Public Transport, Private Profit

The UK government imposed an extreme form of privatization and deregulation on the bus sector in England outside London, Scotland, and Wales in 1985. Private companies now run the routes almost entirely on the basis of what is profitable. Over the past 35 years, this approach has provided a master class in how not to run an essential public service, and left residents with an expensive, unreliable, fragmented, and dysfunctional bus system that is slowly falling apart. Bus operators have prioritized profits and dividends— extracting money from the system—and cut essential routes. Meanwhile, cash-strapped local authorities have been left to plug the gaps at additional public expense. Unsurprisingly, fares have skyrocketed1 and ridership has plummeted.2 While the public good has suffered, the private sector has profited handsomely.