## 4 Empirical Analysis
### Results Analysis and Discussion
#### 4.2.1 Evaluation of Integrated Transport Efficiency
Shandong's _ITE_ also showed a similar change pattern of first decreasing and then increasing. The latter's _ITE_ value fell from its highest of 1.09 down to 0.64 with a rate of decrease of around 42%. In 13 provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin and Zhejiang, integrated transport efficiency showed a fluctuating trend, but with a growth in overall performance. _ITE_ in Tianjin, Hebei, Shanghai, Anhui, Henan and Chongqing performed effectively during the period of 2009-2016, indicating an optimal utilization of input factors, and further reflecting that these provinces have a favorable allocation of transport resources and are able to achieve maximum outputs. Guizhou, located in the southwest of China, has a relatively low level of economic development, but with relatively high transport efficiency. During the eight years covered in the current research, only a slight decline occurred in 2015, but the evaluation of overall integrated transport efficiency in Guizhou proved very optimistic. According to the statistics, Tianjin, Shanghai, Hebei, Anhui, Henan and Chongqing have always maintained efficient _ITE_. These provinces are role models for development. The province with low _ITE_ should study their resource allocation patterns and improve utilization efficiency. In Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang, integrated transport efficiency was low, but room for ongoing improvement exists for freight output. Jilin and Heilongjiang should increase added value in transport industry to improve the _ITE_. For Fujian, Hubei and Guangxi, passenger turnover and freight turnover should be improved at the same time to promote efficiency. These regions further emphasize the importance of an appropriate allocation of transport resources, and of finding a solution to the challenges restricting improvements in these areas' integrated transport \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Province** & **2009** & **2010** & **2011** & **2012** & **2013** & **2014** & **2015** & **2016** & **Average ITE** \\ \hline Hubei & 0.36 & 0.41 & 0.44 & 0.49 & 0.49 & 0.57 & 0.61 & 0.73 & 0.51 \\ Hunan & 0.51 & 0.53 & 0.64 & 0.76 & 1.03 & 1.02 & 1.04 & 1.05 & 0.82 \\ Guangdong & 0.65 & 0.56 & 0.65 & 0.69 & 0.63 & 0.74 & 0.73 & 0.86 & 0.69 \\ Guangxi & 0.43 & 0.45 & 0.60 & 0.52 & 0.65 & 0.59 & 0.63 & 0.58 & 0.56 \\ Hainan & 0.54 & 0.53 & 0.59 & 0.61 & 0.58 & 0.54 & 0.57 & 0.65 & 0.58 \\ Chongqing & 1.05 & 1.11 & 1.16 & 1.04 & 1.12 & 1.10 & 1.13 & 1.07 & 1.10 \\ Sichuan & 0.41 & 0.54 & 0.68 & 1.05 & 0.94 & 0.83 & 0.81 & 1.01 & 0.76 \\ Guizhou & 1.01 & 1.04 & 1.02 & 1.03 & 1.03 & 1.01 & 0.98 & 1.02 & 1.02 \\ Yunnan & 0.32 & 0.39 & 0.46 & 0.77 & 0.75 & 0.89 & 0.72 & 0.76 & 0.63 \\ Tibet & 0.11 & 0.12 & 0.13 & 0.13 & 0.24 & 0.18 & 0.21 & 0.22 & 0.17 \\ Shaanxi & 0.45 & 0.54 & 0.59 & 0.64 & 0.78 & 0.82 & 0.88 & 0.92 & 0.70 \\ Gansu & 0.64 & 0.69 & 0.71 & 0.78 & 0.69 & 0.81 & 0.79 & 0.94 & 0.76 \\ Ningxia & 0.32 & 0.34 & 0.40 & 0.39 & 0.53 & 0.58 & 0.65 & 0.69 & 0.49 \\ Qinghai & 0.33 & 0.37 & 0.38 & 0.47 & 0.50 & 0.48 & 0.53 & 0.51 & 0.45 \\ Xinjiang & 0.29 & 0.38 & 0.32 & 0.39 & 0.48 & 0.45 & 0.39 & 0.47 & 0.40 \\ National Avg. _ITE_ & 0.67 & 0.68 & 0.72 & 0.76 & 0.79 & 0.79 & 0.80 & 0.86 & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: _Cont._efficiency. For example, in Qinghai Province, which is home to China's largest inland brackish water lake, tourism has developed rapidly in recent years. To provide convenient transport and other tourism-friendly conditions, the investment in fixed assets of the area's transport industry has increased from 12.415 billion yuan in 2009 to 58.992 billion yuan in 2016. This has seen a growth in input of almost five times, while the output increase ratio has been less than 1.5. In addition, the undesirable outputs of transport carbon emissions and property losses due to traffic accidents also exist, which further affect the overall _ITE_. For example, Beijing, the capital city, should accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions from transport to reach effective.