The Influence of the Fare of Municipal Community Transport Systems on Local Communities in Japan

Abstract

This study examined how to determine the appropriate beneficiary burden to assess the effectiveness of introducing municipal community transport (a municipally operated mode of transport that supports residents’ daily lives) through an elasticity analysis of users of municipal community transport. This study aimed to identify the optimal level of service for local mobility and beneficiary burdens. Both multiple regression and stochastic frontier analyses were applied to compare productivity and efficiency. Consequently, factors related to the population, such as the number of people and population density along the bus route, influenced the increase in the number of users. In contrast, fares and the number of persons per household affected the decrease in users.