I came across this excellent analysis from the Transport Politic showing an apples to apples comparison of dozens of premium transit capital expansion projects. As we already know, heavy rail comes in at the top of the most expensive projects, but light rail and commuter rail are much cheaper than some believe. These costs are comparable, and in some cases cheaper per mile of construction, than a BRT alternative. (And remember these technologies carry more passengers at the same cost of operations and maintenance over time).
Could this be a little motivation to take a second look at implementing parts of the People’s Transportation Plan with some combination of heavy rail/light rail/ and commuter rail? It’s not too late….
Public Transit Capital Projects (via the Transport Politic)
|
| Place |
|
Technology |
Cost ‘09 (millions in US$) |
Length (mi) |
Cost/Mile (million US$) |
Date |
| San Juan |
|
Metro Rail |
2630 |
10.7 |
246 |
2004 |
| Seattle |
|
Light Rail |
2400 |
15.6 |
154 |
2009 |
| New Jersey (Northern) |
|
Light Rail |
2200 |
20.6 |
107 |
2006 |
| Vancouver |
|
Metro Rail |
2000 |
11.8 |
169 |
2009 |
| Los Angeles |
|
Metro Rail |
1880 |
3.0 |
627 |
2000 |
| San Francisco |
|
Metro Rail |
1730 |
8.7 |
199 |
2003 |
| Phoenix |
|
Light Rail |
1410 |
20.0 |
71 |
2008 |
| Seattle |
|
Commuter Rail |
1390 |
82.0 |
17 |
2000/ 2003 |
| Philadelphia |
|
Metro Rail |
1310 |
12.9 |
102 |
2009 |
| New Jersey (Central) |
|
Diesel Light Rail |
1260 |
34.0 |
37 |
2004 |
| Washington |
|
Metro Rail |
1100 |
6.5 |
169 |
2001 |
| Toronto |
|
Metro Rail |
1080 |
3.4 |
318 |
2002 |
| Los Angeles |
|
Light Rail |
1010 |
13.7 |
74 |
2003 |
| Denver |
|
Light Rail |
943 |
19.1 |
49 |
2006 |
| Los Angeles |
|
Light Rail |
900 |
6.0 |
150 |
2009 |
| Vancouver |
|
Advanced Rapid Transit |
861 |
12.6 |
68 |
2002 |
| Minneapolis |
|
Light Rail |
819 |
12.0 |
68 |
2004 |
| New York City |
|
Metro Rail |
788 |
0.3 |
2627 |
2001 |
| Montréal |
|
Metro Rail |
731 |
3.2 |
228 |
2007 |
| San Francisco |
|
Light Rail |
696 |
5.6 |
124 |
2007 |
| Washington |
|
Metro Rail |
695 |
3.2 |
217 |
2004 |
| Dallas |
|
Light Rail |
622 |
12.5 |
50 |
2002 |
| Salt Lake City |
|
Commuter Rail |
614 |
44.0 |
14 |
2008 |
| Atlanta |
|
Metro Rail |
582 |
1.9 |
306 |
2000 |
| Portland |
|
Light Rail |
575 |
8.3 |
69 |
2009 |
| New York City |
|
Metro Rail |
573 |
2.1 |
273 |
2004 |
| Chicago |
|
Metro Rail |
530 |
11.4 |
46 |
2009 |
| San Jose |
|
Light Rail |
496 |
8.3 |
60 |
2004 |
| Charlotte |
|
Light Rail |
483 |
9.6 |
50 |
2007 |
| Oceanside/ Escondido |
|
Diesel Light Rail |
479 |
22.0 |
22 |
2008 |
| San Diego |
|
Light Rail |
477 |
5.9 |
81 |
2005 |
| Boston |
|
Bus Rapid Transit |
473 |
1.5 |
315 |
2002/ 2004 |
| St. Louis |
|
Light Rail |
461 |
7.5 |
61 |
2006 |
| Pittsburgh |
|
Light Rail |
442 |
10.7 |
41 |
2004 |
| St. Louis |
|
Light Rail |
414 |
17.4 |
24 |
2001 |
| Las Vegas |
|
Monorail |
405 |
3.9 |
104 |
2004 |
| New Mexico |
|
Commuter Rail |
396 |
97.0 |
4 |
2006/ 2008 |
| San Jose |
|
Light Rail |
379 |
6.8 |
56 |
2005 |
| Houston |
|
Light Rail |
371 |
7.5 |
49 |
2004 |
| Portland |
|
Light Rail |
366 |
5.8 |
63 |
2004 |
| Los Angeles |
|
Bus Rapid Transit |
359 |
14.0 |
26 |
2005 |
| Minneapolis |
|
Commuter Rail |
265 |
40.0 |
7 |
2009 |
| Boston |
|
Commuter Rail |
263 |
18.0 |
15 |
2007 |
| Sacramento |
|
Light Rail |
261 |
6.3 |
41 |
2003 |
| Salt Lake City |
|
Light Rail |
234 |
7.3 |
32 |
2001/ 2003 |
| Newark |
|
Light Rail |
223 |
1.0 |
223 |
2006 |
| Denver |
|
Light Rail |
222 |
8.7 |
26 |
2000 |
| Edmonton |
|
Light Rail |
222 |
1.8 |
123 |
2006/ 2009 |
| New Jersey (Northern) |
|
Commuter Rail |
213 |
2.3 |
93 |
2009 |
| New Orleans |
|
Streetcar |
180 |
5.5 |
33 |
2004 |
| Calgary |
|
Light Rail |
176 |
1.7 |
104 |
2007 |
| Cleveland |
|
Bus Rapid Transit |
169 |
6.8 |
25 |
2008 |
| Portland |
|
Diesel Light Rail |
166 |
14.7 |
11 |
2009 |
| Baltimore |
|
Light Rail |
161 |
9.4 |
17 |
2006 |
| Portland |
|
Light Rail |
153 |
5.5 |
28 |
2001 |
| Washington |
|
Metro Rail |
126 |
|
|
2004 |
| Calgary |
|
Light Rail |
109 |
|
|
2003/ 2009 |
| Miami |
|
Metro Rail |
103 |
1.4 |
74 |
2003 |
| Portland |
|
Streetcar |
96 |
3.9 |
25 |
2001/ 2005/ 2007 |
| Tacoma |
|
Light Rail |
94 |
1.6 |
59 |
2003 |
| St. Louis |
|
Light Rail |
88 |
3.5 |
25 |
2003 |
| Dallas |
|
Light Rail |
67 |
3.1 |
22 |
2001/ 2002 |
| Memphis |
|
Streetcar |
64 |
2.0 |
32 |
2004 |
| Denver |
|
Light Rail |
58 |
1.8 |
32 |
2002 |
| Seattle |
|
Streetcar |
53 |
1.3 |
41 |
2007 |
| New Orleans |
|
Streetcar |
47 |
6.3 |
7 |
2008 |
| Calgary |
|
Light Rail |
47 |
|
|
2004 |
| Nashville |
|
Commuter Rail |
44 |
32.0 |
1 |
2006 |
| Tampa |
|
Streetcar |
38 |
2.3 |
17 |
2002 |
| Little Rock |
|
Streetcar |
31 |
3.4 |
9 |
2004/ 2007 |
| Eugene |
|
Bus Rapid Transit |
26 |
4.0 |
7 |
2007 |
| Ottawa |
|
Diesel Light Rail |
24 |
5.0 |
5 |
2001 |
| San Pedro |
|
Streetcar |
11 |
1.5 |
7 |
2003 |
| Kenosha |
|
Streetcar |
5 |
2.0 |
3 |
2000 |
|
|
|
Go to Source
Related posts:
- MDT’s Big Bet on BRT is BUSted
- Transit Summit This Week
- Nationwide Bank Failures. By Geniusofdespair
- Miami-Dade’s Train Tracker Service Garners Award
- Use Parking Authority Revenue For Transit
