Light Rail - Too Expensive

Last year, we were offered Federal Government money to begin plans to build a light rail line from Atlanta to Macon. There was also talk about money for a light rail line from Atlanta to Charlotte NC. We didn’t’ take the offer; we took a pass. It was either a good decision or just dumb luck. I had heard that light rail was too expensive, so I did a little financial analysis.

The Greyhound Bus from Atlanta GA to Macon GA costs $25 one way, 89 miles, 1 hour 30 minutes. The Greyhound Bus to Charlotte NC costs $50 one way, 288 miles, 6 hours. The cost for gas, to drive a Prius from Atlanta GA to Macon GA is $6 to $8, depending on gas prices. The cost for gas, to drive a Prius from Atlanta GA to Charlotte NC is $19 to $25. The cost of building the light rail system in Seattle was $176 million per mile. The cost of finishing and building a light passenger rail system from Atlanta to Macon would be over $1 billion.

The number of Greyhound Bus tickets from Atlanta GA to Macon GA we could buy with $1 billion is 40 million tickets. If two bus-loads, 80 passengers, bought tickets to go to and from Macon and Atlanta every day, their round-trip cost would be $4000. The $1 billion cost of building a passenger rail service would buy tickets for these 80 passengers for 500,000 trips, or daily round- trips for these 80 passengers for the next 685 years

Shipping freight pods on regular heavy rail is very cost-effective. Cost for light passenger rail is not cost-effective. It requires federal or state subsidies to operate to the tune of $200 per ticket. These 500,000 trips would then cost the state $190 million a year to operate. It’s a Trojan Horse