LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT CAPITAL COST STUDY. FINAL REPORT

The purpose of the fixed guideway capital cost study is to develop a capital cost database of actual unit costs to construct and procure the various assets necessary to operate mass transit busway and rail systems. It is the first in a series of studies to examine the actual costs of major transit capital investments. This report presents the results of the study to document actual construction and developmental costs for 5 light rail transit (LRT) projects constructed in the United States during the 1980s: Portland, 1986; Sacramento, 1987; San Jose, 1987; Los Angeles,1990 (service to Long Beach); and Pittsburgh, 1988 (reopened service). The study examines unit cost characteristics that could be important to the planning of similar systems, such as the distribution of costs by component categories, consistent unit cost ranges, and commonalities of component types and capacity requirements for an LRT system. The operating authorities of these 5 systems supplied the basic component cost data. Later they examined the translation of their cost data into the reporting structure for interpretational consistency. The resulting component cost information is intended to assist agencies in the planning and engineering stages to better prepare capital cost estimates for proposed new systems or lines. The Capital Cost Database for each of the 5 LRT systems is presented in the Appendix.

• Corporate Authors:

  Booz-Allen and Hamilton, Incorporated

  Transportation Consulting Division, 4330 East-West Highway
  Bethesda, MD  United States  20814

  Urban Mass Transportation Administration

  400 7th Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Schneck, D C
  • Amodei, R M
  • Ferreri, M G
• Publication Date: 1991-4-5

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: v.p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Busways; Capital costs; Capital investments; Construction; Cost estimating; Costs; Databases; Development; Estimates; Guideways; Light rail transit
• Uncontrolled Terms: Comparative analysis; Construction costs
• Old TRIS Terms: Cost elements; Umta section 8
• Subject Areas: Construction; Finance; Public Transportation; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00608369
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: UMTA-MD-08-7001-91-1
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: May 31 2001 12:00AM