Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices

Using data from the American Public Transportation Association's 2024 Public Transportation Vehicle Database, this paper estimates statistical models to explain the real prices of single-deck, rigid US transit buses in terms of their attributes. Non-electric bus prices have risen by 0.7% per ye...

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Main Authors: Ayush Pandey, Lewis Lehe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Findings Press 2025-05-01
Series:Findings
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.133936
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author Ayush Pandey
Lewis Lehe
author_facet Ayush Pandey
Lewis Lehe
author_sort Ayush Pandey
collection DOAJ
description Using data from the American Public Transportation Association's 2024 Public Transportation Vehicle Database, this paper estimates statistical models to explain the real prices of single-deck, rigid US transit buses in terms of their attributes. Non-electric bus prices have risen by 0.7% per year faster than inflation since 2010, while electric bus' real prices have fallen by about 3% annually. The elasticity of price with respect to length is only 0.36, such that a 30 ft. (9.1 m) bus is only 10% cheaper than a 40 ft. (12.2 m) bus. High-floor buses are 3.4\% cheaper than standard low-floor models. CNG, diesel-electric hybrid and battery electric buses cost, respectively, about 11%, 44% and 66% more than diesel buses. BYD buses are substantially cheaper than those of other manufacturers. The sample of buses is fairly homogeneous except for power type.
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spelling doaj-art-94ea5474ba84433c8aa9d30f0f77ae192025-08-20T02:25:40ZengFindings PressFindings2652-88002025-05-0110.32866/001c.133936Determinants of US Transit Bus PricesAyush PandeyLewis LeheUsing data from the American Public Transportation Association's 2024 Public Transportation Vehicle Database, this paper estimates statistical models to explain the real prices of single-deck, rigid US transit buses in terms of their attributes. Non-electric bus prices have risen by 0.7% per year faster than inflation since 2010, while electric bus' real prices have fallen by about 3% annually. The elasticity of price with respect to length is only 0.36, such that a 30 ft. (9.1 m) bus is only 10% cheaper than a 40 ft. (12.2 m) bus. High-floor buses are 3.4\% cheaper than standard low-floor models. CNG, diesel-electric hybrid and battery electric buses cost, respectively, about 11%, 44% and 66% more than diesel buses. BYD buses are substantially cheaper than those of other manufacturers. The sample of buses is fairly homogeneous except for power type.https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.133936
spellingShingle Ayush Pandey
Lewis Lehe
Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices
Findings
title Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices
title_full Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices
title_fullStr Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices
title_full_unstemmed Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices
title_short Determinants of US Transit Bus Prices
title_sort determinants of us transit bus prices
url https://doi.org/10.32866/001c.133936
work_keys_str_mv AT ayushpandey determinantsofustransitbusprices
AT lewislehe determinantsofustransitbusprices