On average, taxpayers pay nearly 90 percent of the cost of light rail passenger travel. Riders are paying a decidedly minor share of the cost of their own transportation. Again, this is worse than the average for all transit modes. When all transit modes are considered, riders pay about one-third of the costs. Light rail compares even more unfavorably with auto transportation where highway users currently pay more than 100 percent of the cost of the road system.
Light rail is touted as a means of reducing urban traffic congestion.
The claim is that it will lure drivers out of their cars and, thereby, reduce traffic congestion. The low actual ridership attained by light rail transit systems overstates their impact on traffic congestion and air pollution. New rail lines are typically constructed along routes where bus ridership is already heavy. Since the advocates of rail transit want the best possible ridership results, this selection of routes certainly makes sense. However, it also means that a significant proportion of the rail transit riders will have been former bus riders.