Efficiency measurement of bus routes and exogenous operating environment effects on efficiency |
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| Authors: | Weiquan Zhu Xiaoguang Yang John Preston |
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| Institution: | 1. School of Urban Planning and Management, Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China;2. Shenzhen Transportation Design and Research Institute Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, People's Republic of China;3. Department of Traffic Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China;4. Transportation Research Group, Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK |
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| Abstract: | This study develops an independent efficiency measurement model framework of bus routes, so as to treat preferably the heterogeneous outputs in a data envelopment analysis (DEA)-based efficiency measurement. It then introduces four new exogenous operating environment factors at the microscopic level of bus routes, and applies the three-stage DEA approach to incorporate operating environment effects and statistical noise into the efficiency measurement framework. The main purpose is to measure impartially the managerial efficiency of bus routes, purged of operating environment effects and statistical noise, and additionally to investigate the operating environment effects on efficiency. An empirical analysis, based on 39 routes operated in Jiangyin City, China, is presented. The principal finding is that the adoption of the independent efficiency measurement model framework is reasonable and has many virtues. Moreover, the proposed approach could substantially provide decision support both for regulators and for producers of bus services. In addition, the operating environment does indeed significantly affect operating efficiency and quality efficiency, especially the latter. |
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| Keywords: | Bus routes efficiency measurement incentive regulation data envelopment analysis heterogeneous outputs exogenous operating environment |
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