• Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    I love public transport. I agree we should have more funding for it.

    But the thing with cars is that the biggest cost is given to the one using it. (Buying, maintaining and fueling a car)

    The infrastructure cost is quite low compared to the same amount of people using public transport.

    It is kind of like building and maintaining train lines, without having to buy, maintain and power the trains riding on it.

    • Cyclohexane@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      The overall cost on society still comes out better. In fact, cheaper, especially in the long run.

    • Nouveau_Burnswick@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The infrastructure cost is quite low compared to the same amount of people using public transport.

      France’s TGV costs €65,000 per km/year to maintain. That’s ~$43.5/mi/yr.

      Obviously roads have a lot of variables, but for a network wide cost, the US Interstate costs $28,020 per mile per year.

      The TVG has 35.7 million passenger km per year (~22.3 mi). And total infra maintenance is €32.5 millon (without rolling stock). So €0.91/km. With all non-cap costs it’s €3.47/km

      I’m not sure how many passengers miles travelled / total miles the US Interstate has, but I’d wager it works out to less than TVG operating costs. Non cap costs here would include all the personal vehicles, their gas, and driver time cost.

      I don’t accept your assumption without better data.