Mass Transit System

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The term "sustainable" is often associated with low-cost non-motorized transport, and not with capital-intensive rail mass transit systems. It has become abuzztvord in the develop ment literature as well because of the growing acceptance of environmental concerns. In either context, the metaphor is derived from nature 's capacity to renew itself. Sustainability is a system 's capacity to negate entropy (Katz and Kahn, 1966).
1.2 Objective Function
Following this dynamic framework, a mass transit system that continuously loses money or exhibits declining patronage is undergoing the entropic process, and can be considered as moving on a non-sustainable path. Conversely, one that is growing and able to renew its fleet is on a sustainable steady-state …show more content…

Usually, the introduction of mass transit in urban areas is preceded by technical and economic feasibility studies that considers U, but ignores or assumes C, & M, and O. Also, conventional theory says that users should pay (Walters, 1968) and bear the full cost of the mass transit system. Unfortunately, price invariably exceeds the marginal cost of rail transit.
Charging higher fares offers no relief, especially under a transit-competitive and priceelastic setting. 2. URBAN CONDITIONS AND SCALE
Mass transit is seen as and intrinsic element of large urban cities. The doctrine …show more content…

On the other hand, smaller cities, could avoid the large expenditures on mass transit (Armstrong-Wright, 1986). Many cities in Europe and USA are small, with population less than five hundred thousands, but show extensive network ofrail tansit.
In Asia, Africa and Latin America, cities are large with more than one million residents, and yet do not have rail transit systems. Size, therefore, is not a definitive criterion, since the shape and land use patterns also influence transport demand. Nevertheless, the bigger the size, the higher the density and the more congested the streets, the more desirable mass transit becomes. Feasibility studies can be relied upon to configure an appropriate mass transit to respond to unique urban conditions and growing demands. Where this U factor is ignored in the capital investment decision, sustainability becomes doubtfut apriori.
3. FINANCIAL STABILITY
3.I Capital Deficiency
A necessary condition for sustainability is financial stability, which depends on the

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