Evaluating the Regional Benefit/Cost Ratio for Transit State of Good Repair Investments
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Date
2015
Subject Area
place - north america, economics - benefits, economics - operating costs, economics - capital costs, infrastructure - maintainance
Keywords
state of good repair (SGR), transit expansion, benefit/cost ratios, ridership, vehicle miles traveled, travel times and costs, public health and safety
Abstract
Should transit operators focus scarce funding on maintaining current systems in a state of good repair (SGR), or on expanding transit systems? Prior to this analysis, user impacts of transit SGR had not been systematically calculated. This study develops a new methodology for assessing the impacts of SGR on ridership, vehicle miles traveled, travel times and costs, and public health and safety. This is done for the 25 major transit systems in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. Moreover, the study uses a methodology parallel to that used to assess transit system expansion in the Bay Area and, therefore, is able to compare the benefit/cost ratios of transit expansion vs. transit SGR on an even footing. Results indicate regional benefit/cost ratios of close to 3 for transit SGR, with diminishing returns at higher funding levels. This is similar to the benefit/cost ratio of the average transit expansion project.
Rights
Permission to publish the abstract has been given by National Center for Transit Research, University of South Florida, copyright remains with them.
Recommended Citation
Paterson, L., & Vautin, D. (2015). Evaluating the Regional Benefit/Cost Ratio for Transit State of Good Repair Investments. Journal of Public Transportation, 18, (3), pp. 15-28.
