A review of public transport economics

Public transport provision requires substantial organisational efforts, careful planning, financial contributions from the public, and coordination between millions of passengers staff members in large systems. Efficient resource allocation is critical its daily operations. Therefore, public has been among most popular subjects economics since infancy this discipline. This paper presents an overview literature developed over past half century, including more than 300 important contributions. With a strong methodological orientation, it collects, classifies, compares frequently used analytical modelling techniques, thus providing cookbook for future research learning efforts. We discuss key findings on optimal capacity provision, pricing, cost recovery subsidies, externalities, private operations, service regulation, cross-cutting subjects, such as interlinks with urban economics, political economy, emerging mobility technologies.