Rail and road public transport: Cooperation or coexistence?

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the performance of 34 multimodal public transport networks worldwide to investigate whether the service characteristics of their metro components significantly affect bus performance and vice versa as well as whether their operational environment exerts the same impact on metro and bus public transport modes. We built a combined effectiveness model to simulate the production process of both bus and metro systems and calculated credible performance scores for them by applying data envelopment analysis and bootstrapping techniques. Results showed that, on average, both bus and metro systems require a great ridership increase to reach their best performing peers. We employed conditional robust order-m efficiency estimators to identify factors that may account for these performance rankings. Empirical findings indicate that bus and metro systems more coexist than cooperate in terms of developing their performance profiles. Bus and metro systems are influenced by different exogenous factors and fail to incorporate effectiveness improvements if service upgrades are delivered in their road or rail public transport counterparts. Our findings provide for a better understanding of the interrelationships within multimodal public transport networks and thus contribute to the formulation of both appropriate decision making and realistic performance targets.