ABSTRACT
Before considering why and how governments reduce their regulatory influence over transport industries, it is instructive to assess why transport became a highly regulated industry. The origins of transport regulation are found in the desires on the part of governments to ensure safety of operation and to facilitate the provision of comprehensive transport networks, including services which are not individually remunerative. Thus, the United States’ Motor Carrier Act of 1935 and Transportation Act 1940 set out to
‘ensure sound operating conditions, adequate sevices at reasonable rates, cooperation among state and federal regulatory agencies, prevention of unjust discrimination among shippers, preservation of services considered to be in the public interest, and maintenance of sufficient profits to enable industry development and expansion’
in the interstate bus and truck industries (Phillips, 1988). The origins of regulation in the desire of governments and the general
public to create order out of ‘chaos’ are exemplified by British and Hong Kong legislation. The British system of road passenger transport regulation, introduced in 1930 sought, inter alia, to reduce on-the-road competition and the Hong Kong government acted to reduce congestion and improve the onthe-road behaviour of minibus drivers when the system of licensed Public Light Buses was introduced in 1969 (Hibbs, 1985: 120).
