Productivity, Cost Structure, and Pricing in Urban Bus Transport: A Study of Urban Bus Companies in India

Cities play a vital role in economic growth and prosperity. Sustainable development of cities largely depends upon their physical, social and institutional infrastructure. In this context, the importance of transportation system is paramount. Urban transportation is probably the single most important component instrumental in shaping urban development and urban living. While urban areas may be viewed as engines of growth, urban transport is, figuratively and literally, the wheel of that engine. As cities expand to the point where walking can no longer satisfy the mobility requirements of the people, public transport becomes the major mode of transportation. Until recently the main function of public transport was to satisfy the individual needs of the less affluent members of the society. Now, it is required to attract all segments of the society to provide congestion relief and environmental preservation. Productivity improvement and efficiency in the public transport system must be concerned not only with keeping costs down, but also with providing a flexible framework within which all income groups can use public transport with confidence and convenience. In this present scenario, tackling the problem of financial crisis appears to be the biggest challenge for urban bus transport operators. This book tries to address this issue by analyzing, both theoretically and empirically, the productivity, cost structure, and pricing in publicly owned urban bus companies in India . The book requires familiarity with mathematical and quantitative techniques. It attempts to clarify the relationships between the techniques which have become commonplace in applied work and their underlying theoretical origins. Audience: Professionals in the transport sector; undergraduate and postgraduate students of transport engineering, transport planning and transport economics, students of public finance, public sector economics and economic theory.