The Washington Policy Center, a right-wing think-tank, issued a “study” entitled “The Facts on Light Rail: A Comparative Analysis of Light Rail Systems in Six West Coast Cities”. It’s the standard anti-rail stuff: it’s expensive, no one rides it, and buses would do a better job.
Michael Setty at publictransit.org has written a convincing rebuttal to the methods, arguments and facts of the study. For example, WPC uses San Francisco to talk about how expensive transit is, but fails to mention that one third of all commute trips in the three counties served by BART and Muni are taken on transit. Setty also shows that LRT is cheaper per passenger mile (38¢) than buses (55¢), in direct contrast to WPC’s claim that buses are 12% cheaper to operate.
A particularly money passage in the Setty piece:
WPC also claims that LRT does not reduce congestion or auto usage. However, according to Bailey, Linda, Mokhtarian, Patricia L. PhD, and Little, Andrew. The Broader Connection between Public Transportation, Energy Conservation and Greenhouse Gas Reduction. February 2008. ICF International. http://www.apta.com/research/info/online/land_use.cfm, transit reduces urban travel by 102 billion annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in U.S. urban areas, or about 6% of total urban VMT and two VMT for every urban passenger mile traveled on transit. About half of this impact is due to rail, which reduces travel by up to 10.9 daily VMT per household within 0.75 miles of a rail transit stop. This mitigates probably hundreds of billions in new roads otherwise “needed” without transit.
Applying this two for one reduction in VMT compared to daily transit passenger miles, five of the six West Coast LRT systems (excluding San Jose) are suppressing approximately 1.75 billion annual VMT, saving direct expenditures for auto trips of roughly $850 million based on the 2007 IRS Standard Mileage rates for business purposes, e.g., $0.485 per mile driven. This savings offsets net operating subsidies of about $304 million for the five LRT systems, plus an estimated annualized capital expense of $400-$450 million for the roughly $7.5 billion invested in West Coast LRT except for Santa Clara–e.g., assuming current 30-year U.S. Treasuries rates of 4.35%, and an annual set-asides to fund future replacements (actually provided by Federal formula funding).
These estimates do not include any allowance for reducing parking expenditures by the private sector, the increased value of land next to LRT stations, reduced travel times for transit dependents in some cases, and precluded expenditures for additional urban roadway capacity needed. In all corridors served by LRT, roadways already exist, usually freeways.
One of the main criticisms of transit is that it accounts for so few “trips”, as measured in vehicle miles travelled. But transit reduces the overall number of miles travelled, not just by car but by all means. So a simple usage metric is over counting the people who live in Spanaway and commute to Redmond, and dramtically over-counting those who live in Ballard and work in First Hill.
It’s great stuff, and the best smack-down of the standard anti-transit arguments I’ve read in a long time.
Mike Ennis was the brightest guy in the room when he worked for Dino ’empty suit’ Rossi. But in the real world, this professional cow-tipper doesn’t fair too well. Setty clearly schools this poor kid raised on a steady diet of Reagan in the 80’s, Limbaugh in the 90’s, and ‘W’ in the 21st Century. Ennis’ sense of critical thinking only kicks in when his hero/king of the dolts Dori Monson celebrates the execution of a retarded person.
Just kidding. These far-right kooks don’t have a moral compass. Fry the guy! Especially if he uses public transit!
Ennis makes his daily 80 mile commute from Enumclaw to Seattle and back out of a sense of patriotism. Our dependence on foreign oil aids the cause of freedom. Everybody knows that. Ennis also knows rural areas can easily provide the tax base to build mega-freeways.
OK, I’m kidding again. As a city councilmember in Enumclaw, Ennis votes against any/all local road levies. As in filling potholes. This is also considered patriotic. In the world of twisted Reaganite nuts and faith-based two-bit Republicans, filling potholes is considered a commie plot. Social engineering at its worst.
What it really comes down to is airheads like Mike Ennis believing ‘somebody else’ should be paying for his (and his master Kemper Freeman’s) roads.
Call them victims of the Interstate Era, dinosaurs who still believe the invisible hand of the fed govmt should be picking up 90% of the tab.
Trains get 434 mpg.
Ennis’ Hummer? 3mpg.
Who’s Setty? What’s his story?
As a member of the International Alliance of Professional Cow Tippers I take umbrage to Mike Ennis being forcefully included into our ranks.
We do not support his amateurish cow tipping abilities.
Much of my work is posted at http://www.publictransit.us.
As for my qualifications, I have about 30 years of transit planning experience, including 15+ years fighting the likes of O’Toole, Cox, and now Mr. Ennis.
Mike Setty
Great catch, and thank you to Mr. Setty for his work.