Although rail transit can provide advantages in some circumstances, the proponents of rail often mislead decision makers and the public by claiming nonexistent advantages for rail investments. This campaign has helped convince officials and the electorate that rail transit is a necessary component of a contemporary urban transportation system. Left unchallenged, these arguments have gradually bored their way into conventional wisdom. However, a close examination reveals that the rhetoric of rail tends to involve sweeping assertions, uneconomic thinking, and assumptions that range from difficult to impossible to verify. We have come to think of this collection of arguments as a mythology.
Rail is economically inferior to conventional bus service.
The high cost of rail bleeds existing bus systems. Voters have been swayed by what amounts to disinformation. Only the most heavily utilized heavy rail trunks are competitive with busways, and then only at significantly higher costs. Rail seldom increases and often reduces total transit ridership. New facilities cannot decongest existing facilities.