February 28, 2019 - Bill Barker - Fellow, Institute of Transportation Engineers and American Institute of Certified Planners -

Cities across Texas, the U.S. and world continue to open and expand rail transit systems. Why would any city want to do this?

There is more than one answer. First, steel-wheel-on-steel-rail technology has been successfully applied to urban transit for nearly 200 years. Starting with horse-drawn streetcars, steel rails proved to be a faster, quieter and more comfortable ride than the omnibus on city streets.





It takes very little energy to roll a steel wheel on a steel rail. For every $10 spent on gasoline for an automobile, $1.10 is used to overcome the rolling resistance of the rubber tires on the pavement. If the car had steel wheels running on a steel rail, less than 6 cents, possibly as low as 2 cents, would be spent overcoming the rolling resistance. If you want to save energy and money (as well as reduce the related pollution), rail technology is the way to go.

Read more: https://www.mysanantonio.com/opinion/commentary/article/S-A-largest-U-S-city-without-rail-transit-why-13653644.php