Why did you resurrect this thread? It was stupid the first time you posted it. I live in Dallas, have ridden the new trains to Plano, and can verify that they are packed, parking lots are full, and ridership has exceeded projections. Your title and conclusions were completely wrong, and displayed either an ignorance of the facts or willing dishonesty. For now I'll chose to believe the former. Just because light-rail is a dumb idea in many places, doesn't mean that it isn't appropriate in some instances. For Dallas it was a wise investment.
I live in Dallas, have ridden the new trains to Plano, and can verify that they are packed, parking lots are full, Packed trains at rush hour and full parking lots says nothing of a system's success. Some of the worst and most heavily subsidized systems in the nation meet both of those criteria.
and ridership has exceeded projections.
Only because DART INTENTIONALLY underestimated those projections so they wouldn't look bad when the stats came out.
For Dallas it was a wise investment.
Okay then - tell me. How much does it bring in from ticket sales annually? How much does it cost to operate annually? If the latter exceeds the former, which I suspect to be the case, then it is a government-subsidized wasteful money hole.