How to Measure Performance Evaluation in Urban Passenger Transportation by Disutilities: Model and Application in the Ten Largest US Cities

Abstract

Urban mobility has been a priority for many cities worldwide due to the high population volume that moves around to meet personal and professional needs. However, transportation modes show inefficiencies that cannot be faced by adopting an approach to maximizing performance. In other words, it is necessary to recognize and measure the disutilities (drawbacks) of the transportation system to create effective public policies to deal with the problem. Therefore, this paper aims to develop a methodology to measure the Total Disutilities of modes of transportation. Mathematical modeling is developed using transport literature, and an application is conducted using data from the 10 most populated American cities. The results show that Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Antonio, and Philadelphia presented the lowest Total Disutilities costs (USD) per kilometer. Moreover, the higher disutilities costs occurred in Automobiles in New York and in Bus, Motorcycle, Bicycles or Scooters, and Walking in San Antonio. On the other hand, the lower disutilities costs were established in Automobile in Dallas and in Bus or Train, Motorcycle, Bicycle or Scooter, and Walking in Los Angeles.