Originally Posted by
DetroitPlanner
Unless you can come up with billions of dollars for the capital costs of rail, you are stuck with a bus only system. Therefore comparing per mile operating costs are not really helpful.
SEPTA may run rail to its airport, but it is still losing money on it. Say the airport is 15 miles from downtown, the per passenger cost using the figures above would be $5.85. In order to make ridership attractive I doubt they can chages more than $4-$5 for providing the service leaving the rail line in the hole. Bus rides are usually much shorter, particularly in a region with more rail. Therefore a 2 mile bus ride would not cost that much different than it brings in through the ticket prices. Its when the bus rides become longer the operational costs play a bigger factor. Rail and Buses wear out and need replacement. These are chagred as capital costs not operational costs.