I think of light rail as the diamond-encrusted Rolex watch of transit. It’s something that doesn’t do as much as a real watch can do. It costs a lot more. And it serves solely to serve the ego of the people who are buying it.

Randal O’Toole, transit expert for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank founded by oil billionaire Charles Koch who along with his brother is fueling a fight against public transit.