Policy; I10: Economics and Administration;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00372059
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Final Rpt.
• Contract Numbers: ICC-80-C-0017, DOT-UT-80040
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 31 1983 12:00AM