2 days ago
M ass transit proponents point to high gas prices as another reason to green-light the troubled Dulles Rail project. But a new study shows that heavy rail is not the way to go to reduce energy costs. Using data from the U.S. Departments of Energy and Transportation, Cato Institute Senior Fellow Randal O’Toole found that heavy rail systems like Metro — which uses electric power generated by burning oil and coal — actually use more fuel per passenger than most automobiles and produce more greenhouse gases. Factors such as much heavier railcars that run practically empty most of the day, along with energy loss during transmission from generating sources, conspire to counteract rail’s “inherent efficiency advantage,” O’Toole said. In fact, the study determined, no rail transit system in the country is more energy-efficient per passenger mile than a hybrid Toyota Prius. “Electrically-powered rail lines are greenhouse friendly only in regions that use alternatives to fossil fuels to generate half or more of their electricity,” O’Toole found. And Metro is definitely not one of them.