Estimating sustainable transport efficiency and socioeconomic factors: application of non-parametric approach

Sustainable transport has received substantial attention globally. Evidently, transportation is a major contributor to global carbon emission, which causes the degradation of environmental quality and safety. Economic-oriented activities are performed in terms of inclination aspect. Thus, this paper aims to analyze whether and how environmental pollution and fatality, economic-oriented transport, and socioeconomic factors affect transport efficiency. For this purpose, panel data from 2000 to 2020 for 35 OECD countries are used. First, data envelopment analysis slack-based measure and windows analysis are employed to measure transport efficiency by using fourteen inputs/output variables. Second, econometric analysis demonstrates the relationship between socioeconomic factors and sustainable transport efficiency. Outcomes suggest that 30.2% increase in sustainable transport efficiency is due to a 1% increase in transport–household expenditures. OECD countries significantly performed with high economic efficiency scores for the examined period. Econometric analysis indicates that socioeconomic factors have a remarkable impact on sustainable transport efficiency.