DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC TRANSIT SUBSIDIES IN LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Public transit today is faced with the challenge of serving its clientele while subsidies are failing to keep pace with increasing operating costs. In Los Angeles County, there are service distribution inequalities--overcrowding and unmet demand in some areas and, at the same time, surplus capacity in other areas. To use subsidy resources efficiently requires that the effects of present subsidy allocation practices be understood--that is, how subsidies are translated into consumed service, both by type of service and by geographic sector within the urban area. An attempt is made to provide a preliminary understanding of that distribution in Los Angeles County. It is postulated that significantly more passengers are carried per dollar of subsidy in the central Los Angeles area than in other areas and local services require a lower subsidy per passenger than do express services. A number of policy issues are raised, the most important being the very purpose of public transit subsidies.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1982/877/877-001.pdf
• Summary URL:
  https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=DISTRIBUTION+OF+PUBLIC+TRANSIT+SUBSIDIES+IN+LOS+ANGELES+COUNTY&author=W.+Cox&publication_year=1982
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• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Public Transportation 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:
  • Cox, Wendell
• Publication Date: 1982

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Figures; Maps; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 1-5
• Monograph Title: Urban public transportation planning issues
• Serial:
  • Transportation Research Record
  • Issue Number: 877
  • Publisher: Transportation Research Board
  • ISSN: 0361-1981

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Bus transit; Cost allocation; Equity; Express buses; Operating costs; Ridership; Subsidies
• Geographic Terms: Los Angeles (California)
• Old TRIS Terms: Allocations; Bus services
• Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; Public Transportation; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00372407
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309034655
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 29 1983 12:00AM