The Impact of Transportation Resource Allocation Efficiency on Residents’ Travel Utility

Yaqian Miao; Yupan Tao; Ke Li

doi:10.53941/eem.2026.100011

Abstract

The introduction of the “dual carbon” goals and the national strategy of building a strong transportation system has placed higher demands on the efficient allocation of transportation resources and the development of green mobility systems in China. The relationship between transportation resource allocation and residents’ travel utility has become the focus of social attention. Based on the panel data of 162 cities in China from 2003 to 2022, this paper calculates the efficiency of transportation resource allocation and the utility of residents’ travel through the super-efficiency SBM model and the entropy method, and empirically tests the impact effect, impact path and threshold effect between the two, taking into account the moderating role of government intervention. The study finds that the efficiency of transportation resource allocation can significantly improve the travel utility of residents, and there is a significant double threshold effect. The mechanism test proves that the efficiency of transportation resource allocation can improve residents’ travel utility by improving the level of urbanization, mitigating environmental pollution and reducing the number of traffic accident deaths. Government intervention can reduce the promotion effect of transportation resource allocation efficiency on residents’ travel utility. In addition, when the efficiency of transportation resource allocation is in the second threshold range, the improvement effect on residents’ travel utility is the best. If the efficiency value is lower than the first threshold value, it will have a negative effect on residents’ travel utility. Therefore, moderate government intervention and rational allocation of transportation resources are particularly important for improving residents’ travel utility.

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