ASSESSING THE ARGUMENTS FOR URBAN TRANSIT OPERATING SUBSIDIES

Operating subsidies to urban transit have been growing rapidly in recent years. In the near future they will probably pay one-third or more of the industry's operating expenses. Proponents argue that operating subsidies are desirable because (a) they alleviate problems with existing automobile and land use patterns (such as congestion, air pollution, energy consumption, and urban sprawl); (b) they create a more egalitarian distribution of income and mobility; and (c) they permit public transit to be priced at its marginal cost. Unfortunately, many of the arguments of subsidy proponents are implausible. The most plausible argument is not that operating subsidies should be used indiscriminately, but that they should be used to support only particular types of public transportation service. Local transportation authorities currently do not restrict their fare reductions to the appropriate types of service, and they are not likely to do so in the future.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/573/573-001.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=ASSESSING+THE+ARGUMENTS+FOR+URBAN+TRANSIT+OPERATING+SUBSIDIES&author=J.+Gomez-Ibanez&publication_year=1976
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Taxation, Finance, and Pricing. 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:
  • Gomez-Ibanez, Jose A
• 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: References;
• Pagination: pp 1-11
• Monograph Title: Transit Operating Subsidies
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 573
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Assessments; Automobile travel; Fares; Finance; Financing; Government funding; Income; Land use; Mobility; Operating costs; Public transit; Subsidies; Transportation planning; Urban transportation
• Uncontrolled Terms: Fare reduction
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Finance; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Public Transportation; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00138139
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309024862
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 16 1981 12:00AM