 | Report on First General Assembly of ASPO Switzerland, May 24th 2008, University of Basel | The Oil Drum | Oil Reserves: Where Ghawar goes, the rest of OPEC follows |  |
| TOD Local Open Thread: What's your town doing about high gas prices? | The Oil Drum: Local | Putting a New Face on Selling Peak Oil: Kris Can | |
122 comments on How Will Local Governments Respond to Large Increases in Energy Bills?
Comments can no longer be added to this story.
122 comments on How Will Local Governments Respond to Large Increases in Energy Bills?
Comments can no longer be added to this story.
User login
Personnel
Classic posts
Archives
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
The Oil Drum: New York City archives
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
GAIA Host Collective
I was going to guess that it was usually the other way around, that cities often take a loss on public transpo...but, if the entity itself is private (as in does not come out of the public/general fund) and turns a profit, your reasoning might hold.
Still, I am guessing that in most metropolitan areas, public transport is a part of the city budget, and therefore if it were ever to actually turn a profit, those funds would be directed elsewhere, especially in tough taxing or economic times.
I'm sure Mayor Cook or even Mr. Drake will no doubt have an answer to this. :)
Here's the METRO's budget page, if anyone is in the mood to figure out how closely tied to the District's budget it is: http://www.wmata.com/about/parp_documents.cfm?fromMenu=AboutMetro.5
Unfortunately, limited time (including an eMail to Dr, Goose).
I did download executive summary of 2008 budget.
Some tidbits.
Metrorail Operating Budget - $638 million, $505 million from fares (79.1%, low 80% is typical for DC Metro). Higher ridership > more fares
$500 million for labor, $46 million for electricity (remember escalators, lighting, HVAC, etc.) $47 million for services (mostly indirect labor I assume)
MetroBus Operating Budget - $453 million, $145 million from fares (32%, good for buses) Again higher ridership > More fares
For Metrobus, $380 million for labor, only $32 million for fuel (*assumed price not stated), $18 for services (mostly indirect labor I guess)
MetroAccess - Handicap/ADA - $63 million, $3 million from fares (4.8%) I am sure that Paul S would kick them to the curb first (need to repeal ADA first though).
Per Ed Tennyson, much worse bus service once had lower fare recovery %. In other words, buses are more economic if coupled to Urban Rail than as standalone.
WMATA has looked at going to 100+% fare recovery for operations of Metrorail, and it might be possible, but the additional burden on the roads & pollution from lost ridership make it "not worth it".
Sorry for Limited Time, Hopefully more later,
Alan
In a large majority of jurisdictions, the transit agency has a dedicated source of funding (1% sales tax in New Orleans). WMATA gets direct funding from DC, VA & MD.
The obvious variable is overhead per passenger mile - capital costs are pretty constant. For rail, costs per passenger falls as volumes rise.
The capital costs aren't shown - how would they compare to operating costs?
Variable costs also tend to fall as volume increases. 8 car trains take no more labor (one operator) than 6 car trains (OTOH cleaning crews are per car). Fully loaded cars use only slightly more electricity than nearly empty cars.
TOD takes time. Part of New Orleans success with streetcars (80+% to 100+% farebox recovery, is how well housing and living patterns are woven into the system (operating since 1834). The largest building in the city, 51 story One Shell Square, is in between the tracks of the St. Charles streetcar. After 5 PM it is hard to get a seat after the streetcar passes One Shell.
In addition, ridership increases on existing lines when a new line is opened. So the bigger the system, the more economic it is. Two lines are better than one line, Seven lines are better than six lines.
Best Hopes,
Alan
Best Hopes for Large, Dense Urban Rail systems,
Alan
Thanks!
Thanks Alan! Cool statistics. Do you have a number for how much money MetroBus pulls in as far as fares?
MetroBus Operating Budget - $453 million, $145 million from fares (32%, good for buses)
Thanks again, interesting to know. I would imagine that the 145 Million in Fares could easily double under higher gas price conditions.
Doubling riderhip, even with crush loads @ peak time/peak direction, would require some additional service and additional costs.
One simply cannot squeeze twice as many pax on-board a rush hour bus.
Alan
Public Operating Subsidy (not including Capital)
Rail - $133 million
Bus - $308 million
ADA - $60 million
Ridership (Note NOT pax-miles but just pax, rail riders travel MUCH further than bus riders on average)
Rail - 210 million
Bus - 134 million
ADA - 1.6 million
Capital Budgets vary widely year by year, and some are not broken down by mode (security, management improvements, debt service (mostly rail I guess))
In 2008 $182 million to run 8 car trains half the time (includes 184 new railcars, bigger transformers), Buses $48 million, Infrastructure (assume mainly rail, but buses take more than expected for mid-life rebuilds, shelters, garages, etc. City & States pay for most of bus ROW from another budget) $269 million.