Transport systems function most effectively in a context of strong competition between and within various forms of transport. Currently, however, various barriers impede the development of intermodal competition. The perceived need to protect national (or existing) carriers is one such barrier. While such protection has largely withered away in international shipping and intra-African air transport, it still prevails in road freight (in the form of trucking quotas) and international air transport (in the form of subsidized flag carriers).
Increasing the scope for competition among carriers is a challenge confronting most modes of transport. In most parts of the world, competition has been increased by expanding the role of the private sector. Franchises and concessions enable such expansion without loss of government influence over activities regarded as strategic. Bus transport and trucking are already predominantly private. Many African railways are now concessioned, and the role of the private sector is increasing in air transport.
But the regulation of these markets often remains obstructive rather than constructive, with centralized traffic allocation and dispatching reducing competition and increasing costs. A common reason for restricting competition is the belief that only where service is by a public enterprise, or by highly regulated (and protected) private enterprises, can the government ensure socially desirable services. This belief is largely fallacious, particularly where the protected suppliers have no incentive to be efficient and where no segment of the market is profitable enough to support unremunerative social services. Publicly owned airlines, railways, shipping companies, and bus companies all have failed. Thus, much remains to be done—both nationally and regionally—to develop regulatory regimes that reconcile public and private interests.