Deregulation is the process of removing or reducing state regulations, typically in the economic sphere. It is the repeal of governmental regulation of the economy. It became common in advanced industrial economies in the 1970s and 1980s, as a result of new trends in economic thinking about the inefficiencies of government regulation, and the risk that regulatory agencies would be controlled by the regulated industry to its benefit, and thereby hurt consumers and the wider economy. Economic regulations were promoted during the Gilded Age, in which progressive reforms were claimed as necessary to limit externalities like corporate abuse, unsafe child labor, monopolization, pollution, and to mitigate boom and bust cycles. Around the late 1970s, such reforms were deemed burdensome on economic growth and many politicians espousing neoliberalism started promoting deregulation.
Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) is a regional transport partnership for the Strathclyde area of western Scotland. It is responsible for planning and coordinating regional transport, especially the public transport system in the area, including responsibility for operating the Glasgow Subway, the third-oldest in the world.
National Express is an intercity and inter-regional coach operator providing services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of the British multinational public transport company Mobico Group. Most services are subcontracted to local coach companies. The company's head office is in offices above Birmingham Coach Station.
Clydeside Scottish Omnibuses Ltd was a bus operating subsidiary of the Scottish Transport Group formed in June 1985 from Western SMT Company Ltd. The company operated until May 1989, when it was remerged with Western Scottish, the successor company to Western SMT.
Ayrshire Bus Owners Ltd was a prominent independent co-operative bus operator in Ayrshire, Scotland. Based in Ardrossan, it provided local bus services around the towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston, Kilwinning, Irvine and Dreghorn, as well as the company's trunk route from Ardrossan to Kilmarnock. It also provided express coach services from Ardrossan to Glasgow throughout the 1980s.
Bus deregulation in Great Britain involved the abolition of Road Service Licensing for bus services outside of Greater London. It began in 1980 with long-distance bus services and, under the Transport Act 1985, was extended to local bus services in 1986. The abolition of Road Service Licensing removed the public sector's role in fare-setting, routes and bus frequencies and returned those powers to bus operators.
A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom.
The Motor Carrier Regulatory Reform and Modernization Act, more commonly known as the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 (MCA) is a United States federal law which deregulated the trucking industry.
South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, which was broken up as a result of the deregulation of bus services. South Yorkshire Transport operated buses in and around Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley.
Scottish Motor Traction (SMT) was founded in Edinburgh in 1905 by William Johnston Thomson. It operated buses in much of central Scotland. Aside from its traditional bus operations, it operated an air taxi service with a De Havilland Fox Moth between 18 July and 31 October 1932 and for many years owned Dryburgh Abbey Hotel. Following legislation, which allowed railway companies to invest in bus operators, the London & North Eastern Railway and London, Midland & Scottish Railway took a major stake in SMT in 1929. In 1930, following the takeover of another operator, SMT started its Edinburgh to London express coach service. SMT also acquired control of Walter Alexander & Sons bus services and coachbuilding operations, the Alexander family joining the SMT board.
Busways Travel Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in Tyne and Wear, England. The company was purchased by the Stagecoach Group in July 1994.
The Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) bus operations were the bus operating divisions of the passenger transport executives in the United Kingdom. In 1986 they underwent a process of deregulation and privatisation, forming some of the largest private bus companies in the UK outside London, with all being sold to their employees or management. Despite their relative size and lucrative operating areas, none of the companies survived beyond the late 1990s, with all falling into the hands of the major bus groups, who had their origins in privatised regional subsidiaries of the former National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group.
Buses are the most widespread and most commonly used form of public transport in the United Kingdom. In Great Britain, bus transport is owned and governed by private sector companies, except in Greater London. If a socially desirable service cannot be economically operated without a subsidy, then local councils can support bus companies to provide the service, often after an open competitive tendering exercise. In Northern Ireland, bus services are publicly owned, governed and delivered, as is the case in the Republic of Ireland.
The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of buses in London from public bodies to private companies.
The Oxford to London coach route is an express coach route between Oxford and London along the M40 motorway. Operated by Stagecoach West under the brand name Oxford Tube, there are up to five coaches an hour via Lewknor, Hillingdon, and Shepherd's Bush, terminating on Buckingham Palace Road, Victoria.
The Deregulation and Contracting Out Act 1994 is an Act of Parliament. It introduced wide-ranging measures with aims including reducing burdern on people in trade created by previous Acts such as the Shops Act 1950, changes in transport legislation, changes in utility legislation, changes in financial services among others.
The Transport Act 1985 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced privatised and deregulated bus services throughout Great Britain and came into effect in October 1986.
Southampton Citybus was a bus operator which operated local services throughout the English city of Southampton. It was formed in 1898 as Southampton Corporation Transport. In 1986, as a result of deregulation an 'arms-length' limited company was formed in the name of Southampton Citybus and the coat of arms of the City of Southampton was removed, and replaced with the new branding. The company was owned by the town council until 1954, and the city council until 1993. It was then bought by its employees, in 1997 it was purchased by FirstGroup and was part of First Hampshire & Dorset until their Southampton operations ceased in 2023.
British Coachways was a consortium of independent coach operating companies in the United Kingdom. Formed immediately after the deregulation of coach services in October 1980, it competed with the state-owned National Express and Scottish Bus Group on a range of long-distance routes. Initially composed of six members, it varied in size and composition over its two years of operation to include a range of ten different companies.
Bullocks Coaches is a bus and coach operator in Cheadle, Greater Manchester.
