Scheduled motorcoach service in Nova Scotia, 1922-1990 : a study of the efforts of government regulation on the industry

Abstract

This thesis examines scheduled motorcoach service in Nova Scotia between the years 1922-1990 and the effect of government regulation on the industry. It examines the relationship between the government as a policy maker through legislation, the Public Utility Board, whose function was to oversee and regulate by means of the Motor Carrier Act, and the scheduled carriers who provided a service in a regulated environment.

It examines early stagecoach and railroad systems and their establishment with some form of government subsidy. After 1922, it examines the relationship of the government, Board, and the carriers to the problems of illegal operations, cut-throat competition, a Royal Commission's desire for deregulation, increased regulation required by government, and the bankruptcy of many carriers. This thesis examines, after 1985, predatory pricing, unfair competition, and a sense of direction towards deregulation.

This thesis makes a contribution to our collective understanding of scheduled service in Nova Scotia and the means by which these services were established and continued to operate without government subsidy. At the same time, it shows the important relationships between the companies operating these services and the successful regulation, for the public good, of the industry, by the Public Utility Board. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)