Re:The Town of Innisfil partners with Uber for transit inste...
by ProblemFactory on Wednesday April 05, 2017 @04:37AM
(#14040644)
> commercial companies deliver services much more efficiently than governments and bureaucracies.
That is often true, but the efficiency comes from competition in a free market, not the ownership of the service provider.
The government usually has a monopoly, so there is little pressure to be efficient other than the personal motivation of some government employees to improve life in their city.
If there are instead 5 service providers who compete for customers, then they are forced to be efficient or lose their business.
But if there is just one commercial company with an effective monopoly - due to mergers between all providers in an area, poorly structured contracts, or plain old corruption - then there is no pressure to be efficient either.
That is often true, but the efficiency comes from competition in a free market, not the ownership of the service provider.
The government usually has a monopoly, so there is little pressure to be efficient other than the personal motivation of some government employees to improve life in their city.
If there are instead 5 service providers who compete for customers, then they are forced to be efficient or lose their business.
But if there is just one commercial company with an effective monopoly - due to mergers between all providers in an area, poorly structured contracts, or plain old corruption - then there is no pressure to be efficient either.