COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF URBAN TRANSPORTATION COSTS

This paper develops the methodology and compares door-to- door trip characteristics of some urban transportation modal combinations that are currently in use, are being considered, or appear to hold near-term promise for corridor travel in large U.S. cities oriented to the central business district. The cost and travel time of various options are developed separately for residential line-haul, and downtown trip components. Then they are combined selectively to explore relative merits of door-to-door alternatives. The analysis addresses the many possible variations in corridor length, central business district size, daily volume level, and temporal flow pattern. Furthermore, the sensitivity of costs with respect to changes in design sepcifications, operating policy, automation, and nature of construction is explored. A case study compares various options for Metro in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The marginal costs of busway-based systems are lower than those of systems based on rail rapid transit. Automation is not likely to lower rail rapid transit operating costs dramatically. High-performance, exclusive busways require substantial initial investment but are less costly and faster than rail rapid transit in almost all environments and volume levels. Residential collection with jitneys costs only a little more than residential collection with buses and provides much better service. Car pools provide the least expensive service and attractive door-to-door time.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/559/559-010.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309024676
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Transportation Systems Design. 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:
  • Bhatt, Kiran
• Discussers:
  • TENNYSON, E L
• Conference:
  • 54th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia
  • Date: 1975-1-13 to 1975-1-17
• Publication Date: 1976

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 101-125
• Monograph Title: Transit Planning
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 559
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Analysis; Bus transit; Busways; Capital productivity; Carpools; Central business districts; Costs; Door to door service; Financial capital; Rapid transit; Transportation planning; Travel budgets; Travel costs; Travel time; Urban transportation
• Identifier Terms: Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority
• Uncontrolled Terms: Comparative analysis; Cost analysis; Working capital
• Old TRIS Terms: Bus services
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00134685
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309024676
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Jun 23 1982 12:00AM