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Transport Subsidies Lead to Bad Decisions

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[quote user="Tulyar15"][quote user="blue streak 1"] Tulyar, Samantha:You may have hit upon the financing of operating deficits of commuter RRs. If the additional property tax (due to higher valuation) that is collected around a RR station was all directed to support the operating deficits of that operation that might solve the operating deficit/ It would not solve the capital problem.  [/quote] I think you'll find in the case of the Victoria Undergroun line in London, that the increase in property tax revenue was so great it repaid the cost of building the line several times over! With regard to a general point of congestion, given the different characteristics of American and European cities, it's probably harder to get people to swithc to public transport in American than Europe because American cities tend to be more spread out and have evolved along a grid iron pattern of roads. In Britain we tried to copy this in the 1960s with the new town of Milton Keynes, which is generally regarded as a bit of a planning disaster. European cities being more compact, they lend themselves more readily to public transport. As long ago as the 1960's the authorities in Britain recognised that it would be impracticable for people to commute into London by car because there was just not enough room for every one to park.[/quote]As I mentioned in a previous post, there has been an increase in property development along the Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail system.  However, there is no evidence that the developments would not have occurred if the rail line had not been built.  That is to say, there is every likelihood, given the growth of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, that the developments would have occurred anyway, in which case there would have been an equal run-up in county wide property values and tax receipts.  In the U.S. property in most states is appraised by county appraisal districts.  The rates, which are the other variable in the property tax equation, are set by local taxing authorities, e.g. county, city, school district, etc. In a growth environment property development will occur irrespective of whether a light rail line is built, and property tax receipts will increase.  In a stagnate or declining environment incremental increases in development, e.g. residential, retail, commercial, etc. alongside a new rail line will be offset by abandoned properties in other areas of the appraisal district.  The upshot, assuming the tax rate is constant, would be no increase in tax receipts.    I was a strong supporter of the DART referendum.  I canvassed neighborhoods and manned telephone banks to help bring it about.  But 20 years later I have some reservations about whether light rail, especially in the southwestern United States, where cities are spread out, unlike European cities, is cost effective.    The cost of the Dallas light rail system to date is more than $3 billion.  Moreover, the expansion program, which will total $1.8 billion, is more than $1 billion over budget.  What started out as a project to be funded with local sales tax receipts became a project heavily dependent on an infusion of federal monies.  Riders on light rail in Dallas get a nice handout.  In 2007, for example, they received an average subsidy of $3.18 per ride.  For a commuter this works out to $6.36 a day or approximately $1,653 a year.  This is for a system that attracts less than three per cent of the Metroplex adult population.  By comparison, the 110,000 users of the HOV lanes, nearly double the number of light rail riders, received a daily subsidy of 14 cents per passenger.  With the completion of the system expansion in 2013, it is estimated that the average subsidy per light rail rider will increase significantly.    Could you point me to any hard data showing how much the property taxes in the taxing jurisdictions served by the Victoria line were increased as a result of its build out?  Also, how much did the new rail line cost, and what per cent of the cost is recovered through the fare box as opposed to payments from government sources?
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