The costs per passenger-mile are totally wrong.

Both AAA and Runzheimer International estimate the operating costs of cars to be $0.50--$0.60 per mile, that's ignoring subsidies and parking which can take the total to the order of $0.90/pax mile.

Metrorail operating cost is $0.34/pax-mile; add another $0.33 for capital costs. The San Diego Trolley (first of the modern/revival light rail systems) takes about $0.30 operating plus $0.25/pax-mile capital recovery. MARC operating costs are about $0.30/pax-mile.
thm | 07.20.06 - 7:39 pm | #

You notice such virulently anti-rail editorials inevitably come from cities that have no rail.

You used to see this sort of nonsense in the papers of Dallas and Denver, too. It stopped almost as soon as the trains started running and people learned first hand just exactly what transit can do.
BeyondDC | Homepage | 07.20.06 - 8:14 pm | #

I don't know Denver, but the Dallas Morning News has run a lot of positive articles as you point out. Plus, if you register for their website, I think you have full online archive access. It's a decent paper, although I don't look at it very often.

Thanks gentlemen, for these insights!
Richard Layman | Homepage | 07.21.06 - 8:22 am | #