Total factor productivity of highway transportation system and analysis of the European Union position

In this study, relative efficiency analysis was conducted in order to determine whether Turkey uses road transport indicators efficiently within the framework of European Union (EU) harmonization and to demonstrate Turkey?s position compared to other EU countries. The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), which is one of the efficiency measurement methods and used in this study, is a method without parameters that is based on linear programming principles. DEA is a static form of analysis and makes a cross-section analysis using the data of decision making units in a single period. The most important innovation brought about by this method is that it is capable of measuring in environments where multiple inputs are used and multiple outputs are obtained, without envisaging the presence of a pre-defined analytical output function. In the process of efficiency evaluation, the Malmquist Total Factor Efficiency (TFE) index was employed in order to determine how the efficiency developed over time. In the analysis, to minimize number of accidents and casualties, five different models were formed in order to define the dimensions of different road transport parameters. In addition, to determine the road transport performance, passenger and cargo transportation was taken as output and road transport indicators were taken as inputs. Given the fact that Turkey is a candidate for membership to EU, which requires its members to comply with its criteria and goals, Turkey?s road transport performance compared to EU countries was demonstrated using Data Envelopment Analysis and Malmquist Index.