ALTERNATIVE POLICIES FOR FINANCING PUBLIC TRANSPORT OPERATIONS

This paper presents the results of a twelve month investigation into alternative policies for financing publicly owned bus operators. It firstly summarises and classifies the pattern of grants and allowances available to public transport operators in Britain from central and local government. It shows the amounts and categories of financial aid each type of public transport operator (nationalised or local authority controlled bus undertaking, passenger transport executive, railway, etc) receives relative to the undertakings' cost and revenue structures: revenue support, capital grants, fiscal concessions, grants in respect of particular categories of passenger (pensioner, child, etc), whether the assistance is in respect of individual services or provides general support for a network, and whether intended specifically to enable fares to be contained, or frequencies and route patterns to be maintained. The importance of alternative sources in the provision of grants is discussed. The public service obligation payable by central government to British Rail, with tax revenues as the source of funds, is contrasted with the funding through the rate/rate support/transport supplementary grant system of bus services and local trains in the metropolitan counties. The growing influence of government policies and financial controls upon levels of funds county and district councils provide for the implemenation of their preferred local public transport policies is shown. Finally, the paper relates the availbility of grants from the various sources, of differing quantities and for different purposes to the effectiveness of the transport undertakings in running services to the satisfaction of their clientele over the ten year period since the re-organisation of local government and the introduction of the present pattern of public transport administration and funding in the mid 1970s. For the covering abstract of the seminar see IRRD 283591. (TRRL)

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/086050137X
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Transport Policy. Proceedings of Seminar J held at the 12th PTRC Summer Annual Meeting, University of Sussex, England, 10-13 July 1984, Volume P252.
• Corporate Authors:

  PTRC Education and Research Services Limited

  110 Strand
  London WC2,   England 
• Authors:
  • Higginson, M
• Conference:
  • Planning & Transport Res & Comp, Sum Ann Mtg, Proc
• Publication Date: 1984

Media Info

• Features: References;
• Pagination: p. 41-50

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Buses; Conferences; County government; Districts and authorities; Economic factors; Economics; Fares; Federal government; Financing; Level of service; Local government; Local government agencies; Policy; Public transit; Railroad transportation; Subsidies; Tariffs; Taxes; Transportation; Transportation departments; Transportation operations; Transportation policy
• Identifier Terms: British Rail
• Geographic Terms: United Kingdom; United States
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus services; National transportation policies
• ITRD Terms: 8525: Conference; 263: Economics of transport; 244: Financing; 183: Government (national); 653: Level of service; 192: Local authority; 1144: Operations (transp network); 173: Policy; 744: Public transport; 1173: Rail bound transport; 241: Tariff; 268: Tax; 253: Transport authority; 8119: United Kingdom
• Subject Areas: Economics; Finance; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00451254
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
• ISBN: 086050-137-X
• Files: ITRD, TRIS
• Created Date: Nov 30 1985 12:00AM