Rail transit has been touted as an economical and environmentally friendly means of transportation for urban dwellers. Yet a study by the Reason Foundation concludes that rail transit is more expensive and polluting than automobiles. Moreover, it reduces mobility for transit riders and automobile users.
According to the study:
Even where rail transit can reduce air pollution, say researchers, the cost is exorbitant — roughly $1 million per ton of reduced emissions, compared to $10,000 per ton for many other air quality measures.
Additionally, rail transit is not necessarily safer than automobiles. Between 1992 and 2001, light rail killed almost nine times as many people per passenger mile as buses or highways.
Source: Randal O’Toole, The Great Rail Disaster, Reason Public Policy Institute, February 16, 2004.
For text http://www.rppi.org/thegreatraildisaster.shtml
For more on Transit and Urban Land Use http://eteam.ncpa.org/policy/Land_Issues/Urban_Land_Use/
FMF Policy Bulletin\16 March 2004
