Trains Hurt Mass Transit
Following is a segment that is most ironic about how rail transit negatively impacts a portion of society that most depends on mass transit. It is from page six of Randal O’Toole’s “A Desire Named Streetcar”.
In the early 1980s Los Angeles increased transit system ridership by 35 percent in just three years by expanding bus service and keeping fares low. Then the region began building rail transit systems and, because of cost overruns, was forced to simultaneously increase bus fares
and cut back on bus service. The result was a 17 percent loss in ridership. In 1995 the NAACP sued on behalf of a
group named the Bus Riders’ Union, charging the transit agency with discrimination because it cut bus service to low-income minority neighborhoods in order to build
rail lines into white, middle-class neighborhoods. In a settlement agreement, the agency agreed to restore bus service. That led to a 32 percent increase in overall transit ridership—that is, rail and bus ridership combined.
But most of that increase was the result of people choosing to use bus service, not train service. After billions were spent on rail lines, rail transit in 2003 carried less than
12 percent of the region’s transit trips.
In Randal O’Toole’s article “Light Rail isn’t the Track to the Future” he writes:
How successful is light rail? In 1980, before Portland began building light rail, 9.8 percent of the region’s commuters took transit to work. Today, it is 7.6 percent.
Since 1980, Portland has spent more than $2.3 billion, half the region’s transportation capital funds, building light rail. Yet light rail carries less than 1 percent of Portland-area travel. That’s a success?
What interests are pushing our representatives to press forward with light rail (Republican preferred) and streetcars (Democrat preferred) despite our dismal results with rail transit? When capital costs are factored in, fares only cover 3.5% of the cost of the Blue Line, far higher than alternative forms of mass transit.
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=6085
