Heritage Foundation - Mass Transit: Separating Delusion from Reality

Excerpt: "Minneapolis is another urban area where transit has failed to deliver. The urban area opened a 12-mile light rail line 2004, costing more than $700 million. The line diverted few people from using their cars, and traffic increased after it opened. The new ridership added to the transit system was less than the passenger volume on the one-third mile long I-35W before it collapsed. Of course, no one knows how much of this modest increase was due to the new light rail line and how much was due to exploding gasoline prices. In either event, the results have been negligible. Barely one percent of travel in the Minneapolis area is on transit. It seems that raising transit usage to a mere two percent would be a monumental challenge no matter how much money is spent.”

Minnesota Department of Transportation - Annual Transit Report, 2007

Summary: This annual report provides information on all of the transit systems in Minnesota and shares statistics on ridership, operating expenses, and funding sources. The document also includes fact sheets on the transit providers and the estimated capital costs for the various transit systems. The report brims with facts, figures, and finance information. The “Transit Fact Sheet” section features much of the data on ridership, finances, and infrastructure involved in the system.

Goldwater Institute - Light Rail: Inefficient, Ineffective and Unfair

Excerpt: "Nationwide, the average cost of light rail per passenger-mile is approximately $1.50, almost double the average cost of bus transit per passenger-mile, and five times the average cost of automobile transportation per vehicle-mile."

Independence Institute - Great Rail Disasters: The Impact of Rail Transit on Urban Livability

Excerpt: "No public rail transit system in the United States is currently able to pay for its construction or operation solely through fares collected from riders. Consequently, a key feature of any rail plan is an annual subsidy paid by local taxpayers."