Posted July 21, 200618 yr Megan Owens, Executive Director of Detroit’s Transit Riders United, sent along this fascinating comparison of bus and light rail operating costs in US cities. ____________________________ Did you know . . . light rail is cheaper and more efficient to operate than busses? Many transit systems have reduced their relative cost of providing transit service by building light-rail. In fact, the 11 cities that have developed light rail lines in the last 20 years find that light rail costs on average 38% less per passenger mile than bus service. (details below) Light rail is much more efficient to operate than buses, because maintenance and labor costs less for each mile a passenger travels. Also, increased numbers of users further lowers per passenger costs. Because Greater Detroit lacks an efficient light-rail line, it costs us much more to provide inferior transportation. By building light-rail in Greater Detroit, we can increase the efficiency of the transit systems while providing a more attractive alternative to driving. Some great examples of how this affects specific cities (costs shown are per passenger mile): In Dallas, it costs 47¢ per passenger mile (ppm) to operate the light rail system, while it costs them 86¢ ppm to provide bus service. Denver - 50¢ ppm for light rail, 64¢ ppm for bus service Los Angeles - 46¢ ppm for light rail, 56¢ ppm for bus service Minneapolis - 69¢ ppm for light rail, 84¢ ppm for bus service Portland - 31¢ ppm for light rail, 76¢ ppm for bus service Sacramento - 62¢ ppm for light rail, $1.10 ppm for bus service Salt Lake City- 30¢ ppm for light rail, $1.46 ppm for bus service San Diego - 25¢ ppm for light rail, 78¢ ppm for bus service St. Louis - 29¢ ppm for light rail, 92¢ ppm for bus service In Greater Detroit, it costs DDOT $1.10 ppm and SMART $1.04 ppm to operate the bus systems. The basis for all of these numbers came from the National Transit Database, a federal government site of transit statistics. All figures are from 2004. Another interesting note - While the costs of constructing light rail are significantly higher than busses, this efficiency savings could potentially be greater than the local building costs. Here are some rough calculations - if 60 percent of the 31,000 current bus riders along the Woodward Corridor each day were to instead ride for 5 miles on a Woodward Corridor light-rail line, and operating costs on the light rail line were 38% less than on the bus, Greater Detroit transit would see an operating saving approaching $10,000,000 per year, just for serving the existing ridership (0.60*31000*$1.08*5miles*.38*260days/yr). Typically, ridership increases significantly when light-rail is built, so that savings based on increased ridership would be even greater. In economic terms, the present value of $10,000,000 annually based on 20 years and an interest rate of 4% is $135 million -- likely greater than the local funding required to build a 15 mile light rail line on Woodward. ### "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 21, 200618 yr I'm wondering what impact light rail has on bus ridership, and how that might impact these numbers. Like, the guy's hypothetical at the end is 60% of the 31K riders on the Woodward Corridor. A full bus is more efficient than an empty one - so that means if you pulled 60% of the people off the bus route, the price per passenger mile would go up on the bus route. So if the numbers quoted that compare light rail with bus ridership were formulated after the various cities added light rail, it might not be a fair comparison. Like, maybe it cost 50¢ ppm for the bus in Denver before light rail went in, and the decreased efficiency from more empty busses jumped that figure to 64¢ ppm. I doubt that's the case - it only makes sense that light rail's operating costs are lower. And "significantly increased ridership" is reason enough by itself to have light rail in my book. But I do wonder what the ppm for busses was in those cities prior to light rail...do you have any idea on that, KJP?
July 21, 200618 yr Over 50% of the cost of operating buses is the salary of the driver. So, the bigger the vehicle, the less it costs to operate on a per passenger basis, assuming it is full. Believe it or not, the earliest cable cars in Cincinnati held 12 passengers and had a crew of two, for a ratio of 1 crew to 6 people. Not much different than a minivan! Other factors related to the technology influence the cost also. For example, light rail vehicles take less energy to move on level ground because the coefficient of friction for steel wheels on steel rails is less than that for rubber tires on asphalt. On the flip side, buses do not require the maintenance of rails or power distribution systems. Which is cheaper to operate overall? It probably depends mostly on the length of route. For any given route, passenger load, and time frame, it can be calculated which technology will have the lower operating cost. But keep in mind that the salary of the driver is the single biggest operating expense. If the driver is sitting in traffic, it doesn't do anyone any good. Light rail may have an advantage if it is on an exclusive right of way, but that is not unique to light rail. Both buses and light rail can run on either public right of way or exclusive right of way. ---------- Just for fun, can you name the only passenger light rail system in Cincinnati? It's the Delta Train at the airport. It is a short route, and it has NO DRIVER. People do not hesitate to use it.
July 21, 200618 yr But I do wonder what the ppm for busses was in those cities prior to light rail...do you have any idea on that, KJP? I don't know data for various cities' transit systems, and routes within those systems, but when St. Louis started its light-rail system in 1993, overall bus ridership went up. And, the light-rail ridership vastly exceed projections. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
July 21, 200618 yr Not only that but property value in StL near their transit system went up significantly as well.
July 21, 200618 yr when St. Louis started its light-rail system in 1993, overall bus ridership went up. Wow...that's just fantastic.
Create an account or sign in to comment