Public utilities do
not need to make a profit. They can concentrate on providing a quality service,
a public good. By contrast, the primary objective of private utilities is not
to provide a public good, but profit and profitability. This simple CLD tries
to show the conflict that can arise from this and a hidden dynamic, a reinforcing
feedback loop, that can lead to disaster. Unfortunately, there are examples where
failure in infrastructure maintenance has led to disaster. On the 9th of July
2009, the German newspaper 'Welt Online' reported that the authorities in Berlin
had to intervene and force the
company that was running Berlin's S-Bahn (suburban rail service) to withdraw
half of all the city's trains from service because they were considered unsafe!
Something similar happened in the UK where failure to maintain rail tracks led
to serious accidents.
