ABSTRACT
The idea of ‘efficiency’ and its measurement has become a key evaluation method within transport studies, and most research questions have related to one form or other of the organisation of the supply side of the industry or the more general operating environment. Given the high level of public funds allocated to the provision of transport services, most issues have centred on the notion of providing value for money and hence reducing the levels of subsidy required to support such services. While focus has also been devoted to growing patronage (and hence the need for subsidies), a key aspect in this policy objective is that of reducing the cost of providing transport services, and hence the reason that efficiency assessment has become all-important and the main tool in assessing the effectiveness of such policies.
