POTENTIAL FOR LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT: FEDERAL PERSPECTIVE

In those areas where public transportation needs are urgent, light rail transit is a good candidate for early development. The basic technology for light rail transit is in place--it has been in use for years. In fact, worldwide light rail transit is the most extensively used fixed guideway transit mode. As a result, the extensive, expensive, and time-consuming research, development, and demonstration process necessary for the introduction of new transit modes or technology is simply not needed for the practical application of light rail transit. But this is only one of the features that makes this transit mode so attractive. Light rail transit also has incomparable flexibility. It can be adapted to a wide variety of geographic and topographic conditions, financial capabilities, rights-of-way, and existing transit infrastructures. Moreover, light rail transit can be developed incrementally; it can be expanded as demand and the ability to pay for it are increased. This incremental feature of light rail transit is especially important in view of the new public sector financial realities. Finally, light rail transit is simply much less costly than conventional rail transit. It does not have the overall high performance and capacity requirements of conventional rapid transit; consequently, construction and operating costs are lower. This lower cost makes light rail transit economically justifiable in urban areas where conventional rapid transit is not feasible because of cost or demand factors. (Author)