ABSTRACT
Road passenger transport is a large and rapidly growing market. The chapter considers the operating characteristics and controls exercised on these interacting alternative modes of road passenger transport, with particular emphasis on the problems of the bus industry. It begins with a very brief consideration of private motoring, the costs and benefits of which are already widely known even by non-car owners. The taxi trade provides a high quality service for short to medium distance trips. In the period 1968-70 a considerable reorganisation of the bus and coach industry took place. The chapter examines the demand for bus transport. The first thing to note is the general decline in demand that has continued since about 1950. The determination of fares was one of the most delicate of the Commissioners' duties. The danger is that an excess of enthusiasm for public transport may result in the acceptance of restrictive solutions yielding little, or even negative, net welfare gain.
