LAUSR

Abstract Using a global meta-frontier approach, this paper analyzes energy efficiency and the savings potential in China's transportation sector from 2006 to 2014 from the perspectives of technological progress, technology gaps, and management efficiency. The results show that energy efficiency in China's transportation sector first decreased from 2006 to 2010, mainly due to a decline in management efficiency and an expansion of the regional technology gap. The energy efficiency then increased from 2011 to 2014 when management efficiency and the regional technology gap stabilized. The energy efficiency in China's transportation sector shows spatial differences, suggesting that the focus of future work on China's provincial transportation sectors should be quite varied. Most provinces in eastern China should commit to upgrading their management efficiency, while most provinces in central and western China should focus on both upgrading their management efficiency and narrowing the regional technology gap.