Stage-Coordination and Efficiency of Sustainable Urban Rail Transit Development in China: Evidence from 40 Cities

Urban rail transit (URT) has developed rapidly in parallel with the rapid development of the Chinese economy. Some cities suffer from under-investment leading to traffic congestion and environmental pollution, while others suffer from over-investment, leading to operating losses. This paper constructs a three-part evaluation index system consisting of input, intermediate variables, and output, and uses a two-stage super slacks-based measure (super-SBM) model to analyze the development efficiency of URT. The development of URT is divided into two sub-processes of investment and operation, and the investment efficiency and operation efficiency are calculated separately. In addition, a coupling coordination model is used to assess the degree of coupling coordination between the two stages. The results show that the cities with the best overall performance were those with fast-growing economies, such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. By contrast, the entire development process of URT in cities such as Zhuhai and Jinan were ineffective. The problems were more severe in cities where URT was just starting. The degree of coupling and coordination between the two phases of URT investment and operation varied significantly among cities and, in general, could be substantially improved. These findings provide important references for future policy design and implementation of URT, which will help alleviate urban traffic congestion and promote sustainable urban development.