Measuring the efficiency of regional integrated transport in China: A data envelopment analysis

Abstract

This paper attempts to evaluate the integrated transport efficiency of provinces in China over the period 1988-2009 based on DEA model. The results indicate that the spatial pattern of three efficiency indexes demonstrates a declining trend from the eastern China to the western China, which coincides with the spatial pattern of economic development in China. The spatial distribution of transport efficiency of provinces in China is mainly determined by pure technical efficiency other than scale efficiency. Since the level of allocating and utilizing transport resources, is relatively low, which means the overall transport efficiency will be greatly improved through improving the ability in the resource utilization process in future. Our findings suggest that future development of transport network in China should be improved by restructuring and optimizing the transport network structure, especially to the necessity of building an open and efficient integrated transport system.