Market entry requirements

Conditions imposed on potential operators and drivers in order to qualify to participate in urban passenger transport are unlikely to impose significant direct costs, and should lower long-term operating costs through raising their efficiency.

However conditions placed on vehicles may have an impact on their capital and operating costs, and their potential sources of supply. Standards for passenger accessibility may impact on the appropriate chassis technology and price, emissions standards may impact on both capital and direct operating costs (through fuel consumption), and impose external costs (through required fuel quality); each of these has implications for maintenance expenditure. It may also no longer readily prove possible to source second-hand vehicles meeting the standards, and explicit prohibitions may be placed on such imports or on the conversion of light-goods vehicles for passenger operation.