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No mass transit system makes a profit, at least the last time I talked to someone who was heavily involved in the numbers. They require a subsidy of, what was

No mass transit system makes a profit, at least the last time I talked to someone who was heavily involved in the numbers. They require a subsidy of, what was it, 70%? That doesn’t make it wrong, but it has to be considered.

mikeash 8y ago
No road system makes a profit either, but very few people seriously discuss getting government out of the road business.
M2Ys4U 8y ago
The Metrolink in Manchester - the UK's largest light rail network - is entirely funded by fares and receives no operational subsidy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink
sseveran 8y ago
MTR in Hong Kong was making $2B per year in profit. The model they use is largely the same one being tried in Florida where real estate projects are integrated with the rail system. http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/30/news/hong-kong-mtr-subway-property/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/30/news/hong-kong-mtr-subway-pr...
rostigerpudel 8y ago
That is wrong. The Munich public transport system has been turning a profit for at least 15 years out of the last 17. For the two missing years, I did not find numbers or sources, but it's probably the same. Pretty sure there are others that run successfully. BTW only road systems where you pay for every mile you drive (see e.g. motorways in France, Spain, Italy) turn a profit. All others are, basically, just a waste of taxpayers money ;-) It's usually failed policies and nincompompous administration that make public transport systems fail. Sources: >https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mvg.de%2Fueber%2Fpresse-print%2Fpressemeldungen%2F2016%2F2016-04-29-aufsichtsrat-verabschiedet-jahresabschluss.html&edit-text= https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pre... >https://www.swm.de/dam/swm/dokumente/unternehmen/swm/geschaeftsbericht.pdf https://www.swm.de/dam/swm/dokumente/unternehmen/swm/geschae...

mikeash 8y ago

No road system makes a profit either, but very few people seriously discuss getting government out of the road business.

M2Ys4U 8y ago

The Metrolink in Manchester - the UK's largest light rail network - is entirely funded by fares and receives no operational subsidy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Metrolink

sseveran 8y ago

MTR in Hong Kong was making $2B per year in profit. The model they use is largely the same one being tried in Florida where real estate projects are integrated with the rail system. http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/30/news/hong-kong-mtr-subway-property/index.html http://money.cnn.com/2015/03/30/news/hong-kong-mtr-subway-pr...

rostigerpudel 8y ago

That is wrong. The Munich public transport system has been turning a profit for at least 15 years out of the last 17. For the two missing years, I did not find numbers or sources, but it's probably the same. Pretty sure there are others that run successfully. BTW only road systems where you pay for every mile you drive (see e.g. motorways in France, Spain, Italy) turn a profit. All others are, basically, just a waste of taxpayers money ;-) It's usually failed policies and nincompompous administration that make public transport systems fail. Sources: >https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mvg.de%2Fueber%2Fpresse-print%2Fpressemeldungen%2F2016%2F2016-04-29-aufsichtsrat-verabschiedet-jahresabschluss.html&edit-text= https://translate.google.de/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&pre... >https://www.swm.de/dam/swm/dokumente/unternehmen/swm/geschaeftsbericht.pdf https://www.swm.de/dam/swm/dokumente/unternehmen/swm/geschae...