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Light Rail Concept – Hard to Swallow

by Guillermo Camoriano

According to Bob Hill’s column on Sept. 21,  the light rail numbers are:

●18,000 riders per day, of which 80% or 14,400 are new riders

● Construction cost -- $603 million

Doing the math, this amounts to a construction cost of $42,000 per new rider.

I just bought a used 2001 Ford Taurus in excellent shape (with a 75,000 mile warranty) for $13,000, and I expect to drive it for ten years.  Based on this, for the proposed construction cost of the light rail project, you could supply each new rider with a comparable car for the next thirty years and still have money left over.

But Bob Hill’s numbers are based on the most optimistic projections.  Realistically, the number of new riders would be half, and the cost would be double the projections.  Based on this more realistic projection, for the cost of the proposed light rail project, you could supply each new rider with a car for the next 120 years.  And don’t forget that the money spent to build a light rail project is money that will not be available to build the roads and bridges we really need.  Sounds like a great deal, Bob!

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