The Brazilian legal doctrine on interstate bus passengers (TRIP) gives to the concessionaire the option to supply a premium service alongside to the conventional one during the concession period. Not being on obligation, the concessionaire is free to access the private benefit from supplying this premium service. This article argues that this option should be regulated by the Regulatory Agency. By doing so, the value of the option could be internalized by the regulatory framework, as well as a timetable for the commencement of the premium service. The schedule is constructed in the light of a branch of the theory of financial economics, specifically the theory of real options. Demonstrates that it is possible to have: (a) lines without the offer of differentiated service throughout the permission of the conventional service, (b) the service lines that will supply years after the start of permission from the conventional and (c) lines immediately supply the differentiated service. It is argued that the legal doctrine on the TRIP has to be amended. The argument is that the proposed methodology is employed by the regulator of interstate transportation of passengers by bus to determine if and when a given row must be served by different service.
regulation; interstate transportation; real options; coaches