Light Rail in North America - Light Rail in Canada

Light Rail in Canada

In general, Canadian cities have rates of public transit use which are two to three times as high as comparably sized U.S. cities. Census data for 2006 show that 11.0% of Canadians use public transit to commute to work, compared to 4.8% of Americans. This means that transportation planners must allow for higher passenger volumes on Canadian transit systems than American ones.

As a result of lower government funding, Canadian cities have to recover a much higher share of their costs out of operating revenues. This lack of funding may explain why there is resistance to the high capital costs of rail systems and there are only a few light rail systems in Canada.

Read more about this topic:  Light Rail In North America

Famous quotes containing the words light, rail and/or canada:

    Sudden and swift and light as that
    The ties gave,
    And he learned of finalities
    Beside the grave.
    Robert Frost (1874–1963)

    If goodness were only a theory, it were a pity it should be lost to the world. There are a number of things, the idea of which is a clear gain to the mind. Let people, for instance, rail at friendship, genius, freedom, as long as they will—the very names of these despised qualities are better than anything else that could be substituted for them, and embalm even the most envenomed satire against them.
    William Hazlitt (1778–1830)

    I fear that I have not got much to say about Canada, not having seen much; what I got by going to Canada was a cold.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)