Financial report context:
american tower corporation and subsidiaries notes to consolidated financial statements 19 . commitments and contingencies litigation 2014the company periodically becomes involved in various claims , lawsuits and proceedings that are incidental to its business . in the opinion of management , after consultation with counsel , there are no matters currently pending that would , in the event of an adverse outcome , materially impact the company 2019s consolidated financial position , results of operations or liquidity . tristar litigation 2014the company was involved in several lawsuits against tristar investors llp and its affiliates ( 201ctristar 201d ) in various states regarding single tower sites where tristar had taken land interests under the company 2019s owned or managed sites and the company believes tristar induced the landowner to breach obligations to the company . in addition , on february 16 , 2012 , tristar brought a federal action against the company in the united states district court for the northern district of texas ( the 201cdistrict court 201d ) , in which tristar principally alleged that the company made misrepresentations to landowners when competing with tristar for land under the company 2019s owned or managed sites . on january 22 , 2013 , the company filed an amended answer and counterclaim against tristar and certain of its employees , denying tristar 2019s claims and asserting that tristar engaged in a pattern of unlawful activity , including : ( i ) entering into agreements not to compete for land under certain towers ; and ( ii ) making widespread misrepresentations to landowners regarding both tristar and the company . pursuant to a settlement agreement dated july 9 , 2014 , all pending state and federal actions between the company and tristar were dismissed with prejudice and without payment of damages . lease obligations 2014the company leases certain land , office and tower space under operating leases that expire over various terms . many of the leases contain renewal options with specified increases in lease payments upon exercise of the renewal option . escalation clauses present in operating leases , excluding those tied to cpi or other inflation-based indices , are recognized on a straight-line basis over the non-cancellable term of the leases . future minimum rental payments under non-cancellable operating leases include payments for certain renewal periods at the company 2019s option because failure to renew could result in a loss of the applicable communications sites and related revenues from tenant leases , thereby making it reasonably assured that the company will renew the leases . such payments at december 31 , 2014 are as follows ( in thousands ) : year ending december 31 .

Financial table:
2015: 2016; $ 574438: 553864
2015: 2017; $ 574438: 538405
2015: 2018; $ 574438: 519034
2015: 2019; $ 574438: 502847
2015: thereafter; $ 574438: 4214600
2015: total; $ 574438: $ 6903188

Additional report context:
aggregate rent expense ( including the effect of straight-line rent expense ) under operating leases for the years ended december 31 , 2014 , 2013 and 2012 approximated $ 655.0 million , $ 495.2 million and $ 419.0 million , respectively. .

Question: was 2014 rent expense greater than 2015 operating lease expense?
Answer: yes