Operational Cost Efficiency of Bus versus Heavy Rail: A Temporal and Regional Analysis

Ashley R. Haire, Randy B. Machemehl and Alison F. Mills

No 207623, 50th Annual Transportation Research Forum, Portland, Oregon, March 16-18, 2009 from Transportation Research Forum

Abstract: This research examines the cost-efficiencies of heavy rail and bus systems with regard to their per-vehicle and perpassenger- mile operating costs. By looking at how these costs differ between the modes and how they changed during the 1997-2006 period, both nationally and by region of the country, we seek to determine which mode is more economical on an operational basis. Overall, the study found that rail systems cost more to operate than bus systems on a per-vehicle basis, but cost less than bus systems when considering cost per-passenger-mile, a result explained by the higher carrying capacity of railcars as opposed to buses. Furthermore, using theoretical occupancy levels, a threshold occupancy was calculated for rail, beyond which it becomes the more cost-efficient of the two modes.

Keywords: Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies; Research Methods/ Statistical Methods; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19
Date: 2009-01
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/207623/files/2 ... tionalCost_paper.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ndtr09:207623

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.207623

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in 50th Annual Transportation Research Forum, Portland, Oregon, March 16-18, 2009 from Transportation Research Forum
Bibliographic data for series maintained by AgEcon Search ().