Improving the efficiency of metropolitan area transit by joint analysis of its multiple providers

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2011

Subject Area

operations - performance, place - urban, place - north america, economics - operating costs

Keywords

Data Envelopment Analysis, DEA, Technical efficiency, Allocation efficiency, Urban transit, Urban public transportation, Urban transport

Abstract

Public transportation in a metropolitan area often is supplied by multiple types of transit. This paper develops and illustrates a DEA-based procedure for estimating: overall efficiency of an area’s public transportation; technical efficiencies of the individual transit types; effect of each type on overall efficiency; and efficiency of the allocation of resources among types and an algorithm for improving it. The paper concludes that the overall efficiency of an urban area’s public transportation can be validly estimated only if the technical efficiency of each major transport type and the efficiency in allocating resources among them are taken into consideration.

Rights

Permission to publish the abstract has been given by Elsevier, copyright remains with them.

Comments

Transportation Research Part E Home Page:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/13665545

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