This paper tries to evaluate the productive performance of transit systems in major European cities. It makes intermodal and intercity comparisons, and identifies economies of density, vehicle capacity and higher vehicle speed as essential factors in performance. The results suggest that streetcars do not fill a significant gap between buses and underground rail.
The study examines competition between privately and publicly owned booking centres in the Swedish taxi market by studying technical efficiency, and breaking down technical efficiency into managerial and organisational efficiency. The main results are that a large amount of technical efficiency exists and that no direct relationship between technical efficiency and type of ownership can be found.
The productive efficiency of the railway systems in 19 OECD countries is analysed. The empirical results show that: (i) railway systems with high dependence on public subsidies are significantly less efficient than similar railways with less dependence on subsidies; (ii) railways with a high degree of managerial autonomy from regulatory authorities tend to achieve higher efficiency.
