ja_mageia

Rail's woes are due to bureaucracy, not privatization. It's time for the government to release the railway from its over burdening grip. A grip entrenched in regulation that has far too many officials, or any proper functionality. Iain Murray, the author, says that for the railways to work, "the train operation companies must be given more control, and have a major say in how station and track improvements are managed. This will lead to more customer-driven investment decisions," he insists, "providing in turn much more of what train users actually want."

Download PDF

Local authority officers, backed by proposals from Brussels, want to end the 20 year old deregulation of buses and bring bus operations back under their control, says transport executive Prof. John Hibbs OBE in a new ASI report. But that could mean less competition and higher taxes...

Download PDF

Town traffic causes by far the bulk of the congestion, pollution, accidents, and noise nuisance of driving - all of which cost society seven times what urban motorists pay in taxes. Rural drivers, by contrast, are overcharged three times for their use of the roads. For heavy vehicles in urban areas during peak-hours this discrepancy is even higher, claims the report, which proposes a £15 billion cut in the revenue collected in fuel duty, vehicle taxes and VAT. People driving in towns, however, would pay tolls averaging 5.6p per mile, with charges much higher at peak times and for high-polluting heavy vehicles.

Download PDF

The Adam Smith institute has told the civil aviation society that Uk airports are over regulated and under-competitive. A report by former airport director David Stanley says that the CAA should focus on safety regulation, that Uk airports should be opened up to more competition, and the economic regulation of airports should be passed to a new, independant regulator. Mr Stanley is an airport Professional who has successfully completed 130 airport commissions in 26 countries over the last 12 years. Full details can be accessed at: www.stanleyassociates.co.uk.

Download PDF file  

A series of factsheets that examine the need, and methods of implementation, for urban road user charging.

Download PDF

Bus services would be more efficient if local transport officials, who seem bent on reversing the deregulation of the last decade, just got out of the way and let private bus companies manage things more freely, an international expert on transport argues. A government so committed to competition should reject highly regulated European-style 'franchise' systems that prevail in London, the report maintains.

Download PDF 

This detailed report from the institutes trafficflow project team explores the equipment and policy requirements to make congestion charging work in major cities. How much does congestion cost? Why must a charging scheme be electronic rather than paper based? How can the technology be made affordable? How much importance should be given to simplicity, flexibility, public opinion, privacy and bolt on services that make life better for road users?

Download PDF

This report assesses the powers and duties of Passenger Transit Authorities, to see how far they are needed; how much they cost to maintain; and whether such of their functions as may be justified could be better provided by the existing, directly elected local authorities. It finds that the
case for their abolition is strong.

Download PDF

Private finance can save London Underground from crisis. The report proposes that three to five, probably four investment-led contracts, or "concessions", should be offered to private sector consortia to design, modernize, finance and operate services, stations and infrastructure. Such a structure would provide operational flexibility in deploying rolling stock and manpower It would also provide more bankable revenue streams.

Download PDF

The achievement of the bus industry in the last decade has been 'truly remarkable', emerging from a long period of managed decline to become market-led, quality minded, and capable of ending three decades of loss of custom to the car. This report assesses how innovation is winning people back to buses.

Download PDF