(1) It is the worst of two public transportation technologies; it has the inflexibility of rail, and the speed of buses. It also has low capacity.
(2) The capital cost alone per passenger mile is very high.
(3) In practice, light rail systems cannibalize bus systems, and so lower overall transit use.
My guru on this was John Kain. A short article of his on the topic is: John F. Kain, The Use of Straw Men in the Economic Evaluation of Rail Transport Projects, The American Economic Review, Vol. 82, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Hundred and Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association (May, 1992), pp. 487-493. You need a subscription to get to it.
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