Publisher's Synopsis
The 1985 Transport Act deregulated bus operation outside London following 55 years of regulation. It was made much easier for private companies to set up bus services and local authorities could only plan and subsidise services which were not provided by the commercial market. Supporters of the Act predicted that it would lead to more and better services, lower fares, lower subsidy and more passengers. Opponents predicted fewer and poorer services, higher fares, rapid changes in services, lack of integration and fewer passengers. This book presents the results of a study carried out between 1986 and 1989 by the Transport Studies Unit (TSU) to monitor the effects in the metropolitan areas of Great Britain ? Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South and West Yorkshire, Strathclyde, Tyne and Wear and the West Midlands.
