COMPARISON OF LIGHT RAIL COST
PER NEW TRIP:
AND THE COST OF LEASING OR
BUYING A NEW CAR



The Federal Transit Administration uses cost per new one way ride to measure the cost effectiveness of new transit capital programs, such as rail systems.

The annual cost per new commuter (work trip) can be calculated by multiplying the cost per new one way ride by 450 (each commuter works approximately 225 days per year and each day requires two trips, to work and from work).

A career cost can also be calculated, by multiplying the annual figure by 40.

The table below indicates such costs for a number of recent projects (all converted to 1994$). This table is taken from Light Rail in Milwaukee, a Wisconsin Policy Research Institute report by Wendell Cox (1998).

Cost per new ride: Light Rail Lines Completed or Under Construction

Light Rail Line Per New One-Way Ride Annual

Cost per Commuter

40 Year Career
Baltimore-Airport $17.27 $7,761 $310,435
Baltimore-Hunt Valley $11.87 $5,336 $213,424
Baltimore -Penn Station $18.35 $8,246 $329,838
Dallas $10.54 $4,735 $189,415
Portland-Banfield* $11.11 $4,993 $199,728
Portland-Westside $21.31 $9,580 $383,215
San Jose-Tasman $40.94 $18,400 $735,998
St. Louis-Lambert $11.72 $5,270 $210,801
Average $17.89 $8,040 $321,607
In 1994$

Calculated from Federal Transit Administration data.



The table below illustrates annual costs for new automobiles, calculated from 1999 newspaper advertisements.

The least expensive light rail projects above are more than double the cost of the least expensive cars (Dodge Neon and Saturn SL).

All of the light rail projects are more expensive than a Ford Taurus or Plymouth Voyager.

The most expensive projects are more expensive than luxury cars, such as the Cadillac SLS, the BMW 740 and Lincoln Town Car.

All of the projects are more expensive than purchasing a minivan (Plymouth Voyager). In view of the fact that light rail does not reduce traffic congestion and that there is a serious problem of providing mobility to the inner city poor to jobs in the suburbs, this suggests that use of the rail funding to provide minivans and automobiles in some sort of a reverse commute program would serve a far more important purpose.

Annual Cost of Purchasing or Leasing a New Car

Automobile Lease/

Purchase

Years Annual Cost Cost per New Ride Retail Price
BMW 740 Lease 3.00 $9,149 $20.33 $65,000
Cadillac SLS Lease 3.00 $7,993 $17.76 $43,335
Chevrolet Suburban Lease 3.00 $6,245 $13.88 $33,488
Dodge Neon Purchase 5.00 $2,127 $4.73 $12,392
Ford Explorer Purchase 5.00 $6,814 $15.14 $27,519
Ford Taurus Lease 3.00 $3,248 $7.22 $18,000
Infiniti Q45 Lease 5.00 $7,305 $16.23 $45,000
Jaguar XJ8 Lease 3.00 $10,065 $22.37 $55,200
Lincoln Town Car Lease 3.00 $7,049 $15.66 $29,999
Mercedes 320 Lease 3.00 $10,804 $24.01 $65,345
Plymouth Voyager Purchase 5.00 $3,818 $8.48 $14,699
Saturn SL Lease 3.00 $2,326 $5.17 $11,995
Calculated from new automobile advertisements in 1999; Includes down payment, monthly payment, sales tax and fees. Sales tax of 7 percent assumed.

Cost per New Ride allocated entire cost to 450 annual commuting trips.

(c) 2001 www.publicpurpose.com --- Wendell Cox Consultancy --- Permission granted to use with attribution.
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