32 | Public-Private Partnerships in Urban Bus Systems
Although permits and licenses are often found in systems with sparse monitoring or regulation, their legal nature is best used by authorities with the capacity to enforce them. A concession contract is an administrative act through which the authority confers on a natural or legal person the temporary provision of a public service, using assets in the public or private domain. In practice, however, private operators use these very same assets through permits or licenses (and, in some cases, without even them).
Authorizations Authorizations (permits or licenses) may provide the legal framework needed to enable a transportation authority to establish, monitor, and enforce an efficient level of service. Key factors include whether permits or licenses include a definition of requirements, levels and conditions of s ervice, and obligations. To meet broader objectives, not only should authorizations provide for a minimum level and quality of service, but the transportation authority should also have the capacity to monitor and enforce compliance effectively.
Instruments complementing authorizations Where authorities seek to promote sectoral reorganization to ensure a more e fficient provisioning of services, permits and licenses may be used in c ombination with other instruments. Permits and licenses are u sually a ssociated with an atomized market structure. But aggregated planning, operation, or fare collection may be included as a requisite for obtaining a permit or license. This requirement can be supported by legal instruments implemented by the private or public sector (depending on local regulations), such as business collaboration agreements. For example, being party to such an agreement may be among the obligations or requirements for obtaining or maintaining a license or permit (see appendix A for the example of Medellín). Many of these examples can effectively advance the objective of greater urban mobility. The solutions described in this chapter are relatively simple, localized solutions that are completely independent of PPPs.
REFERENCES Behrens, R., D. McCormick, and D. Mfinanga. 2015. Paratransit in African Cities: Operations, Regulation, and Reform. New York: Routledge. Eros, E., S. Mehndiratta, C. Zegras, K. Webb, and M. C. Ochoa. 2014. “Applying the General Transit Feed Specification to the Global South: Experiences in Mexico City, Mexico—and Beyond.” Transportation Research Record 2442 (1): 44–52. Gómez-Lobo, Andrés, and Guillermo Muñoz. 2019. “Medium-Sized Cities BRTs—Technical Assistance Colombia.” Project ID: P166117. World Bank, Washington, DC. Hoyos Guerrero, A. 2019. “Diagnosis and Recommendations: Executive Summary Medium-Sized Cities BRTs—Technical Assistance—Colombia.” Project ID: P166117. World Bank, Washington, DC. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/789621553760806281 /pdf/Diagnosis-and-Recommendations-Executive-Summary.pdf.
