Welcome from Professor David Hensher

David Hensher Co-founder and International Chair of the Thredbo Series

Director, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, The University of Sydney Business School, Australia

"Since the inaugural conference was held in Thredbo, Australia in 1989, (hence it becoming known as the Thredbo series) the series has established itself as the premier international forum dedicated to the analysis and debate of competition and ownership issues in land passenger transport. The series has attracted high quality participation and delivered a large portfolio of impressive material synthesising developments not only from developed economies but increasingly from developing economies. I invite you to participate in this influential forum".

Professor David Hensher discusses the importance of the Thredbo Series with Elsevier – Interview on YouTube

History of the Thredbo Series

The Thredbo Series was established in 1989 by Professor David Hensher and the late Professor Michael Beesley CBE. Since this time it has been held biennially in locations all over the world: Tampere, Finland, 1991; Toronto, Canada, 1993; Rotorua, New Zealand, 1995; Leeds, UK, 1997; Cape Town, South Africa, 1999; Molde, Norway, 2001; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2003; Lisbon, Portugal, 2005; Hamilton Island, Australia, 2007; Delft, The Netherlands, 2009; Durban, South Africa, 2011; Oxford, UK, 2013; Santiago, Chile, 2015; Stockholm, Sweden, 2017;Singapore, 2019; Sydney, 2022; and Cape Town, South Africa, 2024.

The objective of the conference series is to provide an international forum to examine passenger transport competition and ownership issues, reporting on recent research and experience and developing conclusions on key issues. The focus is on determining the effects of different forms of competition, ownership and organisation for land-based passenger transport on operators, users, governments / funders and society as a whole. The conference series is directed towards a broad audience of policy makers, planners, decision makers on infrastructure and service operators, consultants, researchers, academics and students, and is recognised as one of the most important international forums for analysis and debate of competition and ownership issues in land passenger transport.

The conference typically features plenary sessions over four days and a series of intensive workshops based around keynote papers and a series of resource papers providing a range of international perspectives on each issue. There is a strong emphasis on what policy lessons can be learnt from recent experience internationally and what issues warrant further investigation.

International Steering Committee



Thredbo 18

Sunday 29 September – Thursday 3 October 2024


Thredbo 18 Program

Download Program (PDF)

View our photo album from Thredbo18 in Cape Town


Local Organising Committee (Thredbo 18)

Sponsored by:

Centre for Transport Studies (CfTS) logo


University of Sydney Business School logo


ITLS logo



ITLS Africa


KOLEKO logo


Golden Arrow Bus Services logo

Big Tree Marketing logo

Zutari logo



Thredbo 17

Sunday 4 to Thursday 9 September, 2022


Thredbo 17 Program

Download Program (PDF)

View our photo album from Thredbo 17 in Sydney


Workshop Report Webinars

Recordings from our recent webinar series where Workshop Chairs and Rapporteurs presented the main takeaways and areas for future research from each of the eight sessions can be viewed below:

Local Organising Committee (Thredbo 17)


Sponsored by

The University of Sydney logo

Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies

Volvo

Kelsian

NSW Government

BusNSW

BusVic

Piper Alderman

Busways


Thredbo 16

Sunday 25 to Thursday 29 August 2019


Thredbo 16 Program

Download Program (PDF)

View our photo album from Thredbo 16 in Singapore

Read the summary report (PDF)


Local Organising Committee



Thredbo 15

Sunday 13 to Thursday 17 August 2017


Thredbo 15 Program

Download Program (PDF)


Local Organising Committee


Sponsors

City of Stockholm logo


ICC Sweden logo


Swedish Bus and Coach Federation logo


Stockholm County Council logo


Keolis Sweden logo

K2 – The Swedish Knowledge Centre for Public Transport logo


SJ logo


MTR Nordic logo



Thredbo 14

Sunday 30 August to Thursday 3 September 2015

Thredbo 14 Program

Download Program (PDF)


Local Organising Committee


Sponsors

Elsevier logo


DTPM logo

Giro logo


EFE logo


Cityplanning logo

SHIFT Workforce Management logo


PTV Group logo


TransitUC logo


Subus logo

LOGIAT logo


Metbus logo


ACTUS logo


Supporters

Pontificia Universidad logo


ITLS logo




CEDEUS logo


Metro de Santiago logo


BRT logo



Thredbo 13

Sunday 15 to Thursday 19 September 2013

Thredbo 13 Program The 13th International Conference on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport was held at St Anne's College, University of Oxford, UK from Sunday 15 to Thursday 19 September 2013. The highly successful conference was attended by more than 160 delegates from 26 countries around the world. The conference featured plenary sessions and a series of intensive workshops based around keynote papers and a series of resource papers providing a range of international perspectives on each issue. There was a strong emphasis on the policy lessons that can be learnt from recent experience internationally and what issues warrant further investigation.

Download Program (PDF)


Local Organising Committee

Professor John Preston (Chair)
Maritime and Environmental Engineering and Science Unit, University of Southampton

Dr Karen Lucas
Transport Studies Unit, University of Oxford

Professor John Nelson
Rural Digital Economy Research Hub, University of Aberdeen

Dr Andrew Smith
Institute for Transport Studies, University of Leeds

Professor Peter White
Department of Transport Studies, University of Westminster



Thredbo 12

Sunday 11 to Thursday 15 September 2011

A message from Professor Daneel van Lill (Executive Dean, Faculty of Management, University of Johannesburg, South Africa):

Thredbo 12 The Thredbo 12 Conference on Competition and Ownership issues in Land Passenger Transport was co-hosted in Durban from 11 to 15 September 2011 by the University of Johannesburg's Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, in partnership with:

Delegates representing 26 countries participated in plenary sessions and two days of intensive workshop debates.  The Major of Ethikweni, James Nxumalo, welcomed all and Deputy Minister of Transport, Jeremy Cronin, opened the conference with senior government officials attending the entire conference.  What I have found remarkable about the conference was the intense, yet constructive interaction among government officials, private sector product owners and academics.

Download Program (PDF)

ITLS Africa

University of Johannesburg

Transport logo

Local Organising Committee

Professor Jackie Walters (Chair)
Director, ITLS-Africa and Head, Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg

Professor GC Prinsloo
Deputy Head, Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg

Jan-David de Villiers
Manager, Rail Transport Operations and Chief Director, Public Transport Subsidy Management, Department of Transport

Lesiba Charles Manamela
Director of Bus Operations, Public Transport, Department of Transport

T Mbara
Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management Department, University of Johannesburg

R Luke
ITLS-Africa and Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg

P Kilbourn
Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg

G Heyns
Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg

Fareea Dangor (Secretariat)
Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management, University of Johannesburg

Sponsors

Man Truck and Bus    Deloitte  SAHA  Putco  Golden Arrow  Namela



Thredbo 11

Sunday 20 to Friday 25 September 2009

The 11th International Conference on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport (Thredbo 11) was hosted by the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands) from 20-25 September 2009. The conference attracted 120 participants from 22 countries, representing transport authorities, operators and academia. The conference included seven parallel workshops discussing 87 papers on the topics of the outcome of competitive tendering practices, ways to reach a successful contractual setting, alternatives beyond competitive tendering, system development, social inclusion, public policy and transport, and public transport markets in development.

Download the Conference Program (PDF)


Local organising committee

Sponsors



Thredbo 10

Sunday 12 to Friday 17 August 2007

Thredbo 10 Conference Program Cover

The 10th International Conference on Competition and Ownership in Land Passenger Transport (Thredbo 10) was hosted by the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, the University of Sydney on Hamilton Island in August 2007. Thredbo 10 was a huge success attracting high quality participation from 140 delegates of 22 countries, from government, industry and academia. The conference delivered a large portfolio of impressive material, synthesising developments not only from developed economies but also from developing economies.

Download the Conference Program (PDF)


Local organising committee

Sponsors

Thredbo 10 sponsors