NTRAC Final Study - Nebraska Department of Roads - State of ...

CHAPTER 5 – COMMUTER RAIL PLAN
FARE BOX RECOVERY AND REQUIRED SUBSIDY
The calculations of operating costs and revenue allow for the calculation of fare box recovery,
which is the proportion of operating costs covered by fare revenue. The fare box recovery ratio
is a common measure of transit operations to judge the relative “profitability” of services.
(Transit services rarely are profitable per se; the question posed by this measure is really, how
close to profitable are they? As the measure can be changed one way or another by changes in
fares, fare box recovery is not a measure of efficiency.) These ratios vary widely. For example,
in the initial years of The Coaster commute rail service in San Diego County, fare box recovery
was about 20 percent of operating costs; this ratio increased to about 30 percent in 2001. In
2001, Metra in Chicago generated a 46 percent fare box recovery, and New Jersey Transit
enjoyed a fare box recovery ratio of 56 percent. On the other hand, Shore Line East in southern
Connecticut has a 14 percent fare box recovery. The ratios for 14 commuter rail operations in
the United States for 2001 appear in Table 5-7 below. These systems produced an average fare
box recovery ratio of 44 percent.
Table 5-7: 2001 Financial Performance of Various U.S. Commuter Rail Services
Operating
Service
Service Area
Fare Box
Recovery
Cost per
Train Mile
Revenue per
Train Mile
Subsidy per
Train Mile
Caltrain Bay Area 54% $48.62 $26.25 $22.37
Long Island Railroad New York 47% 103.95 48.86 55.09
MARC Baltimore 42% 54.67 22.96 31.71
MBTA Boston 49% 47.53 23.29 24.24
Metra Chicago 46% 64.98 29.89 35.09
Metrolink Los Angeles 48% 40.41 19.40 21.01
Metro North NY-CT 59% 79.28 46.78 32.50
New Jersey Transit Northern NJ 56% 53.42 29.92 23.50
The Coaster San Diego 30% 56.90 17.07 39.83
SEPTA Philadelphia 41% 30.52 12.51 18.01
Shore Line East Southern CT 14% 37.94 5.31 32.63
Trinity Rail Express Dallas-Fort Worth 47% 42.80 20.12 22.68
Tri-Rail Miami 27% 36.14 9.76 26.38
Virginia Rail Express Washington DC 49% 59.28 29.05 30.23
Average 44% $54.03 $24.37 $29.66
Source: Wilbur Smith Associates
On the high side, a commuter rail service operating between Lincoln and Omaha should generate
a fare box recovery ratio of about 22 percent, which is about what The Coaster did in 1996. In
the same way also, this figure can be expected to grow over time as riders are attracted to the
train. The low side fare box recovery ratio is about 16 percent, but this should grow as well.
While fare box recovery for the Lincoln-Omaha service is on the lower side of the range
experienced nationally, another key measure shows the service near the average experienced by
the 14 other services. This measure is the subsidy per train mile, i.e. operating costs less fare
revenue stated on a train mile basis. Per Table 5-8, the average for the 14 systems is about $30.
In 2010, assuming high side ridership and revenue, the Lincoln-Omaha service will be close to
that, as shown in Table 5-8 below. The reasons seem to be 1) passengers riding comparatively
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NEBRASKA TRANSIT CORRIDORS STUDY
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WILBUR SMITH ASSOCIATES