America's Most Expensive Commutes

[thelakelander]

Matt Woolsey, 08.08.07
www.forbes.com

In Pictures: America's Most Expensive Commutes

It's often said that the trip to work can kill you. But if you live in Houston, what really takes a beating is your wallet.

There, the average commuter spends 20.9% of his annual household costs on getting to work.

He's not alone. Cleveland, Detroit, Tampa, Fla., Kansas City, Mo., and Cincinnati also landed on our list of the country's biggest cities where transportation eats up a fifth or more of household costs, according to a study by the Surface Transportation Policy Partnership (STPP), a nonprofit research firm, which draws on 2003 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the most recent available. The study looked at annual transit costs such as gas and tolls, and public transit fare, as well as money spent on car payments and maintenance.

Robert Puentes, a metropolitan policy fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., says, "In Houston, the cost of transportation is the No. 1 household expense, above shelter."

But that's in part because Houstonians spend a lower than average proportion of their take-home pay on housing.

And that's the trade-off.

The percent of household income Houstonians spend on transportation may be the highest in the country, but when combined with the amount residents spend on housing expenses, Houston's aggregate cost ranks them 14th, with the composite cost equaling 52% of household income.

Transit costs are high because Houston has few policies hindering sprawl, which in turn allows for cheaper housing. In San Francisco, which is much more dense and has more prohibitive zoning laws than Houston, residents rank 22nd in commute costs but fifth in the combination of housing and transportation.

Worst hit by the composite ranking were the residents of Tampa and Miami where housing and transportation costs were the most out of sync with the average household's income levels. Tampa residents spent 57.7%, while Miami denizens spent 57.5% of their take home pay on the two.

Number Crunching

The study also found a very high correlation between cities that had extensive train systems and those in which households spent the least on transportation costs. Four of the five cheapest commutes were rated as having large or extensive rail systems, and of the five most expensive commutes, only Cleveland was rated above having a small or non-existent rail system, according to STPP.

Besides saving commuters money on parking, tolls and gas, rail systems are often seen as a way to manage sprawl as train stations create central and desirable points for living and working.

It's important to understand, though, that the least costly commutes tend to be accompanied by high housing costs. New York and San Francisco were among the cheapest in the country, at two and seven respectively and have some of the highest housing expenses and least affordable housing markets in the nation.

Traffic In Texas

That's what's happening in Dallas. It and Houston have 15% of the country's fastest-growing suburbs between them. Dallas is investing $4.86 billion in expanding its commuter rail system, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), which services area suburbs and neighboring Fort Worth. The job is expected to be completed in 2013 and local economists say the city should reap $8.1 billion in increased economic activity over the life of the project. Houston, on the other hand, has mainly focused on road construction and expansion, which isn't expected to pay off as well.

"To say DART Rail's impact has been substantial for the Dallas region's economy would be an understatement," says Bernard Weinstein an economist at the University of North Texas Center for Economic Development. "It's a trend that's impossible to miss; the local business community certainly hasn't."

http://www.forbes.com/2007/08/07/commute-housing-expensive-forbeslife-cx_mw_0807realestate.html

[Steve]

Dallas should be inveszting in express buses - they should pay off more

Nice find

[thelakelander]

Dallas has come a long way.  About a year ago, I spent a week in that town and got around all over the metro by the light rail, streetcar and commuter rail lines.  We saved a ton on that vacation by not having to rent a car, pay for the gas, downtown parking or waste time sitting in traffic congestion.

Btw, we did ride a bus.  It was a free shuttle bus that took us from the airport terminal to the closest Trinity Express commuter rail station, which was about a mile away.  From that point, the tracks took us everywhere we wanted to go.

[Jason]

Great find Lake.  Even more ammo against the JTA's BRT proposal.

[thelakelander]

Here are some examples of transit oriented developments in Dallas.  Keep in mind rail has only been up and running in this community for about 10 years.

Uptown Dallas - McKinney Avenue Trolley line


West Village Shopping Center - McKinney Avenue Trolley line




Victory Park (home of the world's first digital art gallery) - has both a DART light rail and Trinity commuter rail station.

[copperfiend]

Great shots. I spent some time in Dallas last spring. Cool city. Progressive.

[Ocklawaha]

"Buses are VERY expensive to build, they cost far more then rail because they MUST run in subways... at least the one I saw did." (example of highway lobby proof logic, in use, in Jacksonville)

It's clear that Peyton and JTA don't really seem to know the difference in Light Rail and Commuter Rail. One of the things we can do is quit repeating the JTA/Highway Lobby line that "Light Rail is the expensive alternative," or "More expensive then BRT." This is simply false. The numbers for Light Rail are "fished" out of all of the national rail systems by people like JTA to prove BRT is cheap. It's cheap all right, falls apart in about 8 years and has no more attraction then any other bus. It's flexible too, meaning anyone with deep pockets for development will avoid "In JTA we trust," while they gamble 500 MIL on a new mixed use tower. Life span of BRT before major new investment is required is going to be about 8-12 years. OUCH! Really CHEAP!

Light rail CAN include:

Any small, lighter weight vehicles on railroad tracks. IE: streetcars, historical trolley cars, modern streetcars, Interurban cars, modern Light Rail Vehicles, and light weight LRV/DMU sets. Just because it's light rail doesn't mean it's expensive. The Memphis system is clicking away at a cost of about 3 million a mile for construction.
Certainly far less then BRT. So where do the high numbers come from? If you MUST prove a point, then you can prove ANYTHING with the right numbers. If your mayor is related to a big oil company, then it's easy to see where your transit authority is going to place their interests. To prove it? All one needs to do is find LRT systems that also double as subways. Easy, tell the local Fish Wrapper, "Look how much we'll save you... see how smart we are? We just can't afford Light Rail at those costs, so knock a couple million off and we'll give you a "SUPER BUS SYSTEM". This is smoke and mirrors and everytime one of us says light rail costs more then bus or even commuter rail, we play their game. Remember, Memphis IS Light Rail, so is Little Rock, Ft. Smith, Ft. Collins, San Diego, Albuquerque and Tampa. The future is not riding on the highways folks, it's electric and it's less expensive then BRT. By the way, if we try and "prove" LRT is less then BRT, can I use the numbers from "The Big Dig" in Boston and apply it to BRT? Why not? BRT uses it!  


Too bad it's so slow, I might have gotten a better photo!

Lastly, I think I'm going to pop the next time I hear how slow streetcars are... STREETCARS or TROLLEYS ARE NOT SLOW! This is the SAME basic vehicle that just set the World speed records in France and Japan. The high speed rail of these countries, is almost identical to Light Rail, it's all in the application. Back in the 1920's Trolleys were setting land speed records. Now imagine trying to pull this off on Independent or Water Street downtown... Oh, of course, you can only go as fast as the traffic allows, so you can build your vehicle with a similar top speed. Extend this same line on private track to Gateway Plaza or Orange Park and watch a simple change make it sprint at 60mph or more. It's all in the order, and application.  

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

Ock, you've got a point there.  I for one, will never say again that light rail costs more than BRT.  There's so many applications out there, it all depends on what you use for a particular system.  It would be like saying a house costs more than a townhouse or condo.  But if that house was in Riverside and the condo was in South Beach, that statement would not be true.  All in all, the largest variables in the overall cost of a system is right-of-way and the investment in infrastructure.  If those things are already or somewhat in place, your system is going to cost millions less than one that requires additional land, subway tunnels or multiple bridges.

[gatorback]

At the grand opening of the Leander Station June 2, U.S. Rep. John Carter talked about Leander's explosive growth and the need for public transportation.  (You can get an affordable house in Leander.)   "As we now plan to keep the qualify of life we have to think outside the box," he said.  "I would like to thank Capital Metro for doing just that." 

The well-lighted facility is conveniently located at the center of Leander's transit-oriented development (TOD) plan at 183 and 2242.  It includes seven covered bays to protect passengers from the weather, plenty of parking spaces, a "kiss and ride" lane for easy drop-offs and an exercise trail. (Hey, what about a dog park?  It's not far away!) Once completed, the TOD will have housing, retail and business develolpment all within walking distance of the new station, creating a place to "live, work and play", an idea being mimicked everywhere else on the planet except Jacksonville.  Go J-Ville!   

[Ocklawaha]

Hey I had to leave Miami for just those reasons... This just made too much sense! My wife's cousin from Medellin, was in Coral Gables (South of Miami) and came up to Coral Springs (North of Ft. Lauderdale) to see us. She rode the Tri-Rail DMU Train (Orlando's new equipment that is in service on Tri-Rail until Central Florida is ready for it) to Deerfield Beach. This was SO nice, just like you describe, lots of parking, Spanish Mission style station, clean restrooms, airconditioned waiting room, kiss and ride, lighting, everything you could want.

I got so comfortable after she made a few trips that I was talking railroad to the crew members there. The last time I saw her off, the train was really taking on a bunch of folks. Several older couples had heavy baggage headed for the Ft. Lauderdale Airport Station. As the train pulled in the engineer leaned out of his window and looked back for the conductors signal. The conductor leaned out of the door in the end of the last car to watch and signal the engineer. I got Juli onboard and then helped the elder couple with their bags. I looked up to see I was the last one there, as I loaded the last bag on the train. I had a timetable in my hand and by reflex, waived a "highball" to the crew! Before I realized what I had done, the engineer whistled off, the conductor gave me the all clear, and they were history! I turned and though to myself, this is just too much for me, damn, I need a bus ride to get real again...

Yes, Jimmy Buffet fans, I do have a "Cousin in Miami!"

Ocklawaha