PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF LOCAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT VS. PRIVATE COMPETITION

Currently, value added and employment in the public transport sector each represent about 1% of GDP, respectively of the total employment of the European Union. Regulation (EC) no. 1370/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council on public passenger transport services by rail and by road was adopted on 23 October 2007. Regulation (EC) no. 1370/2007, which entered into force on 3 December 2009, aimed at creating an internal market for the provision of public passenger transport. Should the local public transport (buses, trolleybuses, trams or metro services) be owned and run as a public service by the elected local governments? Should the local public transport be privatized by private operators through a competitive tendering system? Who should be the big winner: the citizens, the unions or the private operators? Who will lose who will win? Therefore, an efficient public transport sector is the central element of a social, economic and environmental effective.