Examining the cost structure of urban bus transit industry: does urban geography help?

Çubukçu K. M.

JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY, cilt.16, sa.4, ss.278-291, 2008 (SSCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 16 Sayı: 4
  • Basım Tarihi: 2008
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2007.09.001
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF TRANSPORT GEOGRAPHY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.278-291
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: bus transit costs, cost function, geographical factors, GIS, scale economics, FACTOR DEMAND, EFFICIENCY, ECONOMIES, SCALE, TRANSPORT, SYSTEMS, PRODUCTIVITY, PERFORMANCE, OWNERSHIP, COMPANIES
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

The purpose of this paper is to expand empirical research on bus transit operation costs and test the hypothesis that physical and geographical characteristics are plausible explanatory cost factors. A translog cost function has been estimated, using a panel dataset of 1053 observations over 1996-2002 for a cross-section of 264 transit bus agencies in the US, combined with geographical and physical data processed with GIS technology. The results confirm the importance of geographical factors as determinants of bus transit costs. The trade-offs between geographical factors in shaping the frontier between economies and diseconomies of density are assessed. The implications of the results for public policy regarding competition are discussed. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.