Quote Originally Posted by erikd View Post
corktownyuppie,

I think that you are misunderstanding our argument.

For the moment, let's put aside the discussion of a possible RTA, or the extremely unlikely concept of a regional rapid transit system, and focus on the viability of the fully-funded WWLR project.

The up-front capital was secured for the entire 9.3 mile stretch of Woodward, from downtown to 8 mile, not just the 3.4 mile stretch from downtown to New Center. This means that DDOT would completely eliminate the Woodward[[53) bus line, and probably eliminate the portion of the Dexter[[18) bus line that runs along Woodward and Cass [[just one block west of Woodward), up to Grand Boulevard.

The approved DDOT budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 is just under $150 million, which pays for the operation and maintenance of the 48 bus routes operated within city limits by DDOT. This works out to an average annual cost of about $3.1 million per bus line. Of course, some bus lines will cost more to operate than others, but this gives us a ballpark figure to work with.

On April 11, 2011, Detroit City Council approved the sale of bonds to finance the WWLR project, which would be paid for with the previously discussed private and federal funding sources. The official document presented to city council spelled out the construction and operation costs of the WWLR line, along with the funding sources. The official estimated cost of operating the WWLR line was $12-$16 million annually, through the year 2030. The funding would consist of $2.8 million in estimated annual fare revenue, with the balance coming from federal, state, and city funds. It was estimated that the city would only have to contribute $2 million annually from the general fund.

According to the budget numbers from official city documents, it would cost the city about $2 million annually to operate the Woodward light rail line, but it would result [[by my estimate) in a $3 million annual savings due to the elimination of the Woodward bus lines. This estimated decrease in annual operation cost is consistent with everything that I have ever read about the costs of light rail vs busses.

Even if these numbers are a little off, the annual cost of the WWLR line is extremely low, especially when put in context. Consider the fact that the city is giving the Detroit Zoo a $750,000 subsidy this year.

Bing and Snyder are claiming that we can't afford to operate a light rail line on Woodward, but all the numbers that I can find say that we can't afford to NOT operate a light rail line on Woodward.
Does the DDOT budget include expected fare revenue? If it does, your numbers are way off.