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- LRT attracts new riders.
From 30% to 50% of rail transit riders are new to the transit
system and have autos at home, which they could use but choose
not to. The same people who shun bus transit are attracted by
the fast service and smooth ride which electrified, guided transit
can offer.
- LRT reduces transit costs.
Costs for rail transit are as much as 50% less per passenger-mile
than bus transit. This reduces annual transit operating costs
and public subsidy. Rail transit in a heavily-traveled core area
frees up operating funds and buses thereby indirectly serving
other areas. For Seattle, Link light rail will allow Metro to
re-deploy buses now used for downtown Seattle service to provide
improved service for the suburbs.
- LRT adds capacity – for people.
Light rail will go where people live and work and will add
greatly to people movement capacity in the corridor. By connecting
neighborhoods, downtown and community centers, people may not
need to take a car to access transit and may not even need to
purchase a car. Other transit serving only a highway corridor
must rely on feeder buses or cars to bring people to transit stations
which are frequently located in unattractive areas.
- LRT is safe.
Passengers traveling by rail are very safe and neighborhoods
through which the system passes are also much safer. A single
light rail vehicle removes 60 to 125 cars from the road and signal
systems make the neighborhoods safer for local traffic and pedestrians.
- LRT reduces pollution.
Electrified light rail does not pollute near our homes and pollutes
much less in areas such as the Western New York Stare with water-generated
power. Getting people out of their cars will preserve our clean
air and clean water.
- LRT fits anywhere.
It can run on the street, across the street, under the street,
over the street, on railroad tracks, or in canal beds. Although
it serves communities best when built on the surface, light rail
can be run on elevated structures or in tunnels if necessary.
Stations and right-of-way are compact and efficient.
- LRT strengthens our downtowns.
City and Village retail core areas, which have struggled for
years, choked with automobile traffic and losing business to suburban
malls, will see customers return – brought to the central
business districts by an attractive transit system. Non-retail
businesses benefit from improved mobility for their workforce.
- LRT enhances property values.
Areas in the vicinity of light rail stations normally see an increase
in land value and new, high-quality transit-oriented development
encourages vibrant community centers. New homes and businesses
can also reduce the property tax rate in an area.
- LRT is quiet.
Light rail vehicles produce less noise than diesel buses and
much less noise than the equivalent volume of automobile traffic.
Smooth, welded rails and vibration absorbing fasteners eliminate
much of the noise we associate with rail travel.
- LRT is a good investment.
Compared to the limited capacity of roads, light rail carries
many more people for the money. A freeway lane carries 1,800 cars
per hour or less than 2,200 people. A single light rail track
can comfortably carry from 8,600 to 16,000 people per hour (four
to seven freeway lanes worth). In downtown Rochester, the cost
of a new urban lane on I-490 is difficult to estimate but could
be from $100 to $500 Million per lane-mile. The average cost of
recent LRT lines is $18 million per mile for two tracks. LRT lines
from Downtown to Charlotte Beach, the Airport, Brockport, and
commuter rail from Batavia to Lyons via downtown’s Amtrak
Station, will move more people, much faster and safer, for much
less money.
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