Several recently published studies have demonstrated that employing planning strategies oriented on improving the internal characteristics of transit service, including frequency,
coverage, intermodal integration, and seamless connectivity between all important trip attractors, positively influences ridership and productivity of multimodal bus and light rail transit
systems. However, the research has not assessed overall economic outcomes of implementing these strategies, including social benefits and capital costs. Another emerging body of scholarship
pointed to transit service contracting and consolidated regional governance as another possible strategy for improving transit feasibility. Again, not all economic aspects of these decisions
have been evaluated thus far, and the available assessments of contracting and transit governance models do not consider long-term effects of specific organizational decisions. This study
intends to fill these research gaps by investigating the influence of several internal and external transit performance factors on the amount of net benefits generated by 13 U.S. bus and
light rail transit systems, observed annually during the 2001 - 2011 period. The evaluation starts with an estimation of net benefits (agency revenues plus non-direct social benefits minus
operating and capital costs). Next, a panel regression model is employed to examine the statistical relationship between specific performance factors and the average net benefits generated by
the case systems. The results of this study indicate that higher frequency, higher service density, higher ratio of contracted service and the presence of strong regional transit governance
positively influence net benefits. The role of network decentralization (volume of service headed outside of the central business district) appears to be insignificant. These results bring
additional evidence indicating the positive outcomes of certain internal transit planning strategies, which corresponds with the findings offered by previous research studies. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / September 9, 2014. / benefit-cost analysis, light rail, public transportation, regional governance, transportation economics, transportation planning / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeffrey R. Brown, Professor Directing Dissertation; Keith Ihlanfeldt, University Representative; Andrew Aurand, Committee Member; Michael Duncan,
Committee Member; Gregory L. Thompson, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_252844 |
| Contributors | Jaroszynski, Michal A. (authoraut), Brown, Jeffrey Richard, 1970- (professor directing dissertation), Ihlanfeldt, Keith R. (university representative), Aurand, Andrew G. (committee member), Duncan, Michael Douglas (committee member), Thompson, Gregory Lee, 1946- (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (degree granting college), Department of Urban and Regional Planning (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (168 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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