INCREMENTAL COST IS LESS THAN FULL COST. Madison's Isthmus offers criticisms of the return of the On! Wisconsin train service.

Most of us, of course, just get in our cars and drive east on I-94. You can leave when you want, arrive in an hour and a half, and use five or six gallons of gas (round trip) for an out-of-pocket cost of about $15.

An alternative is Badger Bus. There are a variety of departure points and routes, some that get to Milwaukee in less than two hours. There are also multiple departure times, and, while prices vary, the round trip will likely cost between $35 and $40.

The proposed "high speed" rail option is a bit of a misnomer, since the train will initially average 58 mph. The line would be comparable to Badger Bus in terms of trips per day and travel times, although the train would have fewer pickup points and less route flexibility. The price is also higher, with a round-trip ticket expected to cost about $66.

Wider seats, perhaps a bar car, station stops where the people are, apparently don't matter. It's when the article attempts to explain why the prices differ that it gets stuck.

But these ticket prices cover only a fraction of the costs. Construction funds will be provided by the federal government and ultimately recovered from federal taxpayers. Construction expenses are projected to be $810 million but could top $1 billion, since nearly every commuter rail project ends up costing more than expected.

Once the line is built, operating costs fall on state and local governments. Revenues collected from ticket sales will not cover operating expenses even under optimistic ridership forecasts. Operating the line will therefore add to the state's existing budget deficit, already at record levels. This will crowd out spending on other public services and spur state tax increases.

The overall (federal and state) government subsidy will also be huge — more than $100 per passenger per ride, over and above the ticket price. Badger Bus, in contrast, is a nonsubsidized private enterprise.

The columnist does note, in the bull session that follows, that Badger Bus does in fact receive a subsidy in the form of the tax-supported Interstate 94, jammed with all those cars whose drivers incur out-of-pocket costs of $15 or so while imposing delay costs that probably exceed $66 on drivers behind them, including the Badger Bus.

The bus company's website is not forthcoming about its schedules and fares. Once upon a time, the buses had a memory-pattern schedule, with 90 minute running times and 150 minute base headway. The 3 pm Friday departure from Madison often ran in six or seven sections, with the last section making the intermediate stops, near the interstate but not necessarily at thickly settled interchanges, nor at the interchanges that developed into Wisconsin's version of edge cities. We'll see if retail businesses and offices set up near the new Airport and Sturtevant stations.