NET COSTS OF PEAK AND OFFPEAK TRANSIT TRIPS TAKEN NATIONWIDE BY MODE

Abstract

Estimates are made of the net costs of trips taken during peak and offpeak periods on bus, subway, and commuter rail systems in the United States, both separately and averaged over all three of these transit modes. Net costs are defined as the sum of annual operating and maintenance expenses and annualized capital costs minus passenger revenues. Various cost and revenue allocation factors and related assumptions were used to estimate net costs using actual data for transit systems providing bus, subway, and commuter rail service. The results indicate that transit trips taken during peak periods, expressed on either a per-trip or a per-passenger-mile basis, have consistently higher net costs than trips taken during offpeak periods. Nationwide, the average net cost for a transit trip taken in the peak period during 1983 is estimated at $1.74, compared with an estimate of $1.20 for a trip taken in the offpeak. This difference occurs primarily because a relatively higher proportion of transit capital expenses is attributable to providing for the peak periods. Although passenger revenues are proportionally high in the peak, they are not of sufficient magnitude to result in lower net costs during this period. When costs and revenues are expressed on a per-passenger-mile basis, which normalizes for trips of different lengths, the disparity in net costs by mode and time of day is reduced.

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