Moreover, the bus riders will be more comfortable. When trains are full, more than half of light‐rail riders have to stand, but when buses are full more than two thirds can be comfortably seated.
Light rail is a particularly poor choice for Pinellas County, where census data indicate that only about 6,000 people out of more than 400,000 workers commute to work by transit. Spending $1.6 billion or more on a light‐rail line is not going to significantly increase that number.
PSTA’s own numbers indicate that, compared with bus‐rapid transit, getting one person out of their car and onto PSTA’s proposed light‐rail line for one trip will cost nearly $57. That means adding one more transit commuter would cost more than $25,000 a year.
It would cost less to give every new transit commuter a new Toyota Prius every year for the next 30 years than to build the proposed light‐rail line.
PSTA has a history of poor management. Between 1991 and 2005, it spent millions of dollars increasing transit service by 46 percent, yet it attracted virtually no new riders.
Instead, the result was emptier buses as average number of riders on PSTA’s buses, which have an average of 38 seats, declined from 10.1 to 5.7 people per bus, little more than half the national average.
Between 2008 and 2012, the recession forced PSTA to cut bus service by 8 percent. Yet ridership grew by 17 percent, raising the average of bus riders to 8.0, still well under the national average. This means there is plenty of room on PSTA buses for more riders without increasing service.
Now PSTA wants voters to reward it for its failures by changing from a property tax to a sales tax and more than doubling its local tax revenue. In exchange, it promises to run more empty buses around the county and build a tax‐draining light‐rail line.
One problem with this proposal is that sales taxes decline even more in recessions than property taxes. This would leave PSTA even more strapped for funds in the next economic downturn, especially if a large share of its revenue was dedicated to paying an inflexible mortgage.
A second problem is that PSTA assumes spending more money means more riders. In fact, many cities that have built rail transit lines have actually lost transit riders as the high cost of rail forced transit agencies to cut bus service.
Finally, PSTA’s proposal to build light rail reveals a callous disregard for taxpayers and the need to make the most effective use of available resources. PSTA’s own analysis reveals that light rail is so wasteful that, under Federal Transit Administration rules that were in effect until just recently, it would not be eligible for federal support.
PSTA needs to go back to the drawing board to prepare a new transit plan for Pinellas County. By directing available resources to areas where they will do the most good, this new plan could actually increase ridership without a tax increase.