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Choose the Best City Transit Upgrade
A city has a one-time budget of 120 million dollars for one major public transit project and must choose exactly one of the following options.
Option A: Bus Rapid Transit corridor
- Cost: 95 million
- Estimated daily riders after 3 years: 70,000
- Average travel time reduction for affected riders: 12 minutes per trip
- Construction disruption: moderate for 18 months
- Annual operating cost increase: 6 million
- Serves many lower-income neighborhoods directly
- Can be expanded later at moderate cost
Option B: Light rail extension
- Cost: 120 million
- Estimated daily riders after 3 years: 55,000
- Average travel time reduction for affected riders: 18 minutes per trip
- Construction disruption: high for 36 months
- Annual operating cost increase: 9 million
- Expected to stimulate more private development near stations
- Lower emissions per passenger than diesel buses
Option C: Citywide bus network redesign plus signal priority
- Cost: 60 million
- Estimated daily riders after 3 years: 85,000
- Average travel time reduction for affected riders: 7 minutes per trip
- Construction disruption: low for 9 months
- Annual operating cost increase: 4 million
- Benefits are spread broadly but less dramatically in any one corridor
- Requires strong public communication to avoid confusion during rollout
Additional context:
- The city council says its priorities, in order, are: 1) improve mobility for the most residents, 2) support equity, 3) minimize disruption to small businesses during construction, 4) encourage long-term environmental sustainability.
- The mayor strongly prefers visible results before the next election in 2 years.
- The city is not allowed to raise new taxes for operating costs in the next 5 years.
Write an analysis recommending one option. Weigh the tradeoffs, address the council priorities and political constraint, and explain why the rejected options are less suitable. If you think the best choice still has serious risks, identify them and suggest how the city should mitigate them.
