» The 2000s may have seen the most investment in North American transit ever, with new light rail and metro lines opening from New Jersey to California.
I reviewed the biggest transit projects completed in the United States and Canada between 2000 and 2009 on the Infrastructurist a few days ago, but I thought it would be useful to provide a bit more information about how I compiled the data and give readers a glance at all of the major transit projects I can identify.
I determined the comparative costs of the project by factoring in inflation (both of the U.S. and Canadian dollars, separately). All project costs are noted in 2009 U.S. dollars. I did not include projects which began construction during the 2000s but which are planned to finish after 2009. I also did not include airport or private people movers in the top ten; if I had, New York’s AirTrain JFK line that opened in 2003 would have been number three, at a price of $2.23 billion in 2009 dollars.
The success of the most expensive projects in attracting their foreseen number of riders has been something of a mixed bag, with some projects, like San Juan’s Metro, falling far below expectations, and others, like Phoenix’s Metro Rail, doing quite well so far.
In terms of cost per mile, perhaps the most relevant way to compare various transit projects, eight out of the ten most expensive were metro rail, with an exception for the Boston Silver Line busway, at $315 million/mile, and the Newark light rail extension at $223 million/mile. New York’s IND 63rd Street connector, at the equivalent of $2.6 billion per mile, was by far the most expensive — though that cost is roughly in line with that of the Second Avenue Subway currently under construction.
During the 2000s, the top ten places (and their suburbs) for overall transit investments were:
Los Angeles – $4.15 b
Seattle – $3.84 b
Vancouver – $2.86 b
San Juan – $2.63 b
San Francisco – $2.43 b
Northern New Jersey – $2.20 b
Washington – $1.92 b
Phoenix – $1.88 b
New York City – $1.36 b
Philadelphia – $1.31 b
Los Angeles hopes to spend $14 billion on transit by 2020; if it does so, it will surely be in the lead once again for urban transit spending in the United States during the 2010s, followed closely by New York City, Denver, Houston, and Dallas. Each has a panoply of expensive new transit corridors on tap.
Public Transit Capital Projects (Table is sortable)
Place
Project
Tech
Cost '09 (m US$)
Length (mi)
Cost/ Mile (m US$)
Rider/ day (k)
Rider/ mile (k)
Cost/ rider- mile
Date
San Juan
Tren Urbano
Metro Rail
2630
10.7
246
39
3.6
730
2004
Seattle
Central Link
Light Rail
2400
15.6
154
16
1.0
2400
2009
New Jersey (Northern)
Hudson-Bergen
Light Rail
2200
20.6
107
38
1.8
1222
2006
Vancouver
Canada Line
Metro Rail
2000
11.8
169
93
7.9
253
2009
Los Angeles
Red Line Phase 3
Metro Rail
1880
3.0
627
2000
San Francisco
BART to SFO
Metro Rail
1730
8.7
199
2003
Phoenix
Metro Rail
Light Rail
1410
20.0
71
34
1.7
829
2008
Seattle
Sounder (South/North)
Commuter Rail
1390
82.0
17
10
0.1
13900
2000/ 2003
Philadelphia
Market-Frankford
Metro Rail
1310
12.9
102
179
13.9
94
2009
New Jersey (Central)
River Line
Diesel Light Rail
1260
34.0
37
9
0.3
4200
2004
Washington
Branch Ave Extension
Metro Rail
1100
6.5
169
2001
Toronto
Sheppard Rapid Transit
Metro Rail
1080
3.4
318
46
13.5
80
2002
Los Angeles
Gold Line to Pasadena
Light Rail
1010
13.7
74
24
1.8
561
2003
Denver
T-Rex
Light Rail
943
19.1
49
2006
Los Angeles
Eastside Gold Line
Light Rail
900
6.0
150
13
2.2
409
2009
Vancouver
Millennium Line
Advanced Rapid Transit
861
12.6
68
80
6.3
137
2002
Minneapolis
Hiawatha Line
Light Rail
819
12.0
68
32
2.7
303
2004
New York City
IND 63rd St Connector
Metro Rail
788
0.3
2627
2001
Montréal
Laval Metro Extension
Metro Rail
731
3.2
228
60
18.8
39
2007
San Francisco
T-Third St
Light Rail
696
5.6
124
2007
Washington
Largo Blue Line Extension
Metro Rail
695
3.2
217
2004
Dallas
Red Line Parker Rd Extension
Light Rail
622
12.5
50
2002
Salt Lake City
FrontRunner
Commuter Rail
614
44.0
14
5
0.1
6140
2008
Atlanta
MARTA North Extension
Metro Rail
582
1.9
306
2000
Portland
Green Line and Transit Mall
Light Rail
575
8.3
69
17
2.0
288
2009
New York City
Manhattan Bridge Reconstruction
Metro Rail
573
2.1
273
2004
Chicago
Blue Line Douglas Reconstruction
Metro Rail
531
11.2
47
29
2.6
204
2005
Chicago
Brown Line Reconstruction
Metro Rail
530
11.4
46
98
8.6
62
2009
San Jose
Tasman East/ Capitol Extension
Light Rail
496
8.3
60
2004
Charlotte
South Corridor
Light Rail
483
9.6
50
20
2.1
230
2007
Oceanside/ Escondido
Sprinter
Diesel Light Rail
479
22.0
22
8
0.4
1198
2008
San Diego
Mission Valley East
Light Rail
477
5.9
81
2005
Boston
Silver Line
Bus Rapid Transit
473
1.5
315
11
7.3
65
2002/ 2004
St. Louis
Cross-County Extension
Light Rail
461
7.5
61
2006
Pittsburgh
Overbrook Reconstruction
Light Rail
442
10.7
41
2004
St. Louis
St. Clair County Extension
Light Rail
414
17.4
24
2001
Las Vegas
Monorail
Monorail
405
3.9
104
23
5.9
69
2004
New Mexico
Rail Runner Express
Commuter Rail
396
97.0
4
5
0.1
3960
2006/ 2008
San Jose
Vasona Extension
Light Rail
379
6.8
56
2005
Houston
MetroRail
Light Rail
371
7.5
49
40
5.3
70
2004
Portland
Yellow Line
Light Rail
366
5.8
63
2004
Los Angeles
Orange Line
Bus Rapid Transit
359
14.0
26
21
1.5
239
2005
Minneapolis
Northstar
Commuter Rail
265
40.0
7
2
0.1
2650
2009
Boston
Greenbush Line
Commuter Rail
263
18.0
15
2007
Sacramento
South Line
Light Rail
261
6.3
41
2003
Salt Lake City
University Line and Extension
Light Rail
234
7.3
32
2001/ 2003
Newark
Light Rail Extension
Light Rail
223
1.0
223
2006
Denver
Southwest Corridor
Light Rail
222
8.7
26
2000
Edmonton
South Line Extensions
Light Rail
222
1.8
123
2006/ 2009
New Jersey (Northern)
Meadowlands Rail Line
Commuter Rail
213
2.3
93
2009
New Orleans
Canal St Line
Streetcar
180
5.5
33
2004
Calgary
Northeast Line Extension
Light Rail
176
1.7
104
2007
Cleveland
Euclid Corridor
Bus Rapid Transit
169
6.8
25
2008
Portland
Westside Express
Diesel Light Rail
166
14.7
11
1
0.1
1660
2009
Baltimore
Light Rail Double Tracking
Light Rail
161
9.4
17
35
3.7
44
2006
Portland
Airport Red Line Extension
Light Rail
153
5.5
28
2001
Washington
New York Ave Station
Metro Rail
126
2004
Calgary
Northwest Line Extensions
Light Rail
109
2003/ 2009
Miami
Palmetto Extension
Metro Rail
103
1.4
74
2003
Portland
Streetcar and Extensions
Streetcar
96
3.9
25
12
3.1
31
2001/ 2005/ 2007
Tacoma
Link
Light Rail
94
1.6
59
4
2.5
38
2003
St. Louis
Shiloh-Scott Extension
Light Rail
88
3.5
25
2003
Dallas
Blue Line Garland Extension
Light Rail
67
3.1
22
2001/ 2002
Memphis
MATA Extension
Streetcar
64
2.0
32
2004
Denver
Central Platte Valley Corridor
Light Rail
58
1.8
32
2002
Seattle
South Lake Union Streetcar
Streetcar
53
1.3
41
1
0.8
66
2007
New Orleans
St. Charles Line Reconstruction
Streetcar
47
6.3
7
2008
Calgary
South Line Extension
Light Rail
47
2004
Nashville
Music City Star
Commuter Rail
44
32.0
1
1
0
2006
Tampa
TECO Line
Streetcar
38
2.3
17
1
0.4
95
2002
Little Rock
River Rail and Extensions
Streetcar
31
3.4
9
1
0.3
103
2004/ 2007
Eugene
Green Line
Bus Rapid Transit
26
4.0
7
2007
Ottawa
O-Train
Diesel Light Rail
24
5.0
5
10
2.0
12
2001
San Pedro
Waterfront Red Car
Streetcar
11
1.5
7
2003
Kenosha
Streetcar
Streetcar
5
2.0
3
2000
Airport/Private Transit Capital Projects (Table is sortable)
Place
Project
Technology
Cost '09 (millions in US$)
Length (mi)
Cost/Mile (million US$)
Date
New York City
AirTrain JFK
Advanced Rapid Transit
2230
8.1
275
2003
Atlanta
ATL SkyTrain
People Mover
626
1.5
417
2009
Newark
AirTrain Newark
Monorail
509
1.1
463
2001
San Francisco
AirTrain SFO
Advanced Rapid Transit
506
6.0
84
2003
Dallas
DFW Skylink
People Mover
251
4.8
52
2005
Detroit
ExpressTram
Tire-based People Mover
82
0.7
117
2002
Minneapolis
Airport Trams (2 lines)
People Mover
71
0.7
101
2001/ 2004
Portland
Aerial Tram
Aerial Tramway
61
0.6
102
2006
Indianapolis
Clarial Health People Mover
People Mover
51
1.4
36
2003
Toronto
LINK Train
Cable-based People Mover
43
0.9
48
2006
17 replies on “The Decade’s Top Hits”
San Juan was left out of the list of top 10 places. …
Only 16 stations of the planned 36 were built. And there were stations planned in the historic downtown district, you know, the few districts that weren’t designed á la Tyson’s Corner.
For its length and technology, Tren Urbano costs are in line with the rest of the US. If only Puerto Rico’s government had finished the system…
Sorry, I made a mistake! San Juan’s up there right now.
It might be helpful to add in a chart showing the most expensive highway projects and airport projects of the last decade as a comparison. For some reason, we are always “wasting” money on “expensive” transit projects but you can’t seem to drive more than 20 miles without entering a highway construction zone. Until we own up to the fact that there is no such thing as a profitable public transportation modality and that the government has spent billions more on the automobile and the airplane than on rail, we aren’t likely to make much progress.
Not that I want to see St. Louis bumped up in the rankings, but a Missouri State Auditor’s report on the Cross County Extension says the final estimated cost was $686 million which is far above the $465 million you have listed.
Any chance you include daily passengers per dollar in your tables? (Passenger-miles/$ would be even better, but much harder to find out.)
I second @Tom West… pretty please? It gives transit a really bad name if most transit projects are boondoggles, and I want to know what was and what wasn’t one.
@Charles D, it might actually not be that bad if you look at highway cost per user or per passenger mile. I don’t think highways are particularly wasteful by these metrics. It’s just that they’re bad policy because they promote a car-dependent society. I think Canada is the perfect counter-example, because socially they are very similar to the states. The two big differences between the states and Canada as far as lifestyle subsidies are a) rebates on mortgage payments and b) federal money to within-city highways. The results are plain to see: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/NorthAmericanPublicTransport.png
It makes a big difference if you look at lump sum capital cost versus annualized capital cost. Lump sum deflates the economic cost of less durable infrastructure and inflates the capital cost of more durable infrastructure.
You’re missing Chicago’s Douglas/54th-Cermak Blue Line reconstruction — a far more thorough project than the recent Brown Line scheme — which took place from 2002 to 2005.
However, even with this included in Chicago transit, the sad fact is that it does not even get Chicago, the third largest metropolitan area in the country, into the top ten list for total investment. Which says something about the pitiable state of things here in Illinois, where no-one is even talking about a balanced budget even though we’re constitutionally required to have one, and where the latest infrastructure plan is more skewed towards roads than the last one.
Do you have an estimate for the total amount of planned light rail projects in the US? I saw the list but a bunch don’t have numbers on them and I’m trying to get a feel for the size of the “proposed” market… thanks!
It’s not a matter of “if” any more, just a matter of when. We will have a move transit oriented America.
Well, now, THAT was a public service announcement if I ever saw one! Thanks.
Wow didn’t know Yonah did the graphics for the infrastructurist too. Talk about a graphic god! This decade did seem to have a few good hits, let’s hope for a lot more next decade! Also how did the Boston Silver Line cost so much? I thought that wasn’t even real BRT.
The Silver Lie dug bus tunnels in very difficult areas, with lots of underpinning, waterproofing, avoiding existing foundations, etc.
And it was basically a big waste. :-(
I believe that the River Line was a DBOM project — design build operate maintain. I think that roughly ten years of operating expenses were capitalized into the project cost. If that is true, then you would need to back those costs out to compare to projects where operating costs are not included in the cost estimate.
The same is also true of HBLR. IIRC, both projects underwent the the DBOM process primarily to speed up their funding and thus expedite the construction of the line, hence why HBLR went from MOS-1 to MOS-2 within six years of operation. I believe NJT essentially borrowed against future monies placed into the Transportation Trust Fund which is used by the state of New Jersey to pay for varying transport projects.
BTW, according to the FTA, the as-built capital costs for MOS I was $869.7M and MOS II was $886.5M.
Wait until next decade (or this decade). Here Maryland, our Red Line and Purple Line projects combined is going to be a fortune to spend at the same time to the state. Washington Metrorail’s Silver Line project is definitely going run the U.S. broke since heavy rail is too expensive to build two miles.
17 replies on “The Decade’s Top Hits”
San Juan was left out of the list of top 10 places. …
Only 16 stations of the planned 36 were built. And there were stations planned in the historic downtown district, you know, the few districts that weren’t designed á la Tyson’s Corner.
For its length and technology, Tren Urbano costs are in line with the rest of the US. If only Puerto Rico’s government had finished the system…
Sorry, I made a mistake! San Juan’s up there right now.
It might be helpful to add in a chart showing the most expensive highway projects and airport projects of the last decade as a comparison. For some reason, we are always “wasting” money on “expensive” transit projects but you can’t seem to drive more than 20 miles without entering a highway construction zone. Until we own up to the fact that there is no such thing as a profitable public transportation modality and that the government has spent billions more on the automobile and the airplane than on rail, we aren’t likely to make much progress.
Not that I want to see St. Louis bumped up in the rankings, but a Missouri State Auditor’s report on the Cross County Extension says the final estimated cost was $686 million which is far above the $465 million you have listed.
Any chance you include daily passengers per dollar in your tables? (Passenger-miles/$ would be even better, but much harder to find out.)
I second @Tom West… pretty please? It gives transit a really bad name if most transit projects are boondoggles, and I want to know what was and what wasn’t one.
@Charles D, it might actually not be that bad if you look at highway cost per user or per passenger mile. I don’t think highways are particularly wasteful by these metrics. It’s just that they’re bad policy because they promote a car-dependent society. I think Canada is the perfect counter-example, because socially they are very similar to the states. The two big differences between the states and Canada as far as lifestyle subsidies are a) rebates on mortgage payments and b) federal money to within-city highways. The results are plain to see: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/NorthAmericanPublicTransport.png
It makes a big difference if you look at lump sum capital cost versus annualized capital cost. Lump sum deflates the economic cost of less durable infrastructure and inflates the capital cost of more durable infrastructure.
You’re missing Chicago’s Douglas/54th-Cermak Blue Line reconstruction — a far more thorough project than the recent Brown Line scheme — which took place from 2002 to 2005.
However, even with this included in Chicago transit, the sad fact is that it does not even get Chicago, the third largest metropolitan area in the country, into the top ten list for total investment. Which says something about the pitiable state of things here in Illinois, where no-one is even talking about a balanced budget even though we’re constitutionally required to have one, and where the latest infrastructure plan is more skewed towards roads than the last one.
Do you have an estimate for the total amount of planned light rail projects in the US? I saw the list but a bunch don’t have numbers on them and I’m trying to get a feel for the size of the “proposed” market… thanks!
It’s not a matter of “if” any more, just a matter of when. We will have a move transit oriented America.
Lead graphic (FULL SIZE)
Well, now, THAT was a public service announcement if I ever saw one! Thanks.
Wow didn’t know Yonah did the graphics for the infrastructurist too. Talk about a graphic god! This decade did seem to have a few good hits, let’s hope for a lot more next decade! Also how did the Boston Silver Line cost so much? I thought that wasn’t even real BRT.
The Silver Lie dug bus tunnels in very difficult areas, with lots of underpinning, waterproofing, avoiding existing foundations, etc.
And it was basically a big waste. :-(
I believe that the River Line was a DBOM project — design build operate maintain. I think that roughly ten years of operating expenses were capitalized into the project cost. If that is true, then you would need to back those costs out to compare to projects where operating costs are not included in the cost estimate.
The same is also true of HBLR. IIRC, both projects underwent the the DBOM process primarily to speed up their funding and thus expedite the construction of the line, hence why HBLR went from MOS-1 to MOS-2 within six years of operation. I believe NJT essentially borrowed against future monies placed into the Transportation Trust Fund which is used by the state of New Jersey to pay for varying transport projects.
BTW, according to the FTA, the as-built capital costs for MOS I was $869.7M and MOS II was $886.5M.
Wait until next decade (or this decade). Here Maryland, our Red Line and Purple Line projects combined is going to be a fortune to spend at the same time to the state. Washington Metrorail’s Silver Line project is definitely going run the U.S. broke since heavy rail is too expensive to build two miles.