New law gives transport operators the green light
Published: 2 Jan 12 11:52 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/38288/20120102/
The government is to allow private transport companies to provide public bus services, in a bid to improve services and prompt people to use public transport.
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The new law on public transport came into effect on January 1st but ever since the initiative was launched, not just Swebus, but many companies have shown an interest and have enrolled for the government’s pilot project.
Authorities believe co-operation between public and private organisations will be beneficial to all areas of Sweden, although the pilot project for 2012 is primarily focused on the Öresund region.
“Many commute across the channel and they don’t have a great deal of choice in terms of transport operators,” said Ryggesjö.
It is a matter of finding public transport connections where it would be profitable to run such business.
However, the time it takes to travel still remains an issue and in some areas it is faster to travel from A to B by car.
“In the Stockholm region we are interested to see the impact on the cross-link connections, such as the Täby-Kista line. It takes fifteen minutes to go by car but nearly an hour to travel by public transport,” says Rolf Kolmodin, Communications Officer at public transport operator Nobina to Metro.
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"It is a matter of finding public transport connections where it would be profitable to run such business."
Sweden is to large of a country to make public transportation feasible for everyone. Yet they keep using it as an argument and excuse not to build additional roads and tarmac. The only way to get more people into public transportation is to build it even when it's not profitable, make it better and run more often. I'm personally a big fan of the unmanned metro system in Copenhagen which could run 24/7 every couple of minutes as it doesn't require staff and thus could make a valid alternative. Sweden for example has no night-time public transportation.
This initiative will unlikely make more people use public transportation but at best lower prices due to competition.
Outside the capital, London, usage of bus transport declined by around 25-30% in the 20 years following deregulation. A document from the UK Transport Research Foundation concluded that there had been a tendency for deregulated bus services to attempt too much service - with fares that were too high, but quality of service was low.
Government (in the UK) has offered fixed term franchises (certainly in the case of some train services) to companies - which can be revoked if quality of service is rubbish. But private companies' concern is 'the bottom line' ie profit. Why should we invest in new equipment (etc), they say, if our operating licence can be revoked?
The Copenhagen unmanned metro system sounds a good idea: alternatively one could wait until the Social Democrats return to power, bump up everybody's tax bill, and pay for a super-duper nationwide public transport system. Lol!!
If it's Stagecoach that gets the contract in Sweden then god help em. There won't a be publically owned single bus company with some commercial competitors there will be a privately owned single bus company with no public competitors.
Pity the workers too. Stagecoach in Britain is one of the worst companies for industrial relations. They pay their British drivers only for time on-the-road; if there's a gap in the timetabled service the driver won't be paid for it although that gap isn't their fault.
Stagecoach's owner bought a huge Scottish castle on the profits she made from ruining the public bus service in Britain. What she didn't spend on the castle she donated to Thatcher and the Conservative Party, which might have something to do with there being no Scots Conversative members of parliament at the moment.
I'll repeat what I said a few comments ago; don't do it Sweden.
they ran many free/cheap buses to put small companies out of business and when they had gone the number of buses fell and the fares changed. Unconstrained private monopolies - passengers just money fodder.
A poor high cost service is the opposite of green - passengers become car drivers.