Disincentivising overbidding in toll road project procurement

The Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport has today published a report, jointly written by Oxera and RBconsult, which identifies and assesses methods of disincentivising overbidding to obtain toll road concessions. The result is a set of international best practice principles and recommendations to minimise overbidding within public–private partnerships. Read More

Are rail fare increases offering good value for money?

Based on yesterday’s RPI figure for July, regulated rail fares in England will rise by 6.2% on average. Oxera discussed this issue in an Agenda article last year, when the RPI + 3 fares policy was first expected to be used to set regulated fares in January 2012. Ultimately the policy was revised back to the previous position of RPI + 1 in last November’s Autumn Statement. Read More

Oxera expert role in landmark damages ruling by Competition Appeal Tribunal

On July 5th, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) issued a judgment in 2 Travel Group Plc (In Liquidation) v Cardiff City Transport Services Limited. This was a ‘follow-on’ damages claim based on a finding by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in 2008 that Cardiff Bus had engaged in anti-competitive practices against 2 Travel, an entrant into the market for local bus services in Cardiff. Read More

Oxera alumnus returns to head the Communications team

Oxera is delighted to welcome back Felipe Flórez Duncan to lead its Communications team. Felipe originally joined Oxera in 2005, specialising in competition and regulatory economics in the telecommunications and postal sectors. He rejoins Oxera from BT, where he was a Senior Regulatory Economist. Read More