Getting to Pearson

[ijmorlan]

I don't see anything inherently wrong with regulation preventing over-competition on routes.  If too many operators try to run a route, you can end up with the split business meaning that neither is able to operate at a profit.

Well, yes, but ... with the current licensing it seems that the desired level of competition on any given route is a monopoly.

If neither can operate at a profit, one will pull out, restoring an appropriate level of competition. So the argument about preventing over-competition is completely bogus. If it were valid, it would apply to everything — I shouldn’t be able to start a grocery store without Zehr’s having an opportunity to object, for example.

The legitimate regulation in the transportation industry has to do with transportation-specific considerations. For example, suppose there is an existing operator. Now I schedule buses to leave 30s before each of theirs, and scoop up most of their passengers. This leads to an unstable situation that isn’t good for anyone. So some regulation is needed. But the idea that a new entrant shouldn’t be able to enter freely by following the same standards as existing operators is wrong. Same applies to dairy, taxis, and who knows what else.