This summary provides key data details regarding the Metro (rail rapid transit) system in Medellín, Colombia – at present, the only rail transit system serving any Colombian city. ... More...

Recent US data continue to confirm that public transit – particularly light rail and other forms of rail transit – is an extremely safe way to travel compared with private motor vehicles on streets, freeways, and highways ... and certainly, by far the safest way to travel in urban areas.... More...

In a concerted campaign to "Stop Light Rail at Any Cost", Road Warriors and obsessive monorail zealots have been publicizing every light rail mishap they can find. But this sampling of news items should set the record straight as to where the real transportation safety problem actually lies. More...

In what might be called the "Battle of the BTUs", opponents of electrified public transportation have seized on a new figure for assessing the energy content of production and distribution of electric power to launch a campaign to disparage the energy efficiency of electric transit. But when the equivalent production and distribution efficiency of motor fuels is taken into account, comparative analyses still place electric rail well ahead – especially in terms of carbon-emissions energy... More...

Promoters of "Bus Rapid Transit" ("BRT") have been promulgating the claim that this mode of bus deployment is "just like rail transit, but cheaper". But how does Los Angeles's new "Orange Line" actually measure up in comparison to light rail and other rail systems? As usual, "a photo is worth a thousand words" ... so selected photos may help to illustrate the "Orange Line" facility and pertinent issues associated with it... More...

Who's funding Randal O'Toole's Thoreau Institute and his ferocious jihad against urban planning, Smart Growth, New Urbanism, public transport, and rail transit? Research reveals that the Thoreau institute's efforts to roadblock the development of rail transit and Smart Growth policies are directly linked to powerful, extremely wealthy interest groups profiting from industries such as oil, asphalt, and pipelines. More...

Despite claims that "there is no evident preference for rail travel over bus", and a federal campaign to promote "BRT", evidence overwhelmingly suggests that rail transit modes significantly outperform "BRT" buses in attracting ridership. More...

A recent paper from the national "BRT" advocacy group Breakthrough Technologies Institute claims that "bus rapid transit" ("BRT") buses will produce fewer carbon dioxide emissions than electric light rail transit (LRT). However, says engineer Norman Rolfe in this analysis, BTI's methodology exaggerates the relative ridership of "BRT" vs. LRT, and makes invalid energy comparisons. in reality, a system using electrically powered vehicles will produce less "greenhouse" gases than one using internal combustion engine vehicles. More...

This contrast of aerial views of San Francisco vs. Cincinnati provides an opportunity for a rather striking visual comparison of a city with well-developed rail transit and one that has depended on bus transit alone while emphasizing highway development. More...

Contrary to the claims of rail critics, most forecasts of ridership for new LRT services are reasonably accurate, according to this paper presented at APTA's Rail Conference in 2001. Moreover, say the authors, while the impact of new LRT services on total regional traffic in an urbanized area may be small, the impact in specific corridors served can be quite significant, especially during peak periods of travel. More...

Rail transit, especially light rail, is ideally suited to provide high-quality and understandable connectivity between college and university campuses and their regional transit systems. This analysis by Dave Dobbs provides examples illustrating how many major campuses across North America are connected by light rail to their respective cities' public transportation networks. More...

The apparent success of the new light rail streetcar system in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with a population of about 90,000, suggests that, even for small towns, quite attractive and workable light rail systems can be installed with a minimalist design approach and strict cost containment. More...

Summary data page with information on system features, ridership, critical averages, operations, vehicles, etc. for quick reference ... More...

Summary data page with information on system features, ridership, critical averages, operations, vehicles, etc. for quick reference ... More...

Summary data page with information on system features, ridership, critical averages, operations, vehicles, etc. for quick reference ... More...

In this analysis and commentary, E. L. Tennyson reports that US and Canadian rail transit continues to lead in the growth rate of its ridership – with light rail transit leading overall in ridership growth. More...

Personal Rapid Transit seems to work perfectly in its promoters' computer simulations, but after more than 40 years of development, still with no working, commercially viable, publicly accessible urban PRT installation, is it really an alternative to LRT? More...

Is the Las Vegas monorail project a model for other North American cities, particularly in place of LRT? It's important to understand the full ramifications of monorail technology, and the major tradeoffs that are involved in the decision to implement this unusual mode. More...

While improvements in basic bus transit services are direly needed in North American cities, what is actually meant by "BRT"? The evidence suggests that "BRT" is not the "cheaper rapid transit" substitute for LRT claimed by promoters. More...

Throughout the USA, public transportation is under siege from propaganda mills masquerading as so-called "think tanks", pouring out a steady stream of misinformation and contracting national "hired guns" to oppose major transit projects. So, who are these outfits, and who bankrolls them? More...

An analysis of US DOT data shows that, with respect to total injury + fatality accidents per passenger-mile over a 9-year period studied, in terms of the public's actual potential exposure to an accident, rail transit, including LRT, is substantially safer than motor bus and AGT. More...

American Public Transportation Association data reveal that, between 1990-2000, total passenger-miles carried by US public transit dramatically increased by nearly 16%, or over 6.5 billion passenger-miles. Of that growth, approximately 84% is accounted for by America's rail transit systems – with light rail growing a startling 137%. More...

Among the most ferocious enemies of public transportation and SmartGrowth planning are an array of far-right, so-called "think tanks" (propaganda mills) which provide platforms and ammunition for opposition to major transit projects and a steady flow of cash for an assortment of "professional" anti-transit, pro-highway pundits. Governing Magazine sheds some rare light on these "Boys of Sprawl". More...

The latest news is in – and light rail transit is once again the USA's big winner in ridership growth among the major transit modes, with an increase of 1.9 percent despite economic downturn, post-9/11 blues, and war preparations ... as E. L. Tennyson relates in this commentary. More...

Busways figure prominently in marketing efforts to promote "BRT", with an apparent aim of convincing urban planners and decisionmakers that buses alone can solve their public transport needs into the indefinite future. An editorial by Transit Australia responds to this contention. More...

Fatality rate statistics, calculated for transit passengers vs. motor vehicle occupants, indicate that urban public transit modes are a significantly safer mode of travel than private motor vehicles for the people who are using them. More...

Boston operates several important light rail transit lines within a network of both light and "heavy" rail rapid transit and regional "commuter" rail lines. Boston's LRT services currently carry the heaviest LRT ridership in the USA, and in unit operating cost, are significantly more cost-effective than bus services. More...

US rail transit and other "fixed guideway" systems carry more than 11 million rider-trips each weekday. That equates to approximately 5.2 million individual people, on average, about equal to the entire population in a major metropolitan area such as Dallas-Ft. Worth, Detroit, or Boston. More...

Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority currently operates a 30.5-mile light rail transit (LRT) line system extending from south San Jose through downtown to the northern areas of San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale. The LRT system has been increasingly cost-effective in its operations. More...

Total route-mileage and the amounts and proportions in streets and arterials for the most modern-type LRT (light rail) systems in North America are presented. The data seem to suggest a trend toward the greater use of these alignments as surface routes for LRT. More...

in this commentary, E. L. Tennyson explains how streetcars (or other forms of light rail), although they may "get in the way" of automobiles, vastly increase the capacity of the street to move people – even when sharing the roadway lanes with mixed traffic. More...

As Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) faces severe financial problems, the agency had better learn that mileage costs money. Without mileage-based fares, the system will destroy itself financially. More...

Denver's LRT at peak hour in the peak direction in the Santa Fe Drive corridor is carrying between 28% and 33% of the total passenger traffic flow – apparently demonstrating that LRT can make a substantial impact on corridor traffic congestion. More...

Available evidence does not appear to corroborate the contention that monorails, "PRT", or other automated systems render phenomenal, or even significant, operating cost savings compared with LRT. On the contrary, the data suggest that fully automated systems may actually, in some cases, incur higher operating costs More...

Capital cost data from the Federal Transit Administration for New Starts projects strongly tend to corroborate previous data suggesting that monorail systems have roughly three times the cost per mile of surface LRT systems. More...

Los Angeles's new Metro Rapid "Bus Rapid Transit" routes represent an important service improvement for many passengers, and clearly total transit ridership in the corridor has increased. But is Metro Rapid BRT service really an effective substitute for rail transit, as many BRT proponents claim? ... More...

Automated transit operation is often touted as a "magic bullet" for reducing transit operating costs by proponents and vendors of monorails and similar "gadget transit" modes. However, a comparison of actual data from urban guideway-transit systems in the USA and Japan calls this into question. More...

Is the ability of "BRT" ("Bus Rapid Transit") to attract riders equivalent to that of light rail? Recent experience with new light rail vs. new "BRT" starts, an historical review, and other evidence suggest that theory-based ridership forecasting models, approved by an FTA promoting "BRT", may not tell planners, decisionmakers, and the public the whole story. More...

Monorail systems are occasionally proposed as an alternative to light rail transit (LRT). However, most monorail applications appear to be relatively small systems with few or no branches. In Japan, which seems to have the greatest concentration of urban monorails in the world, the relatively small size of these systems is suggested by their fleet sizes, which are quite small compared to North American LRT systems. More...

The US General Accounting Office's 1999 analysis of a number of major public transit projects – scrutinizing budget and schedule guidelines – shows that the budget record of light rail projects reviewed has been admirable. in contrast, the project with the greatest budget overrun was Boston's BRT busway project. More...

Houston's bus system – especially its system of HOV lanes – is touted as a superior and less costly alternative to light rail. But in terms of transit passengers, Houston's HOV lane achievements have been far less spectacular than those in cities with light rail – such as Portland, whose MAX light rail system carries more than twice the daily transit ridership of Houston's HOV system on less than half the route-mileage. More...

Light rail transit attracts plenty of new riders, reduces transit cost, adds transportation capacity, reduces pollution, strengthens downtowns, and is an excellent investment. 10 reasons for building a light rail system. More...

it's claimed that operating cost savings are a major advantage for light rail transit (LRT) and a major reason why this mode is such an attractive choice compared to various bus service alternatives. is it true? Readily available data from US operations – especially for relatively new systems – suggest that LRT does indeed tend to be much cheaper to operate than comparable bus service. Comparative figures from the Federal Transit Administration's 1998 database demonstrate this. More...

A collection and index of a wide variety of analyses of "Bus Rapid Transit". More...

A collection and index of analyses of monorail technology and systems. More...

A collection and index of our articles on heritage trolley systems. More...

A gallery of photographs illustrating various features and characteristics of light rail transit and other transportation and general mobility issues. More...

An analysis of Los Angeles's Blue Line light rail service indicates that an alternative surface bus system would incur much higher operating costs and would require hundreds of buses. More...

Opponents of rail transit argue that rail transit will have negligible impact on traffic congestion. But a data analysis indicates that, in large and very large urban areas, urban areas with rail transit in major traffic corridors have a lower rate of congestion growth than do similarly sized urban areas without rail. More...

Columnist Neal Peirce has suggested that Curitiba's celebrated example of supposedly low-cost "buses-as-subways" could be duplicated in America. Dave Dobbs examines the pitfalls of attempting to emulate the Curitiba BRT example in a first-world country like the United States. More...

Despite being a consistently strong and persuasive voice for the benefits of public transportation, columnist Neal Peirce, in an encomium on behalf of the celebrated-showcase "Bus Rapid Transit" system in Curitiba, Brazil, has left factuality, reality, and common sense by the side of the road. More...

Light rail tends to be much cheaper to operate than comparable bus service. Transit operators and some federal officials are also impressed by the fact that, in many light rail systems, operating costs have actually been dropping. More...

Public transit – particularly light rail – is by far one of the safest modes of urban transportation, and much safer than the automobile. More...

Calculations indicating the average fully allocated total cost (capital + operating) of urban automobile transportation in typical use for both work-commute and other purposes are provided in this report. More...

Wendell Cox and a gaggle of cohorts such as the Reason Public Policy Institute portray themselves as "independent", "scholarly" analysts, supposedly enlightening the public and policymakers as to the fatal weaknesses of public transit and rail systems. But critics contend that Cox and his ilk are nothing more than highly biased crusaders for roadways and road-based transportation industrial interests, who distort facts through misrepresentation and cleverly selective manipulation of data. Recently, Wendell Cox and the Reason Public Policy Institute have taken further actions which compromise their pretense at "impartiality" and further damage their purported roles as "independent", "impartial" researchers and consultants. More...

Houston's bus system – especially its system of HOV lanes – is touted as a superior and less costly alternative to light rail. But in terms of transit passengers, Houston's HOV lane achievements have been far less spectacular than those in cities with light rail – such as Portland, whose MAX light rail system carries more than twice the daily transit ridership of Houston's HOV system on less than half the route-mileage. More...

For fundamentally equivalent types of transit service, will light rail will attract more riders than "Bus Rapid Transit" (BRT)? A 1991 Philadelphia research project determined that LRT passengers find routes more understandable, the service more reliable, and the vehicles more spacious and comfortable, with less odors, fumes, and noise. The study also found that LRT tends to attract a greater proportion of nonwork trips, and that LRT riders are willing to walk further to access the service. More...

• Light Rail Success Stories

• New Light Rail Systems Planned

• Worldwide Light Rail BOOM

• Rail Transit Saves Taxpayers Money

• Transit Capital Investment Per Route Mile

• Transit Operation And Maintenance Costs Per Passenger Mile

• Springfield, Virginia: Shirley Busway / 1395 HOV / Metrorail

• Pittsburgh Average Weekday Ridership: South Busway vs. Light Rail

• Peak Hour Roadway Lane Capacity

• Increase in Farebox Revenue: Sacramento Regional Transit

• San Diego Trolley Orange Line And San Diego Trolley Blue Line

• 1996 Surface Transit Productivity Passenger Miles Per Employee

• Transit Employee Productivity 1996 (Four Modes)

• Urban Freeways Don't Pay