Light rail cheaper to run than buses

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by FamousBlueRaincoat

Philadelphia still has a ghost of a streetcar system. Mostly made up of what they call the "subway-surace trolley lines". Two streetcars running through West Philly, three through Southwest, which all run through downtown underground. Additionally, they have a trolley running down Girard Avenue through West, North, and Northeast Philly.

They also have some trolley-buses - and there's talk of making some of the buses - most prominently the 23 running down Germantown Avenue - back into a trolley. Really, I think the main reasons trolleys still exist here is that Philadelphia takes to change pretty slowly.

For what it's worth - the main advantage of the streetcar system - after the novelty wears off - is that our system here runs underground through some of the densest parts of the city, which saves a lot of time. When they are just on the street with traffic, they don't seem to run any faster than buses. Although I do think SEPTA found that trolleys are cheaper than buses, especially on high volume routes, another reason why they stopped switching over to buses.

That being said - the legitimate high speed lines here (Broad Street Line, Market-Frankford Line, PATCO Line, Norristown High Speed Line) - are amazingly faster than buses and cars, as well as what I remember the Hiawatha Line being.

I like the fact that Philly has plans to restore and build out there system. Your system is unique that you still have Suburban lines that funnel into the Urban Core. I like how Philly has 3 Separate systems (plans for 2 more) , it makes the system unique.....Hopefully other systems will copy off Philly or learn.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by Mr Maps

• Unlike buses, light rail would not likely be able to share lanes with cars.
• Light rail calls for more upfront spending, but is cheaper to operate and maintain in the long term (i).
• Rapid transit attracts development unlike any other infrastructure improvement (i). Unlike buses, light rail has a sense of permanence and place. Businesses want to locate near rapid transit stations, and many people want to live and play near them knowing they have a short walk and a convenient ride.

You have a point about light rail being cheaper to run in the long run. In the long run, rail transit in general is better. However, alot of people don't think about the long run. It's often the idea of "make money NOW".