F or more than five decades, the federal, state, and local governments have subsidized mass transit systems through sales, gasoline, and property taxes with an expectation that it would improve mobility to low-income citizens, reduce carbon footprints and traffic congestion, and facilitate regional economic growth. However, in times of financial crisis and chronic government budget deficits, the inefficient use of a mass transit system can increase public outcry over the wasteful spending of government funds and taxpayers' monies. To find ways to utilize mass transit systems more efficiently across the United States, this paper aimed to identify the benchmark transit practices that every mass transit system can emulate and then continuously improve its performance. To achieve these goals, this paper analyzed the multiple years of past performances of 262 mass transit agencies in the United States using data envelopment analysis and the Malmquist productivity index and then provided practical guidelines for enhancing mass transit efficiency.
A mass transit system not only improves passenger mobility, but also affects the level of economic activities (e.g. working and shopping). Thus, changes wrought by mass transit service planning can heavily influence regional economic growth. This planning requires a careful consideration of conflicting goals (e.g. better utilisation of fleets vs. transit services, improved passenger services vs. increased operating expenses, revenue increases vs. tax or fare hikes) which poses a number of problems for policy decision makers. In particular, given the public's growing concerns over government budget deficits, the continuous underutilisation of mass transit systems can increase public scrutiny concerning the increased investment in mass transit services. To find ways to better utilise mass transit systems across the state of Ohio and thus make the best use of state/federal/municipal government funds and taxpayers' monies, this paper aims to evaluate the operational efficiency of the current mass transit system relative to benchmark standards and then identify the leading causes of mass transit inefficiencies. To achieve these goals, this paper analyzes the past three years of time-series data regarding 24 urban mass transit agencies in Ohio using window data envelopment analysis.
The purpose of this study is to introduce a novel methodology to measure the central bank efficiency. The data envelopment analysis (DEA) applies in the combination of three input and two output variables characterizing the economic balance in international trade. Super-efficiency DEA model is applied for ranking & comparing the efficiency of different central banks. In contrast, the Malmquist productivity index (MPI) is used to measure the productivity change over the period of time. Further, the study is extended to quantify the impact of international trade dimension on the efficiency of the central bank by using Tobit regression analysis. Finally, based on our data analysis, we reported that the efficiency changes over the period of time and the total productivity changes significantly due to the technology shift as compared to efficiency change. Additionally, it is also observed that the central bank efficiency is impacted dramatically by the export level of the country as compared to import level, average exchange rate and GDP. It implies that the export level of the country significantly influences the performances of the central bank.
On December 10, 2021, the ‘Incheon-Jeju’ ferry started its first regular service after 7 years and 8 months. The ferry, which had been cut off after the Sewol ferry disaster in April 2014, was reopened. The resumption of the ‘Incheon-Jeju’ waterway is expected to revive the local economy of the Incheon coastal pier and revitalize the logistics business of the Incheon coastal pier due to the increase in the supply of Jeju agricultural and marine products. In the meantime, the flow of logistics from Jeju to the Seoul metropolitan area via Honam is expected to lead directly from Jeju to Incheon Port, reducing logistics costs and resolving the distortion of logistics, thereby opening the door to logistics business through maritime transport. In addition, Incheon Port Authority expects that the annual number of coastal passengers will recover to 1 million, and it is expected to increase the number of coastal passengers, revitalize the area around the coastal pier and revitalize the local economy by contributing to the expansion of Incheon Port infrastructure and revitalization of coastal tourism. Accordingly, it is necessary to study a plan to revitalize the local economy according to the increase in maritime freight volume between Incheon and Jeju. It is time for policy proposals to revitalize the Incheon regional economy due to the increase in the Incheon-Jeju maritime trade volume. Therefore, in this study, the current status of maritime logistics between Incheon and Jeju before and after the Sewol ferry disaster was investigated, and the ‘total employment of An analysis model was developed for ‘inducing effect’ and ‘economic inducement effect’. Based on this research model, “total employment induction effect” and “economic inducement effect” caused by the increase in maritime transport volume were calculated and “how much the Incheon local economy is activated” simulation was performed. In other words, after the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, only about 5-6% of Jeju Samdasoo and Jeju agricultural products entered Incheon Port, and on December 10, 2021, sea transportation from Jeju → Incheon Port was resumed and about 60 to 65% of Jeju Samdasoo and Jeju agricultural products were resumed. It is expected to flow into Incheon Port again. Therefore, by estimating the change in future cargo volume for the next three to five years, such as 2022 to 2025, the number of jobs created by the total employment induction effect and the economic inducement effect were calculated. In other words, when the vitalization of maritime logistics between Incheon and Jeju is normalized, Jeju Samdasoo, Jeju agricultural products, etc. will flow into Jeju → Incheon Port, and the volume of marine cargo is expected to increase from a minimum of 1.45 million tons to a maximum of 215 tons. It is expected that the total employment inducement effect will occur from a minimum of 1,629 people to a maximum of 2,618 people. In addition, it was analyzed that there was an economic inducement effect of at least 106 billion won to a maximum of 170.3 billion won due to an increase in the amount of sea freight flowing from Jeju to Incheon.
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