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Performance measurement in urban transit: A comparative analysis of single and partial measures of transit performance
Recent doctoral dissertations fluctuations in the traffic demand. This variation may be as large as the measured effect of BPS.
Comparative evaluation of bus transit performance: Case study of Toluca, Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jimenez, Jose J., Ph.D. Universi?yof Pennsylvania, 1995. 706 pp. Supervisor: Anthony R. Tomazinis. Order Number DA9543095 This dissertation explores a framework for the study of bus transit performance. The objectives are to compare the types of indicators used by bus transit agencies in the monitoring and evaluation of the system’s performance, and to compare levels of performance between systems. To achieve these objectives, a performance monitoring and evaluating model is developed. The model integrates the concepts of efficiency, effectiveness and quality as attributes of performance, and the concepts of production, distribution and consumption as dimensions of performance. The model is applied to the bus transit systems of Toluca, Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Results show that the theory of productivity in the economic firm can be used in the measurement of transit system performance; environmental characteristics determine the level and characteristics of performance; the set of indicators and evaluations for bus transit performance is more comprehensive in a developed environment than in a developing one; and the level of performance of a bus transit system in a developed environment is higher than in a developing one, yet some partial measurements may favor the latter. The level of performance depends on the basic tasks and objectives for which the system is intended. Transit performance analysis must be tailored to the specific conditions of each system in the city and country in which it operates.
Functional analysis and long-term performance evaluation of the evolution of a public transit agency: A case study of SEPTA (1968-1988). Siddiqi, M. Kamil. Ph.D. Universityof Pennsylvania, 1995. 706 pp. Supervisor: Anthony R. Tomazinis. Order Number DA9532281 This case study reviews and analyzes the various functions of Philadelphia’s transit authority, SEPTA. It analyzes the long term effectiveness of this public transit agency over a twenty-year period of historical evaluation (196881988). Several lines of argument are embodied in a set of four hypotheses, which generally propose that the long-term effectiveness of a large organization, such as SEPTA, rests on its meeting the multiple needs of its various stakeholders. The inability to derive the theorized multiple perspective synergies (e.g., short-term and long-term public and private goods) compromises its long term effectiveness. Consequently, these inadequacies become manifest in persistent symptoms of chronically escalating costs, declining services, growing political dissatisfaction with the agency, and in its eventual failure
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as an effective organization. Such broad-based diagnosis provides a rich tool for understanding the nature of large-scale, complex technologies and their implications for organizational and institutional design; developing suitable methods and techniques for performance measurement, analysis, and evaluation; and exploring the range of longterm products and processes which determine the appropriate multiple-perspective incentive systems.
Performance measurement in urban transit: A comparative analysis of single and partial measures of transit performance. Lyons, Deborah Milton, Ph.D. University of Maryland College Park, 1995. 215 pp. Chair: Robert J. Windle. Order Number DA9607794 There are many ways to look at productivity in the transit industry. The most commonly used indicators of performance are partial measures of efficiency. Recent studies have focused on developing a single measure of overall transit performance based on total factor productivity (TFP) and/or data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. However, these studies use different theoretical concepts, measures of output and input, and data sets to measure productivity. The objectives of this dissertation are: to determine whether the use of different single measure performance indicators yields consistent results; to determine whether there are significant differences in performance as measured by total and/or partial indicators; to explore which set of partial measures can best be used to predict overall performance; and to examine the influence of operating environments on overall performance. The overall measures used are TFP and DEA. Cross-sectional panel data are used for 93 urban transit firms which had 50 more buses in 1986, 1988, and 1990. Analysis revealed that the overall measures of productivity yield consistent results when the output variable remains fixed. However, the designation of firms as “best” or “worst” performers is substantially influenced by the choice of the output variable. There are significant differences in performance as measured by overall and/or partial measures, but commonlyused partial measures are good predictors of overall productivity. While operating environment does matter, characteristics influenced by transit managers and policy-makers explain much of the variation in overall performance.
Real-time control strategies in transit operations: Models and analysis. Eberlein, Xu Jun. Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995. Supervisors: Nigel H.M. Wilson; David H. Bernstein. Transit operations are subject to various influences and conditions that can result in variable headways, long waiting times and generally poor performance. To accommodate this, transit agencies have used and continue to use a variety of real-time control strategies intended to improve performance. Very few of these strategies have
Comparative evaluation of bus transit performance: Case study of Toluca, Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jimenez, Jose J., Ph.D. Universi?yof Pennsylvania, 1995. 706 pp. Supervisor: Anthony R. Tomazinis. Order Number DA9543095 This dissertation explores a framework for the study of bus transit performance. The objectives are to compare the types of indicators used by bus transit agencies in the monitoring and evaluation of the system’s performance, and to compare levels of performance between systems. To achieve these objectives, a performance monitoring and evaluating model is developed. The model integrates the concepts of efficiency, effectiveness and quality as attributes of performance, and the concepts of production, distribution and consumption as dimensions of performance. The model is applied to the bus transit systems of Toluca, Mexico, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Results show that the theory of productivity in the economic firm can be used in the measurement of transit system performance; environmental characteristics determine the level and characteristics of performance; the set of indicators and evaluations for bus transit performance is more comprehensive in a developed environment than in a developing one; and the level of performance of a bus transit system in a developed environment is higher than in a developing one, yet some partial measurements may favor the latter. The level of performance depends on the basic tasks and objectives for which the system is intended. Transit performance analysis must be tailored to the specific conditions of each system in the city and country in which it operates.
Functional analysis and long-term performance evaluation of the evolution of a public transit agency: A case study of SEPTA (1968-1988). Siddiqi, M. Kamil. Ph.D. Universityof Pennsylvania, 1995. 706 pp. Supervisor: Anthony R. Tomazinis. Order Number DA9532281 This case study reviews and analyzes the various functions of Philadelphia’s transit authority, SEPTA. It analyzes the long term effectiveness of this public transit agency over a twenty-year period of historical evaluation (196881988). Several lines of argument are embodied in a set of four hypotheses, which generally propose that the long-term effectiveness of a large organization, such as SEPTA, rests on its meeting the multiple needs of its various stakeholders. The inability to derive the theorized multiple perspective synergies (e.g., short-term and long-term public and private goods) compromises its long term effectiveness. Consequently, these inadequacies become manifest in persistent symptoms of chronically escalating costs, declining services, growing political dissatisfaction with the agency, and in its eventual failure
69
as an effective organization. Such broad-based diagnosis provides a rich tool for understanding the nature of large-scale, complex technologies and their implications for organizational and institutional design; developing suitable methods and techniques for performance measurement, analysis, and evaluation; and exploring the range of longterm products and processes which determine the appropriate multiple-perspective incentive systems.
Performance measurement in urban transit: A comparative analysis of single and partial measures of transit performance. Lyons, Deborah Milton, Ph.D. University of Maryland College Park, 1995. 215 pp. Chair: Robert J. Windle. Order Number DA9607794 There are many ways to look at productivity in the transit industry. The most commonly used indicators of performance are partial measures of efficiency. Recent studies have focused on developing a single measure of overall transit performance based on total factor productivity (TFP) and/or data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. However, these studies use different theoretical concepts, measures of output and input, and data sets to measure productivity. The objectives of this dissertation are: to determine whether the use of different single measure performance indicators yields consistent results; to determine whether there are significant differences in performance as measured by total and/or partial indicators; to explore which set of partial measures can best be used to predict overall performance; and to examine the influence of operating environments on overall performance. The overall measures used are TFP and DEA. Cross-sectional panel data are used for 93 urban transit firms which had 50 more buses in 1986, 1988, and 1990. Analysis revealed that the overall measures of productivity yield consistent results when the output variable remains fixed. However, the designation of firms as “best” or “worst” performers is substantially influenced by the choice of the output variable. There are significant differences in performance as measured by overall and/or partial measures, but commonlyused partial measures are good predictors of overall productivity. While operating environment does matter, characteristics influenced by transit managers and policy-makers explain much of the variation in overall performance.
Real-time control strategies in transit operations: Models and analysis. Eberlein, Xu Jun. Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1995. Supervisors: Nigel H.M. Wilson; David H. Bernstein. Transit operations are subject to various influences and conditions that can result in variable headways, long waiting times and generally poor performance. To accommodate this, transit agencies have used and continue to use a variety of real-time control strategies intended to improve performance. Very few of these strategies have