Rail is going to cockaroach lots of bus riders because lots of bus lines will be re-routed to the rail line, and current bus riders will be forced to transfer to the rail.  Rail is estimated to increase mass transit ridership by only about 30%, but that's only an estimate that could be very inaccurate because there's no data on which to base estimates.  In addition, there's no plan to fund the operational cost of rail, which is estimated to be $140 million annually.  If fares are increased above existing bus fares, that will have an effect of depressing ridership.    The fact is that the existing bus system is funded.  The operational cost of rail is not funded.  Rail advocates are afraid to propose funding mechanisms because they will inevitably require tax increases.