Urban transportation economics

An attempt has been made to examine long-term forces in the urban transportation market that generate chronic transit deficits and to evaluate alternative courses of action to improve economic efficiency and financial viability at the local level. This report synthesizes theory and practice to produce a practical working program for planning, implementing and administering programs at the local, state, and federal levels. The study focuses on the financial difficulties that contribute to the deterioration of services, the causes of deficits, alternative programs to assist cities to reduce their dependence on federal financial assistance, the development of a framework to assist different levels of government to evaluate urban transportation costs versus revenues, and the summarizing of the state of the art in this area. The proceedings are presented of five 2-to 3-day workshops.