SCHEDULING-BASED MARGINAL COST-ESTIMATING PROCEDURE

With changing policies regarding transit funding at all levels of government, transit planners will be required to more carefully monitor existing bus systems as well as intensively examine the net cost or savings of proposed service changes. In the past research has focused on only one side of the equation-demand, hence revenue estimation. In the near future, more effort will be directed to operating-cost estimation and the underlying relationships that impact expenditures. Although a variety of cost-estimation techniques have been developed, there is little agreement as to which one best estimates cost. The purpose of this project was to develop a technique that is complex enough to capture the salient cost characteristics of a change in transit service. The cost model presented here is sensitive only to those line items that typically vary in response to changes in the scale or characteristics of fixed-route service. There are termed variable costs. A major variable cost component is driver cost, which is treated by the model in some detail. Driver cost is assumed to be a function of the number of drivers required to operate scheduled service, along with exceptions that normally occur in daily operations. These perturbations are captured through simulations of scheduling and dispatching processes. These are described as a set of calibrated ratios and percentages that assume no dramatic departure from the norm. Other variable costs (e.g., fuel and insurance) are estimated through a typical cost-allocation approach. This model is currently being tested along with several other prominent costing approaches. A variety of small service changes are being used as the basis for comparison. No results on the models' comparative performances are available at this time.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1982/862/862-007.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • http://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=SCHEDULING-BASED+MARGINAL+COST-ESTIMATING+PROCEDURE&author=W.+Cherwony&author=B.+Porter&publication_year=1982
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309033659
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper appeared in Transportation Research Record No. 862, Short-Range Transit Operations Planning and Development. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Cherwony, Walter
  • Porter, Benjamin
• Conference:
  • Workshop on Short-range Transit Operations Planning and Development
  • Location: Atlanta Georgia, United States
  • Date: 1982-3-7 to 1982-3-10
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 35-39
• Monograph Title: Short-range transit operations planning and development
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 862
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus drivers; Bus transit; Cost allocation; Dispatching; Forecasting; Headways; Labor costs; Operating costs; Scheduling
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus services
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; I61: Equipment and Maintenance Methods;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00370030
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309033659
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Feb 28 1983 12:00AM