This paper uses data envelopment analysis (DEA) to examine the relative technical
efficiency of the Washington State Ferry (WSF) routes operating in Puget Sound. This is the
largest ferry system in the country. It is publicly operated and does not face direct
competition from any other agency, public or private. Therefore whether or not the ferry
routes operate efficiently is a natural question. DEA is being used increasingly for
measuring technical efficiency in non-profit settings such as health care and education,
where prices of inputs and outputs may either be unavailable or artificially set. Because
DEA does not require prices to measure efficiency, the technique has an advantage in these
arenas. This paper first uses DEA to measure the relative technical efficiency of each WSF
route using two different comparison sets. Returns to scale are then evaluated for each route
in three successive years (1995-1997). Finally, a Malmquist productivity index is calculated in
order to evaluate total factor productivity over the three-year period. For further evaluation
this index is then divided into two components: technical change and efficiency change.
Overall, the findings show that most of the ferry routes operate in an efficient
manner. The results do, however, show routes where there may be room for improvement
and they provide a means to pinpointing areas where WSF may want to focus attention
when making management decisions. / Graduation date: 2000
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33210 |
| Date | 21 September 1999 |
| Creators | Owen, Alyce L. |
| Contributors | Connolly, Laura S. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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