Operating Costs
In addition to paying for the bus, transit agencies have to pay to operate the bus. Usually we talk about the operating cost per revenue hour - how much does it cost to drive a bus in service for one hour? Some examples of operating costs include New York City ($172.48 for bus and $171.48 for subway); Los Angeles ($124.45 for bus, $330.62 for the Red Line subway, and $389.99 for the light rail lines); Honolulu ($118.01); Phoenix ($92.21); and Houston ($115.01 for bus and $211.29 for light rail). Learn more about the operating cost differences between buses and light rail transit vehicles .
Of the above costs, a majority is the cost of employee wages and benefits - about 70%. In addition to drivers, transit agencies employ mechanics, supervisors, schedulers, human resource staff, and other administrative employees. Some transit systems attempt to save money by contracting out to private operators, which is discussed more in my three part series about privatization in public transit . Of the above examples, New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston operate service directly while Honolulu and Phoenix contract out all of their service to a private company.
Lest you think that transit costs less to operate in smaller cities, it still costs $108.11 in Lansing, MI but only $69.27 in Bakersfield, CA and around $44 for Beach Cities Transit, which operates three routes in an around the Los Angeles suburb of Redondo Beach. Again, all of these costs can be expected to keep rising at a rate at least equal to inflation every year.
I gotta think we would more like Bakersfield, CA. We are not going to pay the drivers very much. They own the busses now and I know there is the total cost of ownership. In four hours how many miles would a bus go connecting the Squares?
Tie it into sales in the daytime during most months of the year. Are the busses filled on the off season?
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