This paper analyses productivity and profitability performance of publicly owned Urban Bus Companies (UBCs) in India. Annual data for a sample of nine UBCs, for which consistent data are available from 2000-01 to 2010-11, are used for this analysis. We find that there is a wide disparity among...

This paper attempts to measure cost-inefficiency of nine major Indian State Road Transport Undertakings (STU) for the period 1983-84 to 1996-97 in a manner that allows this inefficiency to vary both across time as well as across STUs. We found that given the size distribution of the STUs and...

Until recently the main function of urban bus transport was to satisfy the individual needs of the less affluent members of society, but now it has to contribute for congestion relief and environmental preservation. This requires a fundamental change of emphasis to fulfill its new role of...

Optimal pricing facilitates attainment of specific goals. The optimum price to achieve profit maximization may differ from the one needed to maximize welfare or to ensure the highest revenue. Profit maximization is the traditional motivation of the private firms. In case of private monopoly...