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I'm all for progress and happy to see that this project will be "100% privately funded".
But I do have some thoughts:
This is to cost the developer somewhere between $50-60M to build? Most private investments require an ROI in around 5 years. I can't see how this will meet that goal even at 10 years. That would mean $5M in revenue (ridership) a year (10 years) just to cover construction.
So that $5M/year would be 500,000 passengers a year at $10 (or 1369 passengers/day).
The I-185 toll road was a public/private venture. Never met expectations, went bankrupt and now the public is footing the bill. Could the public (taxes) be called upon if the private venture of the rapid transit goes bankrupt to bail them out?
Doesn't the "Taxpayer" at all levels,Local, State or Federal, pick up the pieces from all failed programs? It sticks in my craw, but the Green Link will be surely one of those, on an ongoing basis. Too Big to Fail!! JMHO.
Greenlink isn't a waste, and this wouldn't be either. They achieve 1mil in ridership, and my employees who use it to get to work greatly appreciate it. Ridership has increased 6 straight years.
Doesn't the "Taxpayer" at all levels,Local, State or Federal, pick up the pieces from all failed programs? It sticks in my craw, but the Green Link will be surely one of those, on an ongoing basis. Too Big to Fail!! JMHO.
These PRT's have been around for over a HALF century, yet there are only FOUR being used in the entire world!
The developer estimates $10M per mile, yet we all know that there will be cost overruns of this type of mega-project. It will be hard to see how this will work without "public intervention".
Quote:
Originally Posted by papajohn56
Greenlink isn't a waste, and this wouldn't be either. They achieve 1mil in ridership, and my employees who use it to get to work greatly appreciate it. Ridership has increased 6 straight years.
PRT is a step in the right direction.
A Poterra bus that is built here in Greenville costs $850k each. That is steep compared to a diesel bus, but much, much cheaper than a PRT system. But again, this is "supposed" to be just private money and hey if it works without any public assistance, then that will be great.
These PRT's have been around for over a HALF century, yet there are only FOUR being used in the entire world!
The developer estimates $10M per mile, yet we all know that there will be cost overruns of this type of mega-project. It will be hard to see how this will work without "public intervention".
A Poterra bus that is built here in Greenville costs $850k each. That is steep compared to a diesel bus, but much, much cheaper than a PRT system. But again, this is "supposed" to be just private money and hey if it works without any public assistance, then that will be great.
Even if it needed some public assistance, but reduced congestion significantly (thereby lowering your gas usage), lowered the cost of road maintenance (and even car maintenance due to terrible roads), and attracts more business to Greenville, it's worth it.
Even if it needed some public assistance, but reduced congestion significantly (thereby lowering your gas usage), lowered the cost of road maintenance (and even car maintenance due to terrible roads), and attracts more business to Greenville, it's worth it.
Those are a lot of "IF's". That same argument was used to justify building the I-185 toll road and we now see what happened to that.
Even if it does get built, I seriously have my doubts about how successful it will be. While Greenville is starting develop traffic trouble spots I just don't see the proposed route doing much to reduce congestion.
While it may get used by those that live in the direct proximity to it. Greenville thankfully hasn't reached the point where it is faster, cheaper or more convenient to drive somewhere park and then get on another form of transportation. After the coolness factor wears off I don't expect the ridership to be all that great.
Those are a lot of "IF's". That same argument was used to justify building the I-185 toll road and we now see what happened to that.
It's paying for itself, has never had a taxpayer bailout, and has increased in traffic every year since 2009. It missed bond coupons to investors in the past, but now is fine. Everyone references 185 as a problem, but I use it and like it.
It's paying for itself, has never had a taxpayer bailout, and has increased in traffic every year since 2009. It missed bond coupons to investors in the past, but now is fine. Everyone references 185 as a problem, but I use it and like it.
The toll road began having financial difficulties less than 6 years after opening which forced the owners of the road to file for bankruptcy protection. Tolls are still going up, with another increase expected in 2016, which is helping increase revenues of about $7M a year. Not bad, but not what was estimated when the road was proposed in the late 1990's, much like what is being proposed today with the PRT.
I also like the I-185. Haven't used it though in over a year.
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Of Course!!!
