This is a bad piece of journalism – worst I’ve seen in a long time. Here’s some of the fuzzy math and omitted information from the cheerleaders for Charlotte’s rail system:
The average Lynx trip costs $2.70 in operating dollars, but that doesn’t include the cost of building the line. [Right, what’s that TOTAL cost per passenger?] Three-quarters of the train’s $462.7 million cost came from federal and state grants [someone has to pay for that]. When CATS’ portion of the train’s capital cost is included, the per-passenger cost jumps to about $4.50. [So why not tell us the total capital cost instead of making it look like rail is cheaper than buses?]
The average bus trip is about $4.30, which doesn’t include the cost of buying the bus. The cost is rising quickly due to fuel prices. [This is the most egregious bit. 1) Compare bus ridership to Lynx ridership, first. Then, 2) compare capital costs to capital costs. Then get back to me.]
The whole section quoted above is worthless at best, misleading and mendacious at worst. It doesn’t matter if you packed that train to the gills. There will never be enough riders to make it cost effective. Never. (Update: the paper seems to justify omitting the total cost by saying that Mecklenburg residents don’t pay for it directly (i.e. the rest of N.C. and taxpayers around the U.S. do. Concentrated benefits and dispersed costs.)
-Max Borders
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