^ Someone weighing bus v.s. car probably isn't shopping for "average car", I.E. a $35,000 Lincoln MKZ or the like. Probably more like a Chevy Trax, or if they're smart, a well-used Fusion with 50,000 miles.
Buy one of those for $4,000 and drive it for 8 years, then sell it for $1,500, making the cost more like $315 a year. Plus a grand for maintenance, and $1,200 for insurance, and you get more like $2,500 a year. [[My first 3 cars were all under $1,400 in today's money).
We also have to consider a worker's time.
The rail + feeder system etc you speak about means workers spend literally hours getting to and from work. 15 min waiting for a bus, then go to a stop and get off, then wait again for a train, then travel down WW or the like at 8 mph.
I've had employees that commuted on the bus [[which is faster) for 1:45 to work, then another 1:15 to get home, for what would have been a 12 min drive each way by car. What does that lost 650 hours year cost? At just $15 an hour it's almost $10k.
V.s. $2,500 - $5,000 to have a car? And all the freedom it provides?
I don't know. I just don't see it. For an entertainment district sure, the light rail makes sense, IF occasionally there's a huge, safe, clean, well-lit parking garage. But outside of that, as a means to get around or get to work, and with our low pop density, it just seems like another way to light truckloads of money on fire.
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