Passenger Trains > Is the NJNY PATH the least efficient railroad in US?

Bloomberg offers the view that PATH (the commuter line which connects Newark to World Trade and Hoboken to the 33rd street station may be the --victim-- of high subsidies. High subsidies encourage inefficiency, the argument goes. Combine that with an open window into bridge and tunnel tolls, and you have a serious problem.

>>The cost to run PATH is also greater than at New Jersey Transit, Philadelphia’s subway and commuter railroad, and a train line connecting Philadelphia and Camden County, New Jersey, according to the National Transit Database. PATH -- which connects Manhattan with Newark, Harrison, Hoboken and Jersey City in New Jersey -- spent $575.67 per hour of service in 2012, the most recent year for which data are available. That compares with $199.17 for New York’s subways.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-22/path-train-less-efficient-than-subways-as-cars-cover-loss.html

The Port Authority throws everything and the kitchen sink into PATH's operating subsidies, including depreciation on office buildings atop its tracks, like at Journal Square.

It's off-peak service is now running at 50 year record low levels.

It's also a very small, in terms of routes and mileage, operation, so its overhead has to be disproportionate.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> The Port Authority throws everything and the
> kitchen sink into PATH's operating subsidies,
> including depreciation on office buildings atop
> its tracks, like at Journal Square.
>
> It's off-peak service is now running at 50 year
> record low levels.

In my experience, the off peak service is somewhat unreliable, and very crowded. Esp on the weekends, when they're always doing maintenance and going on 40 min headways or change trains in several places etc. All the NY folks with their shopping carts coming back from the Newport area supermarkets crowd.

From all accounts, they pay extremely well, though.

Costs per hour is not a measure of efficiency. If that were the case, a wage cut would mean PATH would be more efficient even if their service performance stayed the same.
This story is amateurish sensationalism without any real meat, in my opinion. A real study would take more a lot more effort than the reporter gave and would probably require some technical and transit management expertise.

News reporting used to be a craft and a skill. Now its heavily, a bunch of kids looking to make a headline.

RRTom Wrote:
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> Costs per hour is not a measure of efficiency. If
> that were the case, a wage cut would mean PATH
> would be more efficient even if their service
> performance stayed the same.
> This story is amateurish sensationalism without
> any real meat, in my opinion. A real study would
> take more a lot more effort than the reporter gave
> and would probably require some technical and
> transit management expertise.

Actually that would be one definition of efficiency. Also, You could get more production for the same amount of hours but in that environment it is not likely.

The interesting thing to me is this came from the NYT and is a page out of George Will, subsidies only beget more subsidies.

Once you disconnect what you charge for something from what it costs the result will always be the case of ever increasing
subsidies.

Bob

Last Thursday night I wanted to ride PATH from 14th Street into Jersey City Newport. It was about 11:15 PM. Turns out the station was closed for cleaning (a bit early for doing that in NYC I would think), so I walked down to 9th Street. 45 minutes later, the train finally came. Once again, pretty sparse service for that time of night I would think. Of course, the train was packed full and the platform pretty crowded after waiting that long.

PATH runs for commuters, and despises anyone else traveling at any other time to be a big bother, and toll revenue foregone.