Multi-output efficiency and operational safety: An analysis of railway traffic control centre performance

Bart Roets, Marijn Verschelde () and Johan Christiaens

European Journal of Operational Research, 2018, vol. 271, issue 1, 224-237

Abstract: Transportation service providers are under increasing pressure to raise cost efficiency without sacrificing safety. We show the usefulness of a nonparametric multi-output framework to both monitor staff efficiency and detect operational safety concerns. To realistically model input–output relations at an hourly rate of Belgian computerized railway traffic control centres, we apply a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)-based framework with proportional cost allocation restrictions and introduce output-specific metafrontiers. Our analysis (covering each single hour of the complete year 2015) shows that production tasks with a highly variable work load, when characterized by binding cost allocation restrictions and high within-traffic-control-centre efficiency, are more prone to human error. Further, we show how DEA combined with disaggregated data can be used to a priori assess staff schedule changes.

Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis; Output-specific metafrontier; Operational safety; Input–output allocations; Railways (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Working Paper: Multi-output efficiency and operational safety: An analysis of railway traffic control centre performance (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ejores:v:271:y:2018:i:1:p:224-237

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2018.04.045

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