Public AffairsEconomicsUrban PolicyTransportTransportationTransportation PolicyTransport EconomicsTransport PolicyTransport RegulationTransportation EconomicsTransportation GovernanceUrban TransportationAir Transport DeregulationAirline DeregulationEconomic Efficiency AnalysisIntercity CompetitionMarket ForcesTransportation ReformUrban Transport EconomicsUrban Transport Governance
The nation’s air, rail, trucking, and intercity bus industries have all been deregulated in recent years with generally bipartisan support. The lifting ofcontrols over fares, routing, and market entry has taken place in the name of economic efficiency—getting government out of the friendly skies and busy highways of this nation so that private market forces can prevail. Strangely, however, deregulation has been largely limited to intercity and transcontinental modes of transportation. There is no reason, however, why the same principles cannot be succesfully applied to urban transportation as well.