Evaluation of User Costs in Terms of Public Transportation Fare: A Literature Review

The welfare level differs in every geography depending on the economy. This also differentiates the variables taken into account when determining transportation fares. While underdeveloped or developing countries determine prices by focusing only on operating and investment costs, developed countries take user and environmental costs into consideration. However, the failure to describe the parameters used in determining these costs leads to the emergence of ineffective pricing policies. Especially, the concept of user cost has become the focus of human-oriented policies in recent years. To this end, the paper provides a literature-based analysis of user costs used in the calculation of public transportation fares. The fact that studies in the literature did not address user costs within a clear framework has created an important gap in this regard. The aim of this study is to fill this gap in the literature by systematically examining the user cost factor affecting transportation fares and to provide a source for other research.