On Wednesday, March 26, 2003, at 06:58 AM, Bruce Gaarder wrote:
He concluded that the marginal social cost (MSC) in cents per passenger mile
of travelling:
by gas auto is 5 to 28.4 (6.9);
My '86 VW Golf Diesel has managed 23 cents a mile, so even with all 5 seats full it could barely match your numbers on the highway. A new VW diesel or Toyota hybrid would cost over twice as much as the $8,000 my diesel cost new in 1986, so I doubt either could beat 25 cents a mile. My '84 BMW motorcycle with sidecar has cost 14 cents a mile to run, but it only seats 3...
by electric auto it might be (not many to base upon) 8.6 to 24.8 (16.8);
Most of the electrics were leased out by the manufacturers a few years back. By now most of those leases have run out, the cars turned in, and probably sent to the crusher.
by bus it is 33 to 57 (40);
Operating costs for a transit bus are better stated in dollars per hour than cents per mile. None the less, a standard 40 foot transit bus in freeway service would carry at least 40 passengers for about $2/mile, or about 5 cents a passenger.
by light rail it is 27 to 109;
Light rail numbers are hard to come by. If you figure in the 100 year life of the track and 50 year life of the rolling stock they're not that bad.
by heavy rail it is 17 to 53.
Again, numbers are hard to come by. For example, the Empire Builder cost $30 dollars or so a mile to operate. But it can carry over 400 passengers, a diner and lounge cars, crew dorm, and sleeping accomodations for many of the passengers, and several truckloads of mail and express freight. Reducing legroom to transit bus standards and substituting coaches for the sleepers, diner, dorm, and baggage car would transform the Empire Builder into a 1000 passenger commuter rail train. Given that the mail and express business is equivelent to half a dozen semis at $1.50 a mile each, the cost of transporting passengers on this "heavy rail" train is about $20 a mile, or 2 cents per passenger mile. No hybrid, diesel car, motorcycle, or bus can beat that, although if the passengers are in no great hurry a barge might be cheaper, at least going downstream.
So again Bruce, please let us in on your secrets for such thrifty motoring. Just how do you do it- perhaps with a jumper wire and a cold chisel and freon? Tap into a pipeline? Make your own licence tabs and insurance cards with the computer?
Pray tell, enquiring minds want to know...
hanging on in Hawthorne,Dyna Sluyter
Bruce Gaarder Highland Park Saint Paul [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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