by ExCon90
For interesting developments on this topic, go to New Jersey Railfan and look at Abandoned Line to Lawrenceville.
Railroad Forums
Moderators: lensovet, Kaback9, nick11a
Rodney Fisk wrote:Farebox recovery ratio would be above 110%. How? By specifying equipment best suited to the service, operated by a rational crew paid market wages, rather than high-cost, over-sized equipment, operated by a traditional crew paid negotiated wages.As long as this proposal is getting rid of the historical Dinky, was BRT considered? Propulsion costs might be higher than LRV, but driver wages, the major cost, will likely be much less, since you can hire basically anyone with a driver license.
loufah wrote:Driver costs are not an issue with light rail. They aren't full-fledged engineers, but simply transit employees, just like bus drivers or subway motormen. The amount of time/cost it takes to train an employee on a trolley or LRV is similar to the amount of time it takes to get a new hire the correct class license they need to operate a bus legally and safely.Rodney Fisk wrote:Farebox recovery ratio would be above 110%. How? By specifying equipment best suited to the service, operated by a rational crew paid market wages, rather than high-cost, over-sized equipment, operated by a traditional crew paid negotiated wages.As long as this proposal is getting rid of the historical Dinky, was BRT considered? Propulsion costs might be higher than LRV, but driver wages, the major cost, will likely be much less, since you can hire basically anyone with a driver license.
The annual operating cost of the Dinky’s service to Princeton Station is $1.8 million, Clark explained. Dinky fares bring in an annual $977,000 in revenue, and the serves serves a little over 1,000 passengers every weekday. However, ridership has remained relatively flat since 2001 while other modes of transportation have seen tremendous growth.
NJ Transit Senior Director John Leon pointed out that the organization’s subsidy of the Dinky service was around 50 percent, while the subsidy on most of NJ Transit’s lines is less than 50 percent.
Rodney Fisk wrote:When I first proposed this concept some years ago, there was no where else on Earth I could point to. Now there are privately operated branches all over Europe and elsewhere, plus whole systems such as BR and JNR. Princeton is very devoted to its Dinky and there is much support for its rational extension into town (where the station was 90 years ago). Indeed if the Dinky were put out for bid, several other groups would enter the competition.Additional comment: >11kV AC to 750V DC (3 substations)<
The key to our ability to provide service at lowest reasonable cost is the particular LRV we have chosen. It has passed the prototype stage and is now in demonstration operation. We would hope to introduce it into service in the U.S.