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To bid or not to bid, this is the question: the Italian experience in competitive tendering for local bus services

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  • Boitani, Andrea
  • Cambini, Carlo

Abstract

Competitive tendering is a popular mechanism for the provision of local bus services when a major objective is subsidy savings. Despite uncertainties in the legal framework some competitive tendering was implemented in Italy since 1998. The evidence so far is that participants were limited in number, the incumbents were almost everywhere able to gain the franchise, whilst subsidy savings were in many cases negligible. If some ‘political’ conditions favouring more effective tendering procedures are not fulfilled, other regimes should be considered in order to obtain substantial subsidy savings.

Suggested Citation

  • Boitani, Andrea & Cambini, Carlo, 2006. "To bid or not to bid, this is the question: the Italian experience in competitive tendering for local bus services," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 33, pages 41-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:sot:journl:y:2006:i:33:p:41-53
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    1. Andrea Boitani & Marcella Nicolini & Carlo Scarpa, 2013. "Do competition and ownership matter? Evidence from local public transport in Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(11), pages 1419-1434, April.
    2. Hunold, Matthias & Wolf, Christoph, 2013. "Competitive procurement design: Evidence from regional passenger railway services in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 13-009, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Lalive, Rafael & Schmutzler, Armin, 2008. "Exploring the effects of competition for railway markets," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 443-458, March.
    4. Lalive, Rafael & Schmutzler, Armin, 2011. "Auctions vs Negotiations in Public Procurement: Which Works Better?," CEPR Discussion Papers 8538, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Avenali, Alessandro & Boitani, Andrea & Catalano, Giuseppe & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Matteucci, Giorgio, 2018. "Assessing standard costs in local public bus transport: A hybrid cost model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 48-57.
    6. Rosell, Jordi, 2017. "Urban bus contractual regimes in small- and medium-sized municipalities: Competitive tendering or negotiation?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 54-62.
    7. Ling, Shuai & Jia, Ning & Ma, Shoufeng & Lan, Yanfei & Hu, Wandi, 2019. "An incentive mechanism design for bus subsidy based on the route service level," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 271-283.
    8. Ida, Yoram & Talit, Gal, 2015. "Regulation of public bus services: The Israeli experience," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 156-165.
    9. Wegelin, Philipp, 2018. "Is the mere threat enough? An empirical analysis about competitive tendering as a threat and cost efficiency in public bus transportation," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 245-253.
    10. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Joan Calzada, 2010. "Urban transport governance reform in Barcelona," IREA Working Papers 201009, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jun 2010.
    11. Avenali, Alessandro & Boitani, Andrea & Catalano, Giuseppe & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Matteucci, Giorgio, 2016. "Assessing standard costs in local public bus transport: Evidence from Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 164-174.
    12. Wegelin, Philipp & von Arx, Widar, 2016. "The impact of alternative governance forms of regional public rail transport on transaction costs. Case evidence from Germany and Switzerland," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 133-142.
    13. John Stanley, 2011. "Public Transport Liberalization: Achievements and Future Directions," Chapters, in: Matthias Finger & Rolf W. Künneke (ed.), International Handbook of Network Industries, chapter 16, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Francesco, Gastaldi & Lucia, Quaglino & Carlo, Stagnaro, 2012. "Il trasporto pubblico locale e la concorrenza. Cambiare paradigma per salvare il servizio: il caso ligure [Local Public Transportation and Competition. Changing Paradigm to Save the Service: The Ca," MPRA Paper 49464, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Augustin, Katrin & Walter, Matthias, 2010. "Operator changes through competitive tendering: Empirical evidence from German local bus transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 36-44.
    16. Camén, Carolina & Tsaxiri, Panagiota & Aldenius, Malin & Lidestam, Helene, 2020. "Flexibility in contract design - is that possible?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    17. Germà Bel & Jordi Rosell, 2016. "Public and Private Production in a Mixed Delivery System: Regulation, Competition and Costs," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(3), pages 533-558, June.
    18. Lidestam, Helene & Camén, Carolina & Lidestam, Björn, 2018. "Evaluation of cost drivers within public bus transports in Sweden," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 157-164.
    19. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Joan Calzada, 2012. "Governance and regulation of urban bus transportation: Using partial privatization to achieve the better of two worlds," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(1), pages 83-100, March.
    20. Franco OSCULATI & Andrea ZATTI, 2008. "Local Public Transport in Italy: The Long and Tortuous Way of a Tentative Reform," CIRIEC Working Papers 0808, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    21. Camén, Carolina & Lidestam, Helene, 2016. "Dominating factors contributing to the high(er) costs for public bus transports in Sweden," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 292-296.
    22. Lidestam, Helene, 2014. "Sustainable bus transports through less detailed contracts," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 141-146.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Local bus services; Tendering;

    JEL classification:

    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation

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