Rail ridership up but taxpayer losses continue

Recently we have been given another nauseating report that transit ridership is up. This is supposed to make us feel good about our decision a couple of years ago to tax ourselves to build the light rail. However, ridership is not what we should be looking at. Rather we should be looking at profitability or return on our investment. Since the total cost of each person riding the light rail is about $13 and the fare paid by the rider is $1.75, this means that the taxpayer is continuing to subsidize huge losses. More importantly, these losses will continue and even grow as the various plans for extending the light rail come to fruition. The bottom line is that, if we simply shut down the light rail now, taxpayers would benefit.

Do not be fooled by rosy “ridership” numbers. Just reach for your wallet and continue to feed this voracious beast.