| Within the city limits alone, Houston population is 2.3 million people at a density of 3830 people per square mile. NYC is 8.5 million people at a density of 28356 people per square mile (ref [1]). MTA New York City transit has an operating budget of $10.9 billion, annual ridership 2.4 billion rides, 6407 subway cars, 4451 buses (ref [2], second chart only, although technically I believe one could include other infrastructure). NYC claims to achieve "four out of five" rush hour commuters on public transit (ref [2], 4th paragraph from the top). So let me hand wave and suggest the annual cost for equivalent success in Houston can be calculated by scaling NYC costs based on population difference (ratio of overall trips) and density difference (ratio of infrastructure needed for dense enough coverage of routes and stops). I fully expect some debate whether this model is really appropriate but it's what I came up with on a single cup of coffee. Which means annual cost for Houston transit just within the city limits would be: C = $10.9 bn * (2.3 / 8.5 millions of people) * (28356 / 3830 people per sq mi) C = $21.8 bn per year That's 2x the cost of the NYC system supporting about 1/4 of the population, or roughly 8 times the cost per capita. Per capita cost for Houston residents is $21.8 bn / 2.3 million = $9,478. Impossible for a minimum wage worker. I'm excluding the cost of establishing the infrastructure in the first place. There would need to be large bond measures to raise the cash to build out the stops, install rails, buy the buses and subway cars, and so forth. Paying back interest on those bonds would be an additional per capita cost whether levied as tax on individuals, on the fares, or on businesses. Note I ignored the wider metro areas in both cities for the same reasons as given in ref [1]. Presumably the least dense and therefore most problematic costs occur in the outlying regions and are not captured here. [1] http://www.newgeography.com/content/005538-visualizing-houst... [2] http://web.mta.info/mta/network.htm |