Science at UM [S03-ep05]: The Effects of Competition Following the Macron Law
This week on *A l’UM la science*, Thierry Blayac, an economics researcher at CEE-M, examines the effects of the liberalization of the long-distance bus sector mandated by the Macron Law. Our report takes you to the Mediterranean Coastal Environment Station (SMEL) in Sète, and this weekend, Sylvie Rapior invites you to the Mushroom and Autumn Plants Fair.
Fall break is approaching, and the luckiest among you may be wondering which mode of transportation to choose to get out of the city and gather chestnuts and mushrooms in the open fields. If you have your own car, the question doesn’t even come up—though given the price of gas, that oyster mushroom omelet might end up costing you a pretty penny. For everyone else, public transportation remains the best option. In France, long-distance passenger transport has long been the domain of the train, with the SNCF holding a virtual monopoly on this market.
It wasn’t until 2011 that the first long-distance buses began to appear very quietly on the scene. Cabotage—as this activity is known—was then subject to numerous conditions, which we will discuss later. In 2015, long-distance buses took center stage in the news with the law of August 6, 2015, which may or may not be remembered as the “Macron Law”—from the time when the current occupant of the Élysée Palace was still only in Bercy. In the months following the enactment of this law, mergers among the sector’s “big players” took place: Flixbus acquired Megabus, Ouibus acquired Starchipper before being acquired itself by Blablacar, and so on.
Thierry Blayac is an economist at the Center for Environmental Economics in Montpellier. He has studied the effects of these so-called horizontal mergers on the performance of long-distance bus companies, particularly in terms of frequency, but also in terms of pricing and passenger load factors. His analysis was published in the *Review of Industrial Organization* in 2023 under the title What Can Be Expected from Mergers After Deregulation? The Case of the Long-Distance Bus Industry in France.
See also:
- Blablacar’s Acquisition of Ouibus: A Major Shift in Mobility Services, The Conversation, December 2, 2018.
In the second part of the program, we’ll take you to the Mediterranean Coastal Environment Station in Sète. Over the next few weeks, we’ll introduce you to the various facilities at this site, and for this first episode, we’ll start with a historical tour of this magnificent building—a little gem located right across from the famous Pointe Courte.
Finally, our last-minute guest is Sylvie Rapior, and she’s here to tell us about the Mushroom and Autumn Plants Fair, which will take place on October 21 and 22 at the Institute of Botany, featuring exhibitions and lectures. Admission is free, of course! Remember when I mentioned that oyster mushroom omelet…
At UM Science, you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reporting and editing: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Tom Chevalier
Tune in to the show “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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