Service unreliability and bus subsidy

This paper addresses the link between the degree of unreliability of bus services and the level of optimal bus subsidy. With unreliability influencing user cost, and user cost being a key determinant of optimal bus subsidy, it follows that there is a link between service unreliability and optimal subsidy. Service unreliability is shown to have quite a significant influence on optimal subsidy. The impact is rather small in cases where a single type of user behaviour (random or planned) occurs. In contrast, the impact is much more significant when a legit model is used to predict choice between the two types of user behaviour. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.