Conclusions

Abstract

Introducing competition in the German market for regional and local public bus transport services has brought successes, but also some notable failures. Following the international trend towards liberalization in the mid-1990s, German legislators introduced a framework for awarding contracts that is structured around two different license types, non-commercial licenses and commercial licenses, both of which provide exclusivity for the licensee within a specified market. The resulting complexity is generally considered a reason why researchers as well as global players entering the German public transport market often describe the regulatory framework as initially incomprehensible.