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Scale economies in United States rail transit systems

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  • Savage, Ian

Abstract

A three-staged least squares translog cost function is estimated for 13 heavy-rail and nine light-rail United States urban mass transit systems for the period 1985-1991. Firm output is taken to be endogenous. Large economies of density are found in operating costs. These economies become even more substantial when the cost of way and structure maintenance and capital costs are incorporated. However, there are constant returns to system size in short-run variable costs.

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  • Savage, Ian, 1997. "Scale economies in United States rail transit systems," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 459-473, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transa:v:31:y:1997:i:6:p:459-473
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    1. Viton, Philip A., 1993. "Once again, the costs of urban rapid transit," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 401-412, October.
    2. Braeutigam, Ronald R & Daughety, Andrew F & Turnquist, Mark A, 1984. "A Firm Specific Analysis of Economies of Density in the U.S. Railroad Industry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 3-20, September.
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    2. Abe, Ryosuke & Kato, Hironori, 2017. "What led to the establishment of a rail-oriented city? Determinants of urban rail supply in Tokyo, Japan, 1950–2010," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 72-79.
    3. Hörcher, Daniel & Tirachini, Alejandro, 2021. "A review of public transport economics," Economics of Transportation, Elsevier, vol. 25(C).
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    6. Betancor, Ofelia & Carmona, Miguel & Macário, Rosário & Nash, Chris, 2005. "Operating Costs," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 85-124, January.
    7. Leonardo J. Basso & Sergio R. Jara-Díaz & William G. Waters, 2011. "Cost Functions for Transport Firms," Chapters, in: André de Palma & Robin Lindsey & Emile Quinet & Roger Vickerman (ed.), A Handbook of Transport Economics, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Yu, Kemei & Wu, Jianhong & Wang, Kun & Zhang, Anming & Zheng, Shiyuan & Wang, Yixiao & Li, Hongchang, 2023. "Restructuring Chinese railways from a cost-efficient perspective—A hedonic cost function analysis," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
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    10. Mancuso, Paolo & Reverberi, Pierfrancesco, 2003. "Operating costs and market organization in railway services. The case of Italy, 1980-1995," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 43-61, January.
    11. Huang, Wencheng & Zhang, Yue & Shuai, Bin & Xu, Minhao & Xiao, Wei & Zhang, Rui & Xu, Yifei, 2019. "China railway industry reform evolution approach: Based on the Vertical Separation Model," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 546-556.
    12. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Hideo Kozumi & Noriaki Matsushima, 2009. "Does yardstick regulation really work? Empirical evidence from Japan’s rail industry," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 308-323, December.
    13. Anupriya, & Bansal, Prateek & Graham, Daniel J., 2023. "Congestion in cities: Can road capacity expansions provide a solution?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    14. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Shuji Uranishi, 2013. "Does vertical separation reduce cost? An empirical analysis of the rail industry in European and East Asian OECD Countries," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 31-59, January.
    15. Fumitoshi Mizutani & Andrew Smith & Chris Nash & Shuji Uranishi, 2015. "Comparing the Costs of Vertical Separation, Integration, and Intermediate Organisational Structures in European and East Asian Railways," Journal of Transport Economics and Policy, University of Bath, vol. 49(3), pages 496-515, July.
    16. Alireza Ermagun & David Levinson, 2015. "Access and Transit System Performance," Working Papers 000129, University of Minnesota: Nexus Research Group.
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