Urban rail transit systems are sold as an antidote for countless ills: congestion, pollution and more. However, a recent research paper – “On the Social Desirability of Urban Rail Systems” – finds such claims to be marketing snake oil. Published in the Sept. 2007 Journal of Urban Economics, the paper was written by Brookings Institution transportation policy expert Clifford Winston and University of California - Berkeley economist Vikram Maheshri. For a synopsis of that paper read the review, “The Train Drain,” by Robert W. Poole, Jr., director of transportation studies at the Reason Foundation.

Poole notes, overall Winston and Maheshri assert, “rail transit is erroneously believed by the public to be socially desirable, because ‘supporters have sold [rail systems] as an antidote to the social costs associated with automobile travel, in spite of strong evidence to the contrary.’ They conclude that, in fact, rail transit is ‘an increasing drain on social welfare.’"