Ownership transformation of urban-transport companies in Poland – part II

Abstract

The ownership transformations affecting the different branches and modes of transport in formerly communist countries represent one of the more characteristic features of these states' economies in the period of systemic change. In their previous published studies, the authors of this work have concerned themselves with Polish rail transport's deregulation (as often dubbed "liberalization" in Europe), and its privatization; as well as with the ownership changes affecting road transport - as exemplified by the largest carrier, the PKS (or State Road Transport) enterprise(s). It is the goal of the present study to show the way in which the urban transport of passengers has likewise been subject to ownership change in Poland over the last two decades. Urban transport is the regular public carriage of large numbers of people achieved in line with the wishes and requirements of local government as constituted within a single Polish gmina (local authority area), or else sometimes several, if an agreement between such administrative units has been entered into, or else if the said gminas are part of a more wide-ranging municipal union. The concept of urban transport is linked with an organiser of the system operating under the aegis of the local authority. This may be an organisational entity of the gmina or union of gminas, or else of the regional government in the Polish voivodships, pursuing the organisational task in respect of urban transport and at the same time serving neighbouring areas. This article is in two parts. The first of these, contained in the present volume, presents the organisation and legal regulation when it comes to urban transport in the years 1945-1989, as followed by a characterisation of the situation existing at the turn of the 20th and 21th centuries, as well as ultimately the legislative conditioning in place now, and the organisational solutions being applied to run urban transport in Poland. Forming a background to the changes introduced are foreign experiences vis-a-vis the liberalization taking place among carriers. The second part - which will appear in PTZeglad Geograficzny (the Polish Geographical Review) of 2009, number 2 - will include the results of an empirical study of ownership changes among urban transport enterprises. The transformation process, though initiated much earlier than in the case of the PKS enterprises, is revealed to be considerably less advanced. The enterprises involved in local mass transport post 1945 have been brought under new legal regulations. The removal of legal personality from towns and cities brought an end to municipal ownership, which was replaced by state ownership. It was in this way that municipal transport enterprises became state-owned enterprises, while their areas of service were adjusted to the administrative boundaries of towns and cities. Taking account of the criteria of territorial scope and form of organisation, urban transport enterprises may in very general terms be divided into legally and organisationally separate business entities, as well as branches of multi-branch municipal management and residential enterprises. Notwithstanding their organisational form, these enterprises both organise local mass transport and engage in the actual carriage of passengers. A characteristic feature of the Polish urban transport market is its domination by relatively large enterprises that mostly came under local-authority ownership after 1990. In spite of a marked fall in numbers of passengers carried, the enterprises in question have held on to excessive numbers of staff and have retained outdated fleets. This has been having a negative effect on their economic performance. The most typical solution in Poland remains the one that pairs organisational activity with the actual supply of transport services. However, carriers are of diverse ownership structure, there being private, municipal and state-owned entities. There are also cases in which private capital has come together with public (state or local-authority) ownership. The combining of the forementioned functions often reflects the monopolistic structure of the market and, while the integration of means within a single centre is facilitated, the long-term result is reduced cost-effectiveness and a failure to adjust what is on offer to the needs of passengers. It is possible to draw a distinction between two planes to competition in urban transport. The first of these is competition to go on to the market (the so-called regulated competition), and the second competition on the market that has been deregulated. The best conditions under which an offer to carry passengers may take shape are the ones in which transport is regulated with competition on the market. If authorities decide to bring in the regulated model, then the achievement of market effects is best made where matters of organisation and carriage are kept distant from one another. However, where markets are small, the establishment of a separate regulatory body may simply not be justified economically, leaving as the typical option the (usually in fact successful) conferment of the function upon an appropriate division of the local authority. When it comes to the possibility of competing to supply services, a better solution is the organisation of a separately founded urban transport board. In Polish conditions, the organisational solution to be met with most often is the Swedish model, albeit with certain modifications reflecting the fact that most of the carriers employed by urban transport boards continue to be entities in public ownership. The French solution is also applied, though - like the Swedish one - it is not at present applied in pure form. Public authorities in Poland usually tender for the servicing of whole networks, if in fact with the process being targeted at municipal carriers. Only in isolated cases has the privatisation of whole enterprises proved possible. Thus far, the British solution has not been applied in Poland. While carriage is engaged in by independent private carriers, the localities being serviced lack an organiser of urban transport regulating the system as a whole. The last solution is for example applied in the system of transport operating in Zakopane (see part II of the article).