ABSTRACT
The UK formally deregulated road freight transport in the Act of 1968, longdistance road passenger transport in the Act of 1981 and short-distance passenger operations, outside London, in the Act of 1985. The economic connotation of ‘deregulation’ in these Acts was to lift pre-existing restraints on the quantity of service offered, that is to drop governmental control on the entry of new capacity, whether by incumbent operators or newcomers, and on the exit of capacity. Regulation of the quality of operations, for example with respect to obligations concerning safety, were retained and indeed, in some respects, enhanced. Entry, expansion and contraction were thus to be left to the market, with some (relatively minor) increase in costs of operation.
