With the transit calamity the greedy and needy generations in charge have left us with in the news, it is worth looking at how the MTA’s operating costs compare with those of other transit systems throughout the country. The best source for this information is the National Transit Database, which is not without its flaws. Many transit agencies have not been setting aside money for retiree health care and pensions, and that makes their costs look better. New York City Transit is forced to pay interest on debts for past capital costs as an operating expense, which makes it seem costly. Then again, some of NYCT’s operating costs have been shifted to the capital budget, so money could be borrowed to pay for them. Then there is the question of how to measure costs. The National Transit Database provides three measures — cost per vehicle hour, cost per unlinked trip, and cost per passenger mile. Cost per passenger mile favors modes set up to move at rapid speed, such as commuter rail. Cost per trip favors transit systems that are lucky enough to be located in places with high population density, like the NYC subway. The fairest measure of relative cost, if one adjusts for the carrying capacity of the vehicles, is cost per vehicle hour. A crunched down NTD table, with data for all rail and ferry systems but only bus systems in New York State, is attached.
The data shows that the only heavy rail (subway) line less expensive than New York was Chicago, but Chicago wasn’t funding its pension and retiree health care benefits. The State of Illinois has recently issued massive bonds to recapitalize the retiree benefits for that system; none of that shows up on the books of Chicago’s transit system. At $1.40 per trip, the cost has certainly gone up since, with higher debt service and retiree costs. But still it is possible that the New York City Subway, with higher fares and some service cuts, could cover its operating costs after New York City and New York State go broke.
Other parts of the MTA look worse. MetroNorth and the LIRR have high costs relative to New Jersey Transit, although pension under-funding in New Jersey may be the reason. The average cost per passenger is $9.80 on both commuter rail services — the cost per passenger mile is comparable with other commuter rail systems around the country.
New York City Transit buses are also expensive — 50% more expensive per passenger than the subway — even though the MTA maintains the subway right of way while the City of New York maintains the bus right of way. On the other hand, NYCT’s cost per passenger trip is the lowest in the state, even though transit workers get paid more downstate. At $2.10 per trip, however, it is much higher than the revenue per passenger, as seniors citizens, who often ride buses, pay half, and children and people transferring to the subway pay zero.
The Staten Island Ferry’s cost per vehicle hour is high, but these are huge vehicles: the cost per passenger at $4.40 is well below average. The cost per Staten Island Railroad passenger is $7.30.
Remember that for the tax burden, and for other public services such as education, I adjust for the higher cost of living here. These figures are unadjusted. So for the NYC subway at least, the operating costs are certainly not high. Someone hasn’t been paying in enough. Or everyone.