Public Transport in Europe: Requiem or Revival?

Abstract

State and local government involvement in the fmancing and operation of public transport services is basically motivated by the objectives of economic efficiency, equity and environmental considerations. In large cities the first objective is often the dimensioning factor for the peak supply. The task is to compete with and supplement the private car mode in congested networks. Distributional equity is the reason for offering a more basic supply between peak periods and at weekends.