Lessons Learned from Light Rail Implementations

This paper is describes the lessons learned from five light rail transit implementations in the not too distant past that could guide communities considering light rail as a solution to growing mobility needs. The lessons related here were gathered as part of a conceptual feasibility study of an light rail transit (LRT) system for a rural county in central California. In the fall of 2005, planners in Tulare County, California, were challenged by their elected leaders to investigate the potential for the implementation of a new transit system to serve the future mobility needs of county residents and to facilitate growth.