An Application of the Balanced Scorecard to Public Transit System Performance Assessment

Public transit systems, like all public entities, are being subjected to ever-increasing scrutiny due to public concerns over increased taxation as well as budget shortfalls at all levels of government. Public transit firms exist primarily to support a mission composed of three distinct components: efficiency, effectiveness, and impact. This article focuses on adapting the balanced scorecard, originally developed for use in the private sector, for use in the public sector—specifically, for the appraisal of public transit system performance. This article also develops the first comprehensive "shopping list" of transit system performance constructs/goals and their corresponding transit performance measures via a comprehensive analysis of both the transit goal and performance measurement literature.