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, looks at the effects of the liberalization of the long-distance bus sector under the Macron law. Our report takes you to the Mediterranean coastal environment station (Smel) in Sète, and Sylvie Rapior invites you to the mushroom and autumn plant fair this weekend.
The fall holidays are approaching, and the luckiest among you may be wondering what mode of transportation to choose to get out of the city and gather chestnuts and mushrooms in the fields. If you have your own car, the question doesn't arise, although with the price of fuel, your oyster mushroom omelet may cost you dearly. For everyone else, public transportation remains the best solution. In France, long-distance passenger transport has long been the preserve of the train, with the SNCF enjoying a virtual monopoly in this market.
It wasn't until 2011 that the first long-distance buses began to appear very discreetly on the scene. Cabotage, as this activity is known, was then subject to numerous conditions, which we will come back to 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 charge of the Ministry of Finance. In the months following the enactment of this law, mergers between the "big players" in the sector took place: Flixbus bought Megabus, Ouibus bought Starchipper before being bought itself by Blablacar, etc.
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 services provided by long-distance bus companies, particularly in terms of frequency, but also in terms of price and passenger numbers. 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.
Read also:
- The acquisition of Ouibus by Blablacar, or the major upheaval in mobility services, The Conversation, December 2, 2018.
In the second part of the program, we take you to the Mediterranean coastal environment station in Sète. Over several weeks, we will introduce you to the different platforms of this infrastructure, and for this first episode, we begin with a historical tour of this magnificent building, a little gem located just opposite the famous Pointe Courte.
Finally, our last-minute guest is Sylvie Rapior, who tells us about the mushroom and autumn plant fair to be held on October 21 and 22 at the Botanical Institute, featuring exhibitions and conferences. Admission is free, of course! When I mentioned the oyster mushroom omelet...
At UM Science, you have the program, so 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
Listen to the program “A l’UM la science” on Divergence FM 93.9
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