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As has been pointed out, what is meant by "working" is a key to determining whether light rail is working.   If working means that the trains are dependable, safe, economical, etc., the systems that I have ridden (DART, Houston, San Diego, San Francisco, and Charlotte) meet the test. Exceeding the expected number of riders, especially on start-up, is not a good metric.  Anyone familiar with forecasting knows that it is easy to make the numbers look good.  Just low ball the estimates, and they will be exceeded. Having lived in Dallas for more than 31 years, I am most familiar with the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail lines.  I campaigned for the DART Referendum, which made the light rail system possible.  At the time light rail seemed to be the best solution for putting the rapid in public transit in Dallas.  In retrospect, had it been available, Rapid Bus Technology might have been a better solution in some parts of Dallas, e.g. Oak Cliff, South Dallas, etc.  It would have been significantly less expensive than light rail.  But it would not have been politically acceptable. The DART light rail lines require an average subsidy of more than $3 per passenger or more than double the fare box revenue.  They other systems require similar subsidies, although San Diego covers more of its operating costs out of the fare box than any of the other systems reviewed.  Significant subsidies are required for most if not all transit systems in the U.S.  And this is probably true for transit systems around the world. Light rail systems have required significant federal construction subsidies.  The proponents of the DART light rail system started out shunning federal subsidies, but they quickly realized that only the feds have the resources required to build the system.  The costs have been considerably higher than anticipated, with some of the recent construction exceeding the budgeted costs by more than $1 billion.  Most of the systems have exceeded their construction budgets.  The U.S. Transit Administration, in fact, has become alarmed at the cost of the systems and has been urging transit systems to look to alternatives.  For a nation where federal, state, and local government debt exceeds $17.3 trillion or 122.6 per cent of GDP, paying attention to project costs seems prudent.      Less than three to five per cent of the residents in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex use any form of public transit.  The car is king.  And it is likely to remain so, even if the cost of fuel exceeds $4 a gallon, which it will in time.  When it does most people will turn to alternative fuel vehicles.  Most Texans, at least, will not use public transit.  They don't want to give up the comfort of their car (truck) to share a seat with someone who has not had a bath in a week and insists on shouting into a cell phone.  Relatively few public transit passengers' fits this description, but it is the impression that most Texans have, I think.  In any case, public transit does not have a good reputation in Texas, and most people are not going to use it. Proponents of light rail claim that it has revitalized their downtown or attracted real estate developments.  This is true to a certain extent along the DART lines.  What is not said, however, is the most dynamic in-town housing and commercial development in Dallas has popped up miles away from the light rail lines.  The best example is the Uptown area of Dallas.  It is the place for young professionals, who have been attracted to the apartments and condos in the area.  There is no empirical evidence that the developments that have taken place along the rail lines would not have occurred somewhere in the city sans the light rail lines.  After all, in a growing city like Dallas or others, people need a place to live.
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