Re: Bus Privatization

[Anna Catherine Morton <acmort@student.unimelb.edu.au>]

On Sat, 4 Nov 2000, David McLoughlin wrote:

> Re this thread, another interesting example of "privatisation" of buses
> is Melbourne in Australia where most bus routes have always been
> privately owned. 
> 
> Melbourne's buses are mostly cross-suburban routes and feeders to train
> stations and tram lines.

They may be cross suburban, and may often go to, or near, railway
stations, but the service and co-ordination with the trains are nowhere
near good enough in general for them to be referred to as feeders!  The
reason the PTC took over all the bus routes in the first place was because
the private operaters weren't making anything from them.  The problem now
is that some of the operators are competing with the rail system rather
than, as would happen if the whole train-tram-bus network was run
properly, the busses acting as feeders.

Anna Morton