Light Rail Transit: System Design for Cost-Effectiveness

Effective use of capital in the design of light rail rights-of-way, track, stations, signal systems, vehicles, and maintenance facilities is a pressing need; wider understanding of this need is vital if light rail is to be seriously considered as a mass transit mode. The anticipated decreased availability of federal capital funds underscores the need to achieve greater results with state and local tax dollars. The TRB Committee on Light Rail Transit decided that there was need for another LRT conference and that it should be structured around the theme of cost-effectiveness. This volume contains many papers that were solicited by the TRB Committee on Light Rail Transit to address specific topics from a particular perspective. Other papers were received in response to a general call for papers on the fairly narrow conference theme. The result is a well-structured coverage of the cost-effectiveness aspects of LRT design, including systems, construction, operation, and vehicles. (Author)