We help liberalise public transport
Competition in public transport is a fiercely debated social and political issue. An interdisciplinary research group based at the Department of Economics (FEA MU) offers a unique analysis capable of saving tens of millions of CZK in public funding.
We lead the way in rail competition analysis
The research group operates under the auspices of the Institute for Transport Economics, Geography and Politics (ITREGEP). Experts from FEA MU work alongside economists, geographers and sociologists from Masaryk University and Charles University in Prague as well as public policy professionals and leading foreign experts.
Significant international success was achieved primarily in the area of empirical analysis of open access to competition in passenger rail services. The ITREGEP-organized Prague Conference on CEE Countries' Railways, an international conference specifically designed to tackle this topic, is regularly attended by world-class experts.
Unique data and an interdisciplinary team
Data obtained using proprietary consumer surveys designed to map the behaviour of passengers on selected routes are included in the ITREGEP database, which thus forms a basis for modelling transport service demand, predicting transportation route utilization, estimating the intensity of competition and the degree of dominance exerted by transport service providers.
The interdisciplinary makeup of our team enables us to transform research results into applicable output for state authorities, local governments and the private sector. Certified methodologies prepared by ITREGEP for the Ministry of Transportation and the Office for the Protection of Competition are utilised in processes which help save tens of millions of CZK of public funding every year.
Generating international interest
Our analysis of rail competition on the Prague–Ostrava line is one of the most sophisticated analyses of its kind anywhere in the world. The results have generated a significant amount of interest in several EU countries currently grappling with similar issues. Research group members have been invited to lecture at leading transport economics institutes around the world including the Institute for Transport Studies of the University of Leeds (2015) and the University of Madrid (2016).
The results of our primary and applied research regularly appear in professional journals. We also publish an in-house series of monographs as well as certified methodologies and popular texts. Leading international journals in the field of transport economics and geography which have published articles by research group members include the Journal of Transport Geography, Transport Policy, Research in Transportation Economics and the Journal of Rail Transport Planning & Management.
Benefits beyond doubt
The liberalisation of public transportation systems is one of the main objectives of the common European transport policy. The gradual a relaxation of government restrictions in road and air transport has been followed by a liberalisation of rail travel, a process which has culminated in the past decade.
A systematic analysis of the economic impact of various liberalisation settings and national transport market regulation strategies is essential for outcome optimisation. The social importance of these issues is underscored by the multitude of priority topics announced by international funding agencies and the European Commission.