Public Monopoly with Management Contract / Financial Aspects / Charging for Infrastructure

Charging for Infrastructure
Bus stations
Unless a bus station is owned by the operator who uses it, bus operators may be charged for its use. Charges are usually based on departures. There may be a flat fee per departure, but sometimes the fee varies according to the capacity of the vehicle, or its type. For example, the fee for a luxury bus may be higher than for a standard bus.

Sometimes the charge is based on the number of passengers, on a proportion of revenue collected, or on a combination of these elements. Operators may also be charged for parking their vehicles at bus stations. The economic cost of long-term parking at stations, particularly those in city centers, can be considerable, and may justify high parking charges.

If bus services are operated under contract to the authority which owns the station, there is usually no need for charges to be imposed. This adds unnecessarily to the administrative burden.

Rates should cover full costs
Where operators are charged for the use of terminals, rates should be set so that the full ownership, maintenance and management costs of the bus stations are covered, with a reasonable profit margin if appropriate. However, it will be necessary to ensure that the stations are efficiently managed, to prevent the cost plus charging approach from resulting in wasteful expenditure.

Because of the monopoly or near‑monopoly positions which many bus stations hold, some form of control may be necessary over the charges made to bus operators. This is particularly important if the terminals are owned or operated by the private sector.

Bus depots
Unlike a bus station, a bus depot is likely to be used by only one operator. A degree of security will be required because the depot is likely to be the operator’s base where buses are maintained and services are managed. The depot may also be the operator’s headquarters.

The tenancy of a depot will tend to be for the medium to long term, and the method of charging should reflect this. A lease for a fixed period, with provision for extension, is normally appropriate. A monthly rental may also be applied, but there should be provision for adequate termination notice.

In the case of an area contract, where the depot is designed to accommodate all buses required to operate the routes under the contract, the lease period should be consistent with the term of the contract.

Where services are operated on a route-contract basis, with a proportion of contracts renewed each year, the operator should have some guarantee that depot facilities will be available as long as it holds a route contract.

Subsidy
Where a station or depot is owned by the authority, the authority may waive all charges to the bus operators, or set charges below cost, as a form of subsidy.