A new study by the Victoria Transport

A new study by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute shows that in cities with large rail transit systems, per-capita traffic fatalities are 36 percent lower, per-capita consumer transportation expenditures are 14 percent lower, and per-capita motor vehicle mileage is 21 percent lower. The study, “Comprehensive Evaluation of Rail Transit Benefits” by Todd Litman, director of the Institute in Victoria, British Columbia, analyzes the impact of various kinds of transit on urban transportation patterns. In cities with large rail transit systems, the portion of household budgets spent on transportation is 19 percent smaller, according to Litman. The study calculates that the additional costs of rail transit systems are repaid several times over by the savings to governments, businesses, and consumers from reduced road and parking facility costs, vehicle cost savings, reduced traffic accident costs, and lessened congestion. The study disputes a report earlier this year in which Randal O’Toole of the Center for the American Dream contended that rail transit investments are not cost-effective. Litman says O’Toole’s report, “Great Rail Disasters,” failed to categorize transit systems correctly and violated other basic evaluation principles. Litman’s report is available at www.vtpi.org/railben.pdf. One of the more careful critics of rail transit, former federal transportation official C. Kenneth Orski, charges, however, that “the number of urban areas that can justify [new] rail investment is shrinking with every passing year.” In the May issue of Innovation Briefs (http://www.innobriefs.com), Orski says, “Indeed, it can be argued that all the ‘low-hanging fruit’ — i.e. cities whose corridor densities make rail service potentially cost effective — have by and large already been picked.” Light-rail lines proposed for future federal grants, he contends, “are projects with questionable qualifications.” The study is available here.