Formal and Informal Institutions for Urban Transport Management

Abstract

After the total governmental control of the urban transport systems during the Soviet epoch came the 20 year long period of almost complete deregulation. Currently there is a trend towards the return to the practice of formal urban transport management, which represents a strange mixture of the remnants of the Soviet methods and the selective adoption of western urban planning practices. The chapter highlights the institutional aspects of transportation systems design and functioning. Using the neo-institutional approach, authors analyze urban transportation system management institutions as well as transportation policy of Russian authorities. The presented analysis consists of two levels: macro-level reveals trends at institution design, explains path dependency from the Soviet epoch. The micro-level put the light on the issue of decision design and the influence of certain actors. The clarification of the formal and informal urban transport management requires the overview of the following questions: the interests and the principles of authorities and private operators’ interaction, practices of transport demand management implementation and public reaction, the evolution of public perception of private and public property. The chapter is organized as follows. The first, introductory part of the chapter is dedicated to explaining the approach and methodological framework used. The second part reveals peculiarities of Soviet transportation system heritage. The third part examines the challenges of 90s period—introduction of free market mechanisms and era of deregulation. Fourth part discusses the experience of the first decade of 21th century and relevant changes in transport system. In the final part authors analyze main institutions; both formal and informal which shape the modern transport system.