Another question is, why is light rail so expensive? There has been (hopelessly futile) discussion here in Colorado Springs about putting in a streetcar system. You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world to do it--the street configurations and grades are the same as they were 100 years ago when we had such a system, the automobile traffic density is low. All you would have to do is buy some pre-assembled track sections and drop them onto the pavement. Add some overhead wires and you're done. Why does it cost $15M to put in a mile of track on an existing grade?