Rapid Transit - Operation

Operation

Rapid transit is used in cities, agglomerations, and metropolitan areas to transport large numbers of people at high frequency. The extent of the rapid transit system varies greatly between cities, with several transport strategies: in larger metropolitan areas the underground system may extend only to the limits of the inner city, or to its inner ring of suburbs with trains making frequent station stops. The outer suburbs may then be reached by a separate commuter rail network, where more widely spaced stations allow higher speeds. These trains are often more expensive and less frequent, and in some cities operate only during rush hour periods. They may or may not satisfy the criteria for an urban rapid transit system, and in some cases the differences between urban and suburban rapid transit systems are not clear. See also the Variations and Comparison sections below.

Rapid transit systems are often supplemented by other systems, either buses, trams or commuter rail. This combination of transit modes serves to offset certain limitations of rapid transit, such as limited stops and long walking distances within station infrastructure between outside access points and the vehicle itself, (sometimes involving long vertical distances if the station is in a deep-level tunnel or on a high overpass). Given these limitations, combined with the high density nature of many urban environments, short trips are often more easily performed on trams or buses. Many cities have chosen to operate a tram system in the city core with the metro expanding beyond it, although many cities (especially outside of Europe) later converted their surface systems from trams to buses in the 1950s and 60s. Another common strategy is to use a bus or tram feeder system to transport people to rapid transit stops, freeing the suburban or feeder system from the requirement to drive all the way to the city centre. Surface route terminals connected directly to rapid transit stations, provided especially in newer systems with single, consolidated transit agencies turn rapid transit stations into neighbourhood centres - nodes of activity that can blossom into satellite business districts of their own. This scheme promotes transit ridership in lower-density outlying neighbourhoods that do not have the population density or sufficient attractions to support their own rapid transit lines by offering a connection to business districts that saves users from driving in big city traffic conditions, and reduces congestion in urban centres by consolidating passengers into dedicated high-frequency, high-capacity corridors, instead of being reliant on city centre streets, which are often among the oldest in their respective cities and were often never designed to accommodate modern traffic volumes.

In Toronto, over 50% of its rapid transit stations have bus and streetcar terminals within the fare-paid zone, providing a connection without requiring proof-of-payment, and speeding boarding by allowing passengers to board through all doors. Several subway stations, especially current or former termini for their respective lines, have developed significant satellite commercial districts of their own.

Rapid transit systems have high fixed costs. Most systems are publicly owned, by either local governments, transit authorities or national governments. Investments are often financed by taxation, rather than by passengers, but must often compete with funding for roads. The systems may be operated by the owner or by a private company through a public service obligation. The owners of the systems often also own the connecting bus or rail systems, or are members of the local transport association, allowing for free transfers between modes. Almost all systems operate at a deficit, requiring fare revenue, advertising and subsidies to cover costs. The farebox recovery ratio, a ratio of ticket income to operating costs, is often used to assess operational profitability, with some systems including Hong Kong's MTR Corporation, and Taipei achieving recovery ratios of well over 100%. This ignores both heavy capital costs incurred in building the system, which are often subsidized with soft loans and whose servicing is excluded from calculations of profitability, as well as ancillary revenue such as income from real estate portfolios. Some metros, including Hong Kong, are even financed by the sale of land whose value has been increased by the building of the system.