Name: 美國公車為何貴到嚇人？ (How America Ended Up Paying So Much for Public Buses)
Uploaded: 2026-02-15T21:57:01.000Z
Duration: 11 min 26 s

程度副詞

Buses are an incredibly important part of America's transit system.

公車是美國交通系統中非常重要的一環。

2024 年總共有 38 億人次搭乘公車。

Ed Glaeser is an economics professor at Harvard and co author of a paper on public buses for the Hutchins center at the Brookings Institution.

Ed Glaeser 是哈佛大學的經濟學教授，也是布魯金斯學會 Hutchins 中心關於公共公車研究論文的共同作者。

On average, that means an American takes 10 bus rides a year.

平均下來，這表示一個美國人一年搭乘 10 次公車。

But of course, it's not like an average person does 10 rides.

但當然啦，這並不是說平均每個人都搭 10 次。

It's more that, you know, there are some people who take hundreds and hundreds of rides and some people who take none.

而是說，有些人會搭幾百次，有些人則一次都沒搭過。

But as much as people rely on public buses, there is room for improvement.

不過，儘管大家這麼依賴公共公車，還是有進步的空間。

New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani certainly thinks so.

紐約市長 Zoran Mamdani 肯定這麼認為。

We know that for so many New Yorkers, public transit is increasingly becoming out of reach.

我們知道，對許多紐約客來說，公共交通越來越遙不可及。

That is why at the heart of our campaign was a commitment to make the slowest buses in America fast and to make them free.

這就是為什麼我們競選的核心承諾，是要讓美國最慢的公車變快，而且免費。

And Harvard's Glazer agrees at least that we could do more with less when it comes to our public bus systems.

而且哈佛的 Glazer 也同意，至少在我們的公車系統上，我們可以用更少的資源做更多事。

Lot to love about the bus, and certainly it needs to be cheaper.

公車有很多優點，當然也應該更便宜。

How much you could do with more efficient use of the existing bus system in New York versus adding to the number of buses, I'm not sure.

我不太確定，在紐約現有的公車系統上，更有效率的使用能帶來多少效益，相較於增加公車數量。

But in general, I think the future of American public transit should have a lot of buses in it.

但總的來說，我認為美國大眾運輸的未來應該包含很多公車。

We're just paying way, way too much for our buses.

我們為公車付的錢實在是太多太多了。

So the average electric bus in the US costs about $1.05 million.

所以，美國的電動公車平均成本大約是 105 萬美元。

That is an astounding, astounding number.

這是一個驚人的、驚人的數字。

You can buy a perfectly nice 36 foot electric bus from Hyundai for $350,000.

你可以用 35 萬美元買到一輛 Hyundai 36 英尺的電動公車，而且品質也很不錯。

Now, obviously that wouldn't necessarily be compatible with the American Disability act, but

現在，顯然這不一定符合美國身心障礙者法的規定，但是

it just gives you an idea of just how expensive it is.

這只是讓你大概瞭解一下，它到底有多貴。

And it's not just compared to other countries that our buses seem overpriced.

而且不只是跟其他國家比，我們的公車感覺起來好像有點太貴了。

Between 1995 and 2025, the quality adjusted cost of a new car dropped by 40%.

在 1995 年到 2025 年之間，經過品質調整後的新車成本下降了 40%。

Because in the automotive industry, right, technological change happens.

因為在汽車產業裡，對吧，科技一直在進步。

我們在製造東西上越來越厲害。

Price of a diesel bus is slightly higher now than it was 30 years ago.

機油公車的價格現在比 30 年前稍微高一點。

而且，價格的變動幅度也很大。

We found one 40 foot electric bus in a larger order costing $450,000.

我們發現一輛 40 英尺的電動公車，在大批採購中，每輛要價 45 萬美元。

Another agency that was just buying 10 of them spending $950,000 per bus.

另一家機構只買了 10 輛，每輛就要花 95 萬美元。

The heads of America's transit systems agree that there is a problem.

美國交通系統的負責人都同意有個問題存在。

Deborah Johnson is the head of Denver's transit system.

黛博拉·詹森是丹佛交通系統的負責人。

When we're Looking at our operative word within our moniker being regional, there's often an expectation for localized services.

當我們看「區域性」這個標誌中的關鍵字時，常會預期有在地化的服務。

RTD happened to be the first public private partnership within the transit space when commuter rail was brought online back in the mid 2000s.

RTD 在 2000 年代中期引進區間火車時，恰好是交通領域第一個公私營合作案。

The area that Denver serves is unique, but that very uniqueness may be part of the problem.

丹佛服務的區域很獨特，但這種獨特性本身可能就是問題的一部分。

Every transit system wants to have its own particular version of the public bus.

每個交通系統都想擁有自己獨特的公車版本。

The bus agencies will often specify, we want this type of engine, we want this type of seat, we want this type of other things.

公車機構常會指定，我們想要這種引擎、這種座椅、這種其他東西。

So it's sort of like if you were going to buy a car by sending out a request for proposals to GM and Hyundai and Toyota and you said, look, I'm looking for a four wheeled family vehicle and you've got to make sure you buy the engine.

所以這有點像是，如果你要買車，你會發出一個提案請求給 GM、Hyundai 和 Toyota，然後說，看，我想要一輛四輪的家庭車，而且你得確保你買了引擎。

I want this model from Honda and I want these tires from Michelin, and

我想要 Honda 的這個型號，還有 Michelin 的這些輪胎，然後

And you can imagine what you would get in terms of the price of a car like that.

你可以想像一下，那樣的車子價格會是多少。

The miracles of low cost come from scale economies, right?

低成本的奇蹟來自於規模經濟，對吧？

That's what Henry ford told us 120 years ago with vehicles.

這就是 Henry Ford 在 120 年前用汽車告訴我們的。

And yet that's not what we're getting with buses, precisely because we're finding roughly 70% of new buses in our data are literally unique in our data, meaning that, you know, there's no other bus exactly like it that's being ordered by any other bus agency.

然而，我們得到的公車卻不是這樣，精確地說，是因為我們發現，我們資料中大約有 70% 的新公車，在我們的資料裡是獨一無二的，也就是說，沒有其他公車跟它一模一樣，是其他公車機構訂購的。

Johnson recognizes that the bespoke nature of public buses doesn't help with the cost.

Johnson 認識到，客製化公車的性質無助於降低成本。

But at the same time, she says there can be good reasons to provide different buses for different geographies.

但同時，她說，為不同地區提供不同公車可能有好的理由。

Oftentimes, transit agencies want to customize buses.

公車機構經常想要客製化公車。

They want it to be more analogous with their brand of their transit agency, putting an undue hardship on the bus manufacturer when you want to customize windows, for instance, or you want to customize seats so you have your logo branded in to the seat, for instance.

他們希望公車能更符合其交通機構的品牌形象，這對公車製造商來說是個沉重的負擔，像是你想客製化車窗，或是想在座椅上印上你們的 Logo。

Now, keeping in mind that there will have to be some design options taken into consideration, because if you're operating a transit system in Arizona, you may need a greater cooling system as we look at H Vac.

不過，我們也得考慮到一些設計上的選項，因為如果你在亞利桑那州營運交通系統，你可能需要更強的冷卻系統，像是 HVAC。

But when you think about there could be over 400 shades of white that one is using, that's not really conducive in reference to cost.

但想想看，白色可能會有超過 400 種色調，這對成本來說真的不太有利。

I would say we have to ensure that we are being procurement smart and not procurement first.

我認為我們必須確保我們是聰明採購，而不是一味地先採購。

And what I mean by that is determining what it is that one needs for the betterment of their operation.

我的意思是，要確定我們需要什麼，才能讓營運更好。

The industry recognizes the problem of standardization and is taking steps to address it nationwide.

業界已經意識到標準化的問題，並正在全國各地採取措施來解決。

We have come, I think, to a terrific set of recommendations that are being implemented now.

我認為我們提出了一系列很棒的建議，而且現在已經在實施了。

By and large, they deal with the commercial terms, how we pay the bus manufacturers.

總的來說，這些建議主要處理商業條款，像是我們如何支付公車製造商。

We have used an old procurement model in the industry for many years, which was one that a customer places the order and maybe a year and a half or two years later, they get the vehicles delivered, but

多年來，我們在業界一直沿用舊的採購模式，也就是客戶下訂單，然後可能要一年半或兩年後，車輛才會送達，

they don't pay a dime until that happens.

而且在那之前，他們一毛錢都不用付。

Paul Scutellis is president and CEO of the American Public Transportation Association.

Paul Scutellis 是美國公共運輸協會的總裁兼執行長。

To what extent so far have you seen municipalities step up to your recommendations on standardization and pooled procurement?

到目前為止，您認為地方政府在多大程度上採納了您關於標準化和聯合採購的建議？

Well, I think it's been embraced by our industry.

嗯，我認為我們的產業已經接受了。

We've come to some common understanding of what we can do to help each other, agency and producer, to make sure that we're getting good quality products that meet the needs of the agency so they can serve their customers reliably, but

我們已經達成了一些共同的理解，知道如何互相幫助，包括機構和製造商，以確保我們獲得符合機構需求的優質產品，讓他們能可靠地服務客戶，但

also provide for a more reasonable price and a more reasonable cost.

同時也能提供更合理的價格和成本。

Johnson sits on the board of the APTA and has worked on efforts to standardize bus procurement.

Johnson 是 APTA 的董事會成員，並曾致力於公車採購標準化。

And so the purpose of the bus manufacturing task force was coming together, thinking about what we could do to streamline to more or less ensure that there was a price that is consistent in the customization that will enable a bus manufacturer to have on their assembly line a bus that, you know, RTD and Denver could leverage, whereas it could be leveraged to in Long Beach, California.

是以，公車製造工作小組的成立宗旨，是思考如何簡化流程，確保有一個一致的價格，並能客製化，讓公車製造商能在他們的生產線上生產出 RTD 和丹佛市可以利用，同時長灘市也能利用的公車。

But it's not just standardization that could help bring down the price of public buses.

但不只是標準化能幫助降低公車的價格。

It's also competition, something that the American public bus system pretty much lacks right now.

還有競爭，這點是美國的公車系統目前嚴重缺乏的。

So one thing that's critically important as we look at modernizing our fleet is making decisions relative to leveraging operator dollars and capital dollars as it relates to bus purchases here in the United States over the course of the past several years.

所以，當我們著眼於現代化我們的車隊時，一件非常重要的事情就是，在過去幾年裡，我們在美國採購公車時，要決定如何運用營運者的資金和資本。

Where There was, say, 10 bus manufacturers doing business in the United States over the past three years, that number has decreased substantially.

過去三年，美國有大約十家公車製造商，但這個數字已經大幅減少了。

There's a relatively small number of companies that are providing most of the buses.

現在只有少數幾家公司在供應大部分的公車。

So 50% of buses in the US are currently being produced by only two bus companies.

所以，美國目前有 50% 的公車是由兩家公車公司生產的。

So it's really not a very competitive industry.

這表示這個產業的競爭真的不太激烈。

我們希望公車產業能夠健全發展。

You asked the question a moment ago about other factors contributing perhaps to the higher prices here in the US or we only have two manufacturers of significant size that produce buses for the public transit systems in the US Today.

你剛才問到，還有哪些因素可能導致美國的公車價格比較高，或是我們只有兩家規模較大的製造商生產美國公共運輸系統的公車。

That needs to be at least another manufacturer, perhaps even a fourth, to provide the capacity and provide the competition that I think would be helpful in terms of helping to contain those prices.

我們至少需要再增加一家製造商，甚至可能第四家，來提供產能和競爭，我認為這有助於控制價格。

And that's where the federal government comes in.

Far from helping to bring down the cost of buying new buses, the government may be making the problem worse.

政府非但沒有幫助降低購買新公車的成本，反而可能讓問題變得更糟。

US federal money pays for about 80% of the cost of buses bought for by local transit agencies.

美國聯邦政府支付了地方運輸機構購買公車約 80% 的成本。

And that certainly reduces the incentives to cut costs because the federal government is picking up the price tag at the end of the day.

而這當然也降低了降低成本的誘因，因為說到底，聯邦政府才是買單的那一方。

It also reduces flexibility because for understandable reasons, the Department of Transportation has rules about how to do bus procurement.

這也降低了彈性，因為交通部有關於如何採購公車的規定，這也是可以理解的。

So you can't just make it up as you go along.

The most obvious of this is the buy American rules, which make it hard to harness the value of foreign competition, which means you couldn't, if you're going to use Department of Transportation funds, you couldn't just order your $350,000 electric buses from Hyundai, even if they did satisfy the ADA requirements.

最明顯的就是「購買美國貨」的規定，這讓我們很難利用外國競爭的價值，也就是說，如果你要使用交通部的資金，你就不能直接向 Hyundai 訂購價值 35 萬美元的電動公車，即使它們符合 ADA 的要求。

But so both by funding it, it both reduces the incentives to cut costs, but

所以，透過撥款，它既降低了降低成本的誘因，

also it covers procurement entities with a whole bunch of extra rules that make it difficult to be innovative, to be smart, to be nimble.

也讓採購單位必須遵守一大堆額外的規定，讓他們難以創新、聰明地應對，或是靈活變通。

Federal funding and restrictions may be making public buses more expensive, but

聯邦資金和限制可能會讓公共公車更貴，但

Glaeser says that there may also be ways to use the federal government to bring prices down.

Glaeser 表示，也可能有方法可以利用聯邦政府來降低價格。

So the most obvious is just for the federal government to throw in a maximum price per bus that they're willing to pay that might differ across types of buses.

最明顯的方法就是聯邦政府設定每輛公車的最高支付價格，這可能會因公車類型而異。

So diesel might be different from electric, but you put in a maximum.

所以機油公車可能和電動公車不同，但你會設定一個最高價。

You can pull the maximum from what companies were, what transit agencies were paying for buses last year.

你可以從去年公司、交通單位購買公車的價格中，找出最高上限。

So you could take, let's say the price of one of these buses that was at the 25th percentile, meaning that 3/4 of the buses bought last year were more expensive, 1/4 were less expensive, and

所以你可以取，假設其中一輛公車的價格在第 25 百分位，意思是去年購買的公車有 3/4 比這個貴，1/4 比這個便宜，然後

Now, they can still spend more if they want to spend their own money, but

現在，如果他們想花自己的錢，還是可以花更多，但是

they're not going to get federal money to support something that's lavish.

他們不會拿到聯邦政府的錢來補助一些奢侈的項目。

Number two, encourage agencies to work together.

So, you know, try to get bundles of buses ordered once to avoid the small bespoke orders, and

所以，你知道的，試著一次訂購一批公車，避免小量的客製化訂單，而且

at least you're getting larger bespoke orders.

你至少可以拿到較大數量的客製化訂單。

And then there's always the possibility of opening the business up for more competition.

然後，總是還有開放市場給更多競爭的可能性。

Difficult when it comes from abroad, but maybe not impossible if done right.

如果來自國外會比較困難，但如果做得對，或許並非不可能。