Picking up the Tab

Abstract

The emergence of light rail transit and other fixed-facility operations (including electric trolleybus and bus rapid transit) on public thorough-fares has grown substantially over the past 30 years. Few transit agencies, however, have sufficient internal policies to govern the disruption of fixed-facility operations. Further, few transit agencies have the experience that would allow them to abstract, for example, line loss from propulsion power. This paper establishes current practices in the United States and uses a case study example. The example illustrates that effective cost accounting can positively offset the disruption in service.