ECONOMIC MODEL OF INTERACTION BETWEEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MUNICIPAL PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Abstract

Introduction. Municipal public transport systems play a key role in ensuring the socio-economic sustainability of large cities, while at the same time remaining one of the most financially vulnerable sectors of the public economy. In Ukraine, municipal transport enterprises, particularly metro systems, operate under conditions of chronic financial constraints caused by socially oriented tariff regulation, high capital intensity, rising operating costs, and limited budgetary support. Under such conditions, traditional administrative approaches to managing communal transport enterprises increasingly demonstrate their inefficiency. This has led to growing interest in the possibility of integrating entrepreneurial tools into the activities of public transport enterprises without undermining their social mission. However, the interaction between entrepreneurship and municipal public transport remains theoretically underdeveloped and is often perceived as contradictory or even incompatible within the framework of the public sector. Purpose. The purpose of the article is to substantiate an economic model of interaction between entrepreneurship and municipal public transport that enables the application of entrepreneurial instruments to enhance economic sustainability while preserving the social orientation of transport services. The study aims to demonstrate that entrepreneurship in the public transport sector should be interpreted not as commercialization or privatization, but as a set of managerial, financial, and organizational mechanisms adapted to the institutional constraints of the public sector. Special attention is paid to metro systems as infrastructure-intensive transport enterprises with significant unrealized economic potential. Methods. The methodological basis of the study includes general scientific and special economic research methods, namely analysis and synthesis, abstraction and logical generalization, comparison, and a systems approach. Economic and mathematical methods are used to formalize the proposed interaction model, including balance equations and deficit-oriented assessment of economic effects. The institutional analysis method is applied to identify regulatory and organizational constraints affecting the implementation of entrepreneurial instruments in municipal transport. The case study method is used to analyze the practical applicability of the proposed model to Ukrainian metro systems, with a particular focus on the Kharkiv Metro as a representative example of a municipal transport enterprise operating under public ownership. Results. The article proposes an economic model of interaction between entrepreneurship and municipal public transport based on the structural separation of socially regulated core transport services and peripheral activities that allow the use of entrepreneurial mechanisms. It is substantiated that the economic effect of such interaction should be assessed not in terms of profit maximization, but through reducing the financial deficit, diversifying revenue sources, and increasing financial autonomy. The study identifies key entrepreneurial instruments applicable to metro systems, including non-fare revenue generation, commercial use of infrastructure, partnership with private entities, and internal efficiency-oriented management mechanisms. Institutional, financial, managerial, and social risks associated with the implementation of these instruments are analyzed. The application of the proposed model to Ukrainian metro systems demonstrates that the integration of entrepreneurial tools can contribute to structural transformation of their financial models, reduce dependence on budget subsidies, and enhance long-term economic sustainability without compromising the social mission of municipal public transport. The results obtained may be used by local authorities and transport enterprise management in developing strategies for the sustainable development of municipal transport systems.