Cry Me a Tide

Norfolk opened its “Tide” low-capacity rail (formerly light rail) in September, 2011, a mere 16 months behind schedule and 60 percent over the original projected cost. Now, Hampton Roads Transit–the agency that serves Norfolk-Newport News-Virginia Beach–says that the line will cost a lot more to run that it expected, so it will have to raise fares for both rail and bus riders.

Opening day for “the Tide.” Flickr photo by Virginia Department of Transportation.

Actually, they knew it was going to cost a lot to run, but they used federal funds to subsidize operations for the first couple of years. Since fares cover only 14 percent of operating costs (and zero percent of maintenance costs), the transit agency is hoping Norfolk, the state, or anyone else will come up with some of the difference. When the region was deciding whether or not to build the rail line, did the agency tell the public that building rail meant raising fares? Probably not.

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“It’s achieved its goal. Now we have to price it properly,” a Norfolk city commissioner and member of the transit agency board told a reporter. But pricing it properly would mean raising fares so much that most people would stop riding it–and then they would have to raise them again. Besides, what is the “goal” that it achieved? Spending a lot of money?

When the line was still under construction, the Antiplanner warned local residents that “the first light-rail line always costs the least; later lines end up being far more expensive.” They’ve proven that correct; even with cost overruns, the first line cost $338 million. A cost estimate for an extension to Virginia Beach comes to $546 million (in 2010 dollars).

No doubt, if it is built, the actual cost will be much more even after adjusting for inflation. The good news, as another city commissioner points out, is that the shortage of funds to operate the just-completed line may mean that the extension is “years away.”