Light Rail Systems

Dallas' light rail is being expanded. Light rail serves where ever there is a right of way and demand. If the system is part of a regional transit system it will be government funded.

I watch these light rail cars running around in Dallas and up north in Lewisville and Denton.  The cars I see are empty.  Seems like a government boondoggle to me....but I've never seen the accounting to know for sure.

Interestingly, Austin's 32 mile MetroRail has the most riders when there's a lot of out-of-towners here for big events like SXSW and the F1 races.  Those two events draw folks from all over the world.  If I had to guess I would say that Cap Metro MetroRail is hemorrhaging money.

Texans are pretty much glued to their cars and trucks, it's a cultural thang born of necessity due to Texas' immense size. I can't help but be amused when Northeasterners complain about a sixty mile round trip to a hobby shop.  For me the round trip distance is 160 miles minimum, and those shops aren't even very good for O gauge.  Thank goodness for the internet, eh.

Pete

Most light rail systems are owned and operated by some governmental agency - usually local or part of a regional agency.  Most,  if not all, do not make a profit as the fare schedules are set by the governmental agency running the system at levels lower than what would yield  a "profit."  However, you really cannot discuss profitability with these agencies as the fares are not set by market forces as the public policy of the agencies is usually  to keep the fares as low as possible for a variety of public policy reasons, including affordability for low income residents, cheaper commutes for areas workers to keep the cost of living down and make the region attractive for business.  The operating loss is then made up through federal, state and local budgets.  Also, these governmental agencies do not usually amortize the acquisition costs of the right of way and construction of the system.  Most reports usually only report operating expenses and revenues generated.

Despite the above, I do believe  under the right conditions a well run light rail system could be constructed and operated by a private company at a profit.

The blue line light rail in Minneapolis has been open for almost 10 years. They say ridership is greater than expected. However, there is no way on earth that the fare box is covering the operating cost.

The new green line between Minneapolis and St Paul will be opening this summer, and all the talk these days is about the southwest extension and its projected cost of almost 1.7 billion dollars. Good luck paying that back.

As much as I like all things rail, the infrastructure heavy nature of it seems like a huge waste of money.

Many systems are going with Bus Rapid Transit(BRT). Buses on their own roads and stations. Articulated buses serving. Done first in Pittsburgh and LA. Just done in Nashville. Very successful in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

I have the impression that most light rail systems in the US are like little AMTRAKs, operating in the red at the taxpayer's expense. If there was money to be made by private enterprise in light rail systems, then capitalism would have provided the private entrepreneurs to build and operate light rail systems.

It is ironic that the governments killed many trolley and interurban systems by keeping their fares artificially low, and now governments are building new systems and still keeping the fares artificially low.