STOP Comparing Costs Per Rider to Car Costs

There's a meme going back to Ronald Reagan, comparing the cost per rider of an urban rail construction project with the purchase price of a car. This video goes over why you shouldn't do this. Cost per rider is a good way of judging urban rail projects when used responsibly, but it's not comparable to the purchase of a depreciating car.

[@AllenGraetz]

Just like freeways, railbeds need to be rebuilt every 20-40 years.

[@alonlevy8622]

Yes, but the tunnels and viaducts don't and they're what's driving the cost; renewal costs are an order of magnitude less than initial construction costs, or 1.5 orders of magnitude for the Hanover-Würzburg example. www.deutschebahn.com/de/presse/presse-regional/pr-hamburg-de/aktuell/presseinformationen-regional/Modernisierung-der-Superlative-fuer-eine-starke-Schiene-Schnellfahrstrecke-Hannover-Wuerzburg-fuer-850-Millionen-Euro-rundum-erneuert-12907814 has it at 850M€; the construction of the line in the 1980s cost, in 2023 prices, 13,640M€.