FACTORS INFLUENCING TRANSIT PRODUCTIVITY

Data from 66 public and private transit operations in New York State were analyzed for fiscal years 1974, 1975, 1976 to explore the underlying factors influencing transit productivity over the three year period and to determine why some transit operations perform more or less efficiently than others. Using a statistical tool known as automatic interaction detection (AID), four aggregate measures of transit productivity (passengers/vehicle mile, revenue/vehicle mile, cost/vehicle mile, and revenue/cost), were related to background factors describing: system ownership, service area, service configuration and service types provided. Results show that situational variables, such as city size (population) and the types of service provided markedly affect the relative performance of transit operations, while public or private ownership has a moderate but less important effect. Policy implications are drawn. Additionally, existing or proposed transit services may be compared against the range of values for the four productivity measures, to determine their relative performance with respect to other transit systems providing similar services in similar situational contexts. /Author/

• Corporate Authors:

  New York State Department of Transportation

  Planning Division, State Campus, Building 4
  Albany, NY  United States  12232
• Authors:
  • King Q, R L
  • Erlbaum, N S
• Publication Date: 1977-8

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 20 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Economic factors; Ownership; Productivity; Public transit; Statistical analysis; Urban areas
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Data and Information Technology; Economics; Highways; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00179032
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: Res. Rpt. 121
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jul 29 1981 12:00AM