Just think… it will cost TriMet $1.49 billion to build the Portland to Milwaukie max line at $204,110,099 per mile . And it will only take 620,833,333 full fare passengers for to pay for it.
According to TriMet's statistics they had 41.2
million passenger trips on max in 2011. So if you continue with the
math it will take TriMet a little over 15 years to pay for the Portland
Milwaukie max line . That is if every one rides just that line, the
ticket machines work, every person pays their fare, and we don't
calculate train and station maintenance, operator wages or any other
operating cost than the cost to build it.
And lets not forget that the 15 year payoff is only if the ticket machines are working and we know that will never happen with the poor leadership of fare machine supervisor Robert "Golden Lips" Wagner. (He got his job by kissing ass and not being a good leader or technician.)
TriMet stupidity… PRICELESS!
Hearing it... You decide.
And lets not forget that the 15 year payoff is only if the ticket machines are working and we know that will never happen with the poor leadership of fare machine supervisor Robert "Golden Lips" Wagner. (He got his job by kissing ass and not being a good leader or technician.)
TriMet stupidity… PRICELESS!
Hearing it... You decide.
7 comments:
Now when you say full fare, remember, nearly all of fares collected are reduced fares....because everyone is a Honored Citizen, so the real stat would just $1 as opposed to full fare of $2.10 or $2.40. More smoke and mirrors.
HB
Now that only covers the construction cost, and assumes that during those 15 years the operating cost is zero, the cost of borrowing that money up front is zero, the administration cost is zero...
Now, let's take the average bus that costs $425,000. At $2.50 a boarding fare it takes 170,000 boardings to cover the capital cost of the bus. At an average of 20 boarding rides per hour, 16 service hours per day, TriMet can achieve 116,800 boarding rides in a year. The bus "pays for itself" in just over a year, with the remaining 11 years of the bus service life left to simply cover the operating expense and maintenance of the bus.
Of course if TriMet used its highly paid Marketing Department to advertise its bus service, and its highly paid Capital Projects Department to build better bus stops, then you could increase the number of boarding rides per hour without adding any additional operating or bus capital expense, and reduce the time it takes to recoup the cost of the vehicle. The 40 foot TriMet bus has about 40 seats and can accomodate another 20-30 standees, depending on the bus.
Doing quick and dirty math, if a bus is standing room only, it's "making a profit" for TriMet in that the bus is covering its operational expenses just on the fares if every single seat on the bus is occupied.
Remember that even with a standing room only bus/train, Trimet is maybe collecting $1 per passanger, of which they do not collect any full fares..its about ridership and how much money the can get from the total number of passangers, in order to get funding from, the city, state and the department of transportation of any and all projects.
HB
Just think… it will cost TriMet $1.49 billion to build the Portland to Milwaukie max line
Wow, didn't get far into that one to find something that was totally bogus. TriMet's share of PMLR is $47.4M (source).
Also, much to my surprise, I checked Erik's "20 boarding rides per hour" figure, and it actually is vaguely correct!
Tax money is tax money is tax money. Just because trimet is using its TAX MONEY at a lower % then the Feds are means nothing.
Anon -
The post stated that TriMet's share was $Z billion dollars, and that it would take X passengers Y years to pay that sum back. That's totally bogus.
Or if that makes rational sense to you, then it would also follow that it takes X passengers Y years to pay off the national debt. Or maybe A passengers B years to pay off the war in Iraq.
Are you counting on passenger revenue to pay for your social security?
I believe that we actually have paid social security tax and that our beloved government has raided that to use for other purposes.
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