Measuring the efficiency and return to scale status of multi-mode bus transit – evidence from Taiwan's bus system

Abstract

In this article not only the multi-activity DEA model is applied to determine the efficiency of individual services within different but highly homogeneous multi-mode transit firms, but the relationship between size and local returns to scale status of each transit service is also investigated. The empirical findings indicate that it does not necessarily imply that the transit firm will be as efficient as a single-activity model when the multi-activity model is estimated, and there are different optimal scale sizes for highway bus and urban bus service in the Taipei metropolitan area.