In a recent Standard Examiner Letter To the Editor advocating the building of a commuter rail system, Richard Gallison claims that:

“Long ago there was a news item published in this paper that stated that cities with a good commuter transportation had 32 percent less traffic on their highways.”

Umm.. Yeah. Long ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away?

The reality is that most rail systems carry only roughly 2% of the traffic in an area. Indeed, only a handful of large, population-dense cities have rail systems handling more than 10% of commuters (Boston, Chicago, New York, Washington, Philadelphia). Furthermore, of those who would ride a new rail system, not all would be former car commuters. A rather large portion would be former bus riders.