Facts are stubborn things. We only wish Charlotte’s leaders would admit they have been wrong and Triangle leaders will learn from Charlotte’s light rail failures. But I am not counting on it.
Here is O’Toole’s latest analysis.
Given the high capital costs plus nearly $10 million in annual
operating costs, the annualized cost of Charlotte?s light-rail works
out to more than $3.60 per passenger mile (compared with less than $1
for a typical bus and less than $0.25 for driving, including highway
subsidies which, in North Carolina, average less than half a penny per
passenger mile). Of course, most of that $3.60 is subsidized; transit
users paid an average of just $0.12 per passenger mile to ride it,
leaving a subsidy of nearly $3.50 per passenger mile. That also works
out to a subsidy of more than $20 per ride, making Charlotte more
expensive than almost any light-rail system outside of Buffalo and San
Jose.
