News arrived about the proposed Bus Rapid Transit route between Oakland and Downtown yesterday, with some questions still to be resolved.  The benefits touted are quicker travel and economic revitalization of the areas the BRT would traverse.  As noted in a press release last year from Oakland CA’s BRT project “Bus Rapid Transit offers all the benefits of a light rail train system without the exorbitant cost of building light rail. In the U.S., construction of a typical light rail system averages $70 million per mile or more. By contrast, the BRT’s average construction cost is $25 million per mile which includes new pavement.”

Right now the price tag for Pittsburgh’s proposal ranges from $200 million to $240 million, which based on the press release would mean about 8 miles of BRT.  An article on the proposal noted the money “would be spent on building transit stations with amenities, buying the buses and installing the infrastructure”.

It is worth noting that in the last five fiscal years, based on the Federal Transit Administration’s annual reports on funding recommendations, only five BRT projects (Oakland (CA), San Francisco, Nashville, Provo, and Albuquerque) out of 19 have topped the $100 million mark.  The Cleveland project which was funded prior to FY13, which Pittsburgh officials visited and were very high on, was close to $200 million.

And though local officials feel that the federal government will cover 50% of the cost, it is also worth noting that BRT projects receiving a share of 5309 new starts funding in some cases received more than that (as high as 80%) but also in some cases closer to 42 to 43%, and one as low as 12%.  On the North Shore Connector, the federal/state/local split was 80%/17%/3% on a final price tag of $517 million.  The state/local share on that project totaled $102 million: with a 50% federal contribution on a $200-$240 million BRT the state local dollar total would be about the same.