Public Transport Markets Beyond Contracts: Market Analysis, Public Service Obligations, Procurement and Commercial Initiatives

This research project is about markets in public transport (PT) in Sweden. When a new act governing PT entered into force in Sweden in 2012, the aim was to broaden the supply of operators in the market, strengthen competition and thereby increase the ridership. The Public Transport Authorities (PTA’s) were assigned a central role as they had to conduct market analysis, exercise market surveillance and also decide the Public Service Obligations (PSO). After five years with the new act, the supply of operators is limited, although a large supply is believed to be a condition for the proper functioning of a market. There is a vast research on procurement of public transport. However, previous research has primarily studied contract design, but not the non-contractual factors that shape the contracts and the functioning of a market. By drawing inspiration from New Economic Sociology and Organization Theory, this project will identify (i) why there are so few actors bidding in the market for procured PT by studying the connections between contractual and non-contractual factors and investigate (ii) how the actors involved in PT in the three Swedish metropolitan regions work with market analyses and apply the concept of markets. The research design is built upon comparative case studies and includes workshops as a method to ensure co-production. The expected results will provide the PTA’s with enhanced knowledge about the functioning of the market for procured PT and improve their competence in market analyses and build capacity in the decision-making processes, which ultimately will benefit the users of public transport.