Bus vs. light rail

By ERIC BARTELS

Pamplin Media Group, Nov 13, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (14 Reader comments)

In the decades after World War II, public transportation receded into a cultural backwater in the United States as a broad, prosperous middle class took advantage of cheap gas to put two cars in every garage.

With access to and use of fossil fuels a growing concern in the climate-changing, post-9/11 world, Americans are beginning to re-evaluate.

And while buses and trains are really on the same team in terms of sustainable transportation — either option a vast improvement over the one-car, one-rider model — outspoken camps have sprung up around each.

The two are worth comparing.

Access

A fixed-rail system never will have the reach of a city bus, which can get just about any place there’s a paved road. For folks in some parts of the Portland area, this debate is academic:

If there’s no MAX train nearby, their mass-transit commuting will have to be done by bus.

Advantage: Bus

Comfort

Studies suggest that light rail appeals to actual riders in a way that buses do not. Commuters tend to see light rail as more modern, more upscale and safer, with no real possibility of operator error.

Rail cars are more spacious, offer more freedom of movement and are easier to board and exit. And the ride is smoother: fewer sharp turns, no potholes, no sudden stops.

“People tend to like the quieter transit,” says Mary Fetsch of TriMet.

Advantage: Light rail

Initial cost

Building new light rail is stunningly expensive, costing tens of millions of dollars per mile. And anti-light rail types love to massage those numbers into cost comparisons to make bus travel look like a bargain.

Of course, those studies tend to ignore the cost of building and maintaining the roads that buses travel. Still, light rail can’t win this game.

Advantage: Bus

Operation and management cost

Once light rail is up and running, both infrastructure and train cars are more durable and less expensive to maintain than a fleet of buses and the roads they travel.

A rail car can last up to 60 years; a bus can last maybe a quarter of that. Every bus needs one driver, while one driver can pilot a train several cars long. That means a lower payroll. And electricity is cheaper than gas.

Advantage: Light rail

Style

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