This insightful book provides readers with an in-depth discussion of the use of benchmarking in regulation in the European transport sector. It argues that benchmarking is invaluable to regulators, particularly in the transport sector where the pressures of competition in - or for - the market are often absent. Written by a range of expert contributors, chapters offer an analysis of methodology and data requirements, as well as practical examples of the use of benchmarking in the main transport modes (such as road, rail, seaports, airports and local public transport). Utilising illuminating case studies, the book also reviews the importance of benchmarking in the application of European competition law and considers the issue of obtaining appropriate and reliable data to achieve this. Benchmarking and Regulation in Transport will be an essential read for researchers, scholars and students in the fields of economic regulation, governance, transport economics and transport law. It will also be useful for policymakers and regulators who wish to further their understanding of the benefits of benchmarking in an efficiency-enhancing public policy strategy, especially within transport infrastructure.

This book argues that journalism should treat itself as an academic discipline on a par with history, geography and sociology, and as an art form in its own right. Time, space, social relations and imagination are intrinsic to journalism. Chris Nash takes the major flaws attributed to journalism by its critics-a crude empiricism driven by an un-reflexive 'news sense'; a narrow focus on a de-contextualised, transient present; and a too intimate familiarity with powerful sources-and treats them as methodological challenges. Drawing on the conceptual frameworks of Pierre Bourdieu, David Harvey, Henri Lefebvre, Michel-Rolph Trouillot and Gaye Tuchman, he explores the ways in which rigorous journalism practice can be theorised to meet these challenges. The argument proceeds through detailed case studies of work by two leading iconoclasts-the artist Hans Haacke and the 20th century journalist I.F. Stone. This deeply provocative and original study concludes that the academic understanding of journalism is fifty years behind its practice, and that it is long past time for scholars and practitioners to think about journalism as a disciplinary research practice. Drawing on an award-winning professional career and over three decades teaching journalism practice and theory, Chris Nash makes these ideas accessible to a broad readership among scholars, graduate students and thoughtful journalists looking for ways to expand the intellectual range of their work.

This authoritative new collection gathers together the issues important to the understanding of the challenges and problems of modern rail transport. Part I includes articles on costs and productivity, part II discusses pricing and part III looks at regulation and privatisation. Part IV examines econometric rail demand models. Part V focuses on disaggregate choice modelling and part VI covers investment. The editors have included not only classic papers by Griliches, Keeler and Caves et al on cost functions, Baumol on pricing and regulation and Foster and Beesley on investment, but also lesser known papers which pioneer up to date methods. Together these form a valuable collection of previously published articles which will be of interest to researchers and policy analysts in the industry and to academics and students specialising in rail transport policy and economics.

Transport economics and policy analysis is a field which has seen major advances in methodology in recent decades. The transport sector has many unique characteristics - non-storability, economies of scale and scope, indivisibilities and the extensive production of positive and negative externalities that need careful consideration in any analysis. The aim of this Handbook is to provide an overview of the essential research methods with illustrations of how they are applied in practice. The book is divided into six sections - transport costs, externalities, transport demand, pricing and investment, deregulation and privatisation, and transport policy impacts. Each section comprises several chapters, divided by mode of transport or other relevant factor. Some of the unique features include: a comprehensive overview of methods used in transport economics and policy analysis from leading researchers in the field up-to-date methodology for analyzing transport costs and demand examples of how to value the full range of externalities of transport, including both costs and benefits guidance on how to assess the impact of privatisation and (de)regulation, with examples from local public transport, rail and air identification of the relevant factors involved in transport pricing, including roads, public transport, ports and airports an analysis of the neglected topic of equity in transport. This illustrative overview of research methods will be essential to researchers, students and practitioners in academia, government and business. Contributors: J. Bates, O. Betancor, B. de Borger, T. Fowkes, J. Holmgren, J. Owen Jansson, G. de Jong, G. Lindberg, H. Link, R. Liu, A. Ljungberg, A.D. May, H. Meersman, S. Morrison, C. Nash, J.-E. Nilsson, J. de Dios Ortuzar, J. Preston, S. Proost, L.I. Rizzi, W. Rothengatter, G. de Rus, S. Shepherd, A. Smith, J. Stanley, J. Stanley, S. Pettersen Strandenes, D. Van de Velde, E. Van de Voorde, R. Vickerman, P. Wheat, M. Wolanski

The debate on rail privatisation often seems to focus on very narrow issues. Those on both sides of the argument seem to be able to employ a mass of statistics to prove their point. Proponents of privatisation suggest, with some credibility, that all was reasonably well with the privatised railways until the Hatfield disaster. Opponents point to spiralling costs since privatisation. The authors of this monograph examine privatisation in the context of the long history of continual government intervention. The government imposed upon the industry a particular structure - separation of track and wheel. It also wrapped it up in increasing amounts of regulation. After examining the history of government intervention in the railways and the privatisation process, the authors of this monograph then examine the future of railway policy. Should the industry be allowed to evolve its own structure - remerging the ownership of track and wheel if it wishes? What aspects of a railway should be regulated? Who should own the various parts of the infrastructure? This monograph is essential reading for all with an interest in railway policy and the process of privatisation.