Any shift in emphasis from public towards private bus services is likely, understandably, to be unpopular with the unions representing thepublic sector employees.The cost savings from such a shift result partly from more efficient utilisation of labour, and therefore lower staff requirements, and partly from rather lower rates of pay in the private bus industry. Many people would consider it to be a retrograde step for government to pursue policies which result in higher unemployment and in lower rates of pay for some people transferring from the public to the to private sector of the bus industry However, even if those transferring to the private sector were to have their incomes maintained at public sector levels(this might be a political precondition of any transfer of services to the private sector), then the evidence suggests there would st111 be a saving of some 15%-20% in total costs of the transferred services as a result of the more efficient utilisation of labour.But there would be little to gain from increasing the role of the private sector just for its own sake. If such a change were to be effected without any change either to average earnings or to total employment in the industry, then the patential cost savings would be very limited