ABSTRACT
Regulation and control of transport is currently one of the most contentious areas of public policy. In the case of transport policy, regulation is involved to create a semblance of stability and co-ordination in what are perceived to be non self-regulatory markets. Governments intervene in transport provision to secure a variety of different and competing objectives. The pattern of patronage of the railways corresponds quite closely with the trends at work in public transport in general: a gradual demise in terms of market share in favour of private road transport and air transport. In 1977, the General Accounting Office of the Federal administration arrived at an estimate of the cost of air transport regulation of between $1.4 billion and $1.8 billion. In the UK, the traditional approach to air transport regulation has been very similar to the US, as indeed has Canada’s, Australia’s and New Zealand’s.
