Competition in the Market
Competition in the market refers to competition on the road. This competition can have undesirable consequences unless there are strict regulations that are stringently enforced to prevent misconduct.

If drivers have an incentive to maximize revenue, and there are several different operators serving a single route, drivers tend to race one another to each bus stop to pick up any waiting passengers.

Dangerous behavior
Even if the bus is full and cannot pick up passengers, drivers will tend to drive as quickly as possible to beat other buses to a place in the queue at the terminal.

If services are operated to schedule, a driver will tend to ignore the schedules, and either attempt to get in front of the bus that is scheduled before him, or hang back to be just in front of the bus behind, thus allowing more time for passengers to accumulate at each stop.

At bus stops, drivers often stop in the traffic stream instead of stopping close to the curb, in order to prevent following buses from overtaking.

Such practices are dangerous. They also cause inconvenience and increased congestion for other road traffic.

Mistreating passengers
Passengers are often mistreated when there is competition in the market. Conductors may force passengers into an overcrowded bus, when the passengers would prefer to wait for the next bus. Some bus crews, when approaching the end of the route, will turn short, ejecting the passengers who are still on board, in order to pick up passengers who are waiting to travel in the opposite direction.

Competition on the road may even lead to violence between operators; in some cases, criminal gangs have exploited the situation and assumed illicit control of bus services.