Transit here in Pittsburgh was privately run until the early 1960’s.
The county was forced to step in and take it over because of a spate of sudden bankruptcies. NONE of the transit companies were able to operate at a profit.
And I don’t see any reason for that to have changed.
Light rail never produces. The famous BART system in San Francisco went into service in 1972. It has never turned a profit. While I’m tossing a dig it’s way, it’s 78% return on expenses is the best around.
I should confess something at this point. Bart returns far less on it’s outlay, that this indicates. A lot of these transit systems don’t break down their light rail, because it’s return on expense is so poor. They want to keep it popular, so they do their best the hide how poorly light rail’s finances are.
I believe the above included BART, bus service, and the trolly system in San Francisco.
Check out the chart down about a page and a half.
You will probably be somewhat amazed at how bad it is, even if you thought you knew how bad it was.
Los Angeles gets 27% on the dollar back in fees charged.
Enjoy paying your gasoline taxes folks. The riders of these mess transit systems certainly appreciate it. (Ha! Don’t kid yourself!)
Also Senior Citizens rode free (I don’t know what sort of hoops they had to jump through to get a ride free card) - one explanation I heard was that they would be less inclined to drive if they could ride public transit.