This paper presents some of the results of a research whose main objective was the analysis of the international experience in regulation, specifically, public policies related to transportation, in order to offer a conceptual frame of reference for the consolidation of regulatory agencies. The analysis highlights the main features of regulatory framework in Brazil and Argentina. Common factors were found at the basis of the restructuring processes in both countries, those mainly related to the State Reform initiated at the beginning of the nineties. The restructuring process in surface transportation in Brazil is described, the role of regulatory agencies in state and federal level is highlighted, the principal motives of reform are pointed out, the regulatory institutional and organizational features are compared and, lastly, the regulatory strategies are differentiated.