IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/transa/v42y2008i8p1086-1097.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economies of scale in bus transit service in the USA: How does cost efficiency vary by agency size and level of contracting?

Author

Listed:
  • Iseki, Hiroyuki

Abstract

Past studies of economies of scale in transit have tended to treat the transit industry as a set of similar agencies that have the same cost structure, and have conducted an analysis for the entire range of agency size using a single regression function. This may have caused problems in the interpretation of analysis results because agencies of different sizes that may have different cost structures are treated as a homogeneous data set. In this paper, I examine the issues of economies of scale in the provision of fixed-route bus transit service in the USA, using level of contracting as a variable to classify agencies into three different size groups. In this analysis, using a significantly larger pooled data set (compared to previous studies) constructed from the National Transit Database of the US Federal Transit Administration from 1992 to 2000, I found that agencies with different levels of contracting exhibit very different relationships between cost per vehicle hour and agency size. Applying the observed range of agency size, I also found diseconomies of scale for all agency sizes with all levels of contracting, even when I utilized a quadratic function for the regression equation. While the analysis is limited since the model did not control for many other explanatory variables, the findings suggest that the level of contracting is possibly an important variable, among many attributes of transit systems, with which to classify agencies into different size groups, each of which has a different transit cost structure.

Suggested Citation

  • Iseki, Hiroyuki, 2008. "Economies of scale in bus transit service in the USA: How does cost efficiency vary by agency size and level of contracting?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(8), pages 1086-1097, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:42:y:2008:i:8:p:1086-1097
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965-8564(08)00079-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dag Dalen & Andres Gómez-Lobo, 2003. "Yardsticks on the road: Regulatory contracts and cost efficiency in the Norwegian bus industry," Transportation, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 371-386, November.
    2. McCullough, William S. III & Taylor, Brian D. & Wachs, Martin, 1998. "Transit Service Contracting and Cost Efficiency," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt1x1048tt, University of California Transportation Center.
    3. Viton, Philip A., 1993. "Once again, the costs of urban rapid transit," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 401-412, October.
    4. Williams, Martin & Hall, Carol, 1981. "Returns to scale in the United States intercity bus industry," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 573-584, November.
    5. Viton, Philip A, 1981. "A Translog Cost Function for Urban Bus Transit," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 287-304, March.
    6. William Roy & Yves Croissant, 2008. "Improving urban transport performances by tendering lots: an econometric estimation of natural monopoly frontiers," Post-Print halshs-00122887, HAL.
    7. Berechman, Joseph & Giuliano, Genevieve, 1984. "Analysis of the cost structure of an urban bus transit property," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 18(4-5), pages 273-287.
    8. Ann F. Friedlaender & Clifford Winston & Kung Wang, 1983. "Costs, Technology, and Productivity in the U.S. Automobile Industry," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(1), pages 1-20, Spring.
    9. Berechman, Joseph, 1987. "Cost structure and production technology in transit : An application to the Israeli bus transit sector," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 519-534, November.
    10. Karlaftis, Matthew G. & McCarthy, Patrick, 2002. "Cost structures of public transit systems: a panel data analysis," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 1-18, January.
    11. Williams, Martin, 1979. "Firm Size and Operating Costs in Urban Bus Transportation," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 209-218, December.
    12. Jonathan Cowie & Darinka Asenova, 1999. "Organisation form, scale effects and efficiency in the British bus industry," Transportation, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 231-248, August.
    13. Button, K J & O'Donnell, K J, 1985. "An Examination of the Cost Structures Associated with Providing Urban Bus Services in Britain," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 32(1), pages 67-81, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qiu, Guo & Xu, Wangtu (Ato) & Li, Ling, 2018. "Key factors to annual investment in public transportation sector: The case of China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 1-19.
    2. Shibayama, Takeru, 2020. "Competence distribution and policy implementation efficiency towards sustainable urban transport: A comparative study," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Campos-Alba, Cristina M. & Prior, Diego & Pérez-López, Gemma & Zafra-Gómez, Jose L., 2020. "Long-term cost efficiency of alternative management forms for urban public transport from the public sector perspective," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 16-23.
    4. Karlaftis, Matthew G. & Tsamboulas, Dimitrios, 2012. "Efficiency measurement in public transport: Are findings specification sensitive?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 392-402.
    5. de Grange, Louis & Troncoso, Rodrigo & Briones, Ignacio, 2018. "Cost, production and efficiency in local bus industry: An empirical analysis for the bus system of Santiago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-11.
    6. Obeng, K. & Sakano, R., 2020. "Effects of government regulations and input subsidies on cost efficiency: A decomposition approach," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 95-107.
    7. Obeng, K. & Sakano, R. & Naanwaab, C., 2016. "Understanding overall output efficiency in public transit systems: The roles of input regulations, perceived budget and input subsidies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 133-150.
    8. Sheng, Dian & Meng, Qiang, 2020. "Public bus service contracting: A critical review and future research opportunities," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    9. Ermagun, Alireza & Stathopoulos, Amanda, 2018. "To bid or not to bid: An empirical study of the supply determinants of crowd-shipping," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 468-483.
    10. Haire, Ashley R. & Machemehl, Randy B. & Mills, Alison F., 2009. "Operational Cost Efficiency of Bus versus Heavy Rail: A Temporal and Regional Analysis," 50th Annual Transportation Research Forum, Portland, Oregon, March 16-18, 2009 207623, Transportation Research Forum.
    11. Savage, Ian, 2010. "The dynamics of fare and frequency choice in urban transit," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 815-829, December.
    12. Iseki, Hiroyuki, 2010. "Effects of contracting on cost efficiency in US fixed-route bus transit service," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 457-472, August.
    13. Alireza Ermagun & David Levinson, 2015. "Access and Transit System Performance," Working Papers 000129, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    14. Nayan, Ashish & Wang, David Z.W., 2017. "Optimal bus transit route packaging in a privatized contracting regime," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 146-157.
    15. Qiao, Yu & Fricker, Jon D. & Labi, Samuel, 2019. "Effects of bundling policy on project cost under market uncertainty: A comparison across different highway project types," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 606-625.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. de Grange, Louis & Troncoso, Rodrigo & Briones, Ignacio, 2018. "Cost, production and efficiency in local bus industry: An empirical analysis for the bus system of Santiago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 1-11.
    2. Avenali, Alessandro & Boitani, Andrea & Catalano, Giuseppe & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Matteucci, Giorgio, 2016. "Assessing standard costs in local public bus transport: Evidence from Italy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 164-174.
    3. Massimo Filippini & Paola Prioni, 2003. "The influence of ownership on the cost of bus service provision in Switzerland - an empirical illustration," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(6), pages 683-690.
    4. Alireza Ermagun & David Levinson, 2015. "Access and Transit System Performance," Working Papers 000129, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
    5. Cinzia Daraio & Marco Diana & Flavia Di Costa & Claudio Leporelli & Giorgio Matteucci & Alberto Nastasi, 2014. "Efficiency and effectiveness in the urban public transport sector: a critical review with directions for future research," DIAG Technical Reports 2014-14, Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Universita' degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza".
    6. Batarce, Marco & Galilea, Patricia, 2018. "Cost and fare estimation for the bus transit system of Santiago," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 92-101.
    7. Giovanni Fraquelli & Massimiliano Piacenza & Graziano Abrate, 2004. "Regulating Public Transit Networks: How do Urban‐Intercity Diversification and Speed‐up Measures Affect Firms’ Cost Performance?," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 193-225, June.
    8. Ripplinger, David G. & Bitzan, John D., 2018. "The cost structure of transit in small urban and rural U.S. communities," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 176-189.
    9. Batarce, Marco, 2016. "Estimation of urban bus transit marginal cost without cost data," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 241-262.
    10. Mizutani, Fumitoshi & Urakami, Takuya, 2002. "A private-public comparison of bus service operators," ERSA conference papers ersa02p146, European Regional Science Association.
    11. Carlo Cambini & Massimiliano Piacenza & Davide Vannoni, 2007. "Restructuring Public Transit Systems: Evidence on Cost Properties from Medium and Large-Sized Companies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 31(3), pages 183-203, November.
    12. Amaral, Miguel, 2008. "Public vs private management of public utilities - The case of urban public transport in Europe," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 85-90, January.
    13. Yves Croissant & William Roy & Joan Canton, 2013. "Reducing urban public transport costs by tendering lots: a panel data estimation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(26), pages 3711-3722, September.
    14. Avenali, Alessandro & Boitani, Andrea & Catalano, Giuseppe & D’Alfonso, Tiziana & Matteucci, Giorgio, 2018. "Assessing standard costs in local public bus transport: A hybrid cost model," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 48-57.
    15. Keough, Michael, 1987. "Scale Economies Among United States Public Bus Systems," Journal of the Transportation Research Forum, Transportation Research Forum, vol. 28(1).
    16. Rinki Sarkar, 1997. "Depicting The Cost Structure Of On Urban Bus Transit Firm," Working papers 50, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    17. Andrea Boitani & Marcella Nicolini & Carlo Scarpa, 2013. "Do competition and ownership matter? Evidence from local public transport in Europe," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(11), pages 1419-1434, April.
    18. Karlaftis, Matthew & McCarthy, Patrick, 1999. "The Effect of Privatization on Public Transit Costs," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 27-43, July.
    19. Mehdi Farsi & Aurelio Fetz & Massimo Filippini, 2007. "Economies of Scale and Scope in Local Public Transportation," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 41(3), pages 345-361, September.
    20. D. Fabbri, 1996. "La Stima di Frontiere di Costo nel Trasporto Pubblico Locale: una Rassegna e un'Applicazione," Working Papers 270, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:42:y:2008:i:8:p:1086-1097. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/547/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.