From Construction to Operation: A Public Service Ecosystem Framework for Urban Rail Transit’s Economic Impact

Urban rail transit (URT) is becoming an important component of a modern city’s transportation infrastructure, which greatly improves the overall efficiency of urban mobility. However, it remains unclear whether URT systems stimulate economic growth through agglomeration effects or inadvertently hinder productivity through fiscal crowding-out effects. To address the question, we analyzed panel data from 26 Chinese cities from 2007 to 2020 through the theory of public service ecosystems (PSE) to interpret the effects of URT construction and operation on the economy from the dual perspectives of value creation and value destruction. We found that URT construction follows the law of diminishing marginal returns, whereas operational efficiency is positively associated with economic growth. Furthermore, URT construction usually exhibits stronger economic benefits in the central and western regions of China, whereas the optimization of operational efficiency is more effective in the eastern regions. Our findings offer phase-specific strategies for policymakers: prioritizing network expansion for emerging URT systems and formulating service innovation roadmaps for mature systems.