ABSTRACT
Since 1930 bus services in Britain had been subject to a system of licensing administered by quasi-judicial Traffic Commissioners. Each bus operator required a licence, which was granted by the Commissioners only when they were satisfied that the service would be in the public interest. Existing transport operators (including British Rail) could and did object to applications for new bus services and would often point to the need to restrict competition to enable the cross-subsidisation of less popular routes to continue, such as in rural areas. As people increasingly turned to using cars in the post-war period, the number of bus users fell and local bus operations became gradually more dependent on state subsidy. In 1982 subsidies amounted to £490 million in revenue support, £235 million to fund concessionary fares, and £93 million in the form of the fuel duty rebate, which reduced fuel taxes on public transport. However, in spite of the heavy subsidy and rebate, fares rose and the volume of bus passenger journeys continued to fall, by 30 per cent over the ten years to 1982.1
In the early 1980s there were some 70,000 buses and coaches operating in Great Britain, some 40,000 owned by public sector bus operators and the remainder by the private sector. The largest provider was the state-owned National Bus Company (NBC) operating in England and Wales with 14,600 buses, followed by the public sector Passenger Transport Executives (PTEs), which were responsible for the provision of passenger transport services in the English metropolitan areas and the Strathclyde region of Scotland, with 9,600 vehicles.2
