Passengers, citizens, customers: London transport transformed 1977–1987

Fowler, James and Edwards, Roy (2023) Passengers, citizens, customers: London transport transformed 1977–1987. Business History, 1-26. (doi:10.1080/00076791.2023.2247343).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper examines a transformation in the corporate control of London’s transport between 1977 and 1987. We offer a detailed case study explaining how a corporatist consensus broke down, what replaced it, and why. By 1977, London Transport was a centralised monopoly captured by its producer groups while passengers were treated as passive recipients. Two alternatives presented themselves: a utility maximising perspective, empowering passengers as citizens, or a cost-minimising perspective construing passengers as customers. After a period of conflict, central government intervened to disaggregate London Transport as an organisation while keeping its monopoly of provision intact. We assess this complicated transformation, arguing that there was a pivot from enterprise-level to product-level orientated logics visible in the day-to-day operations, interactions, and reporting systems. Using techniques later characterised as New Public Management, senior officials re-configured London Transport’s dynamic capabilities towards commercial imperatives, successfully transforming its business model.

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