| Rail Transitions 2001-1 |
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News Briefs
Transit Vote Results Mixed In Austin, TX, a referendum to build a light rail line was narrowly defeated after an aggressive negative campaign by the highway lobby. The margin was little more than 2000 votes out of 250, 838 votes cast. In Kansas City, MO, voters turned down a light rail plan promoted by a civic activist Clay Chastain However, the city is currently developing its own LRT proposal. The Chastain proposal was criticized as being confusing and poorly defined. The city is expected to unveil its proposal later this year. In New Jersey, voters approved a change in the state constitution dedicating a a portion of sales and fuel taxes to the Transportation Trust Fund. The trust fund includes a balance of transit and highway funding. In Salt Lake City, UT, voters approved a one-quarter percent sales tax to fund a regional commuter rail service from Ogden to Salt Lake City, the addition of Sunday and Holiday bus and LRT service, and possible extensions to the LRT system. In San Jose, CA, a 30-year extension of the half-cent sales tax transportation was approved. The Measure A funds will pay the local share of two new LRT lines, the electrification of the San Jose-San Francisco Caltrain commuter railroad, and a possible extension of BART to San Jose. In Washington State, an initiative that would have dedicated 90% of all state transportation funds to road building and maintenance was soundly defeated. The measure would have drastically reduced funding transit in the Seattle region. New Jersey LRT Line Grows In related news, the NJ Transit board of directors has approved Phase 2 of the Hudson-Bergen line, which includes a western extension to 22nd Street in Bayonne, and a northern extension from Hoboken Terminal through Jersey City and Weehawken to an intermodal station in North Bergen. The extensions, which would be funded by the state Transportation Trust Fund and the Federal Transit Administration, are expected to be completed in 2005.
New Newark Line Gets Green Light Construction on the first segment is expected to begin this Spring, and the first segment to begin operation by 2005. The project will extend from the Newark City Subway terminal at Penn Station to Broad Street Street Station, which is served by NJ Transit's Morris & Essex commuter rail line. It will include 5 stations, including one at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. It will improve transit access from Newark's north side and suburbs to the office complexes and academic institutions around Penn Station. The City of Newark's downtown master plan integrates the transit project with traffic calming and pedestrian corridors around the Penn Station, Broad Street, and Washington Park stops. The new branch is expected eventually to accommodate 13,300 weekday boardings and draw 6,400 new riders to the system. The second segment, also one mile, would extend the light rail from Penn Station to Camp St. in downtown Newark. The third segment would continue the line 7 more miles to the south to downtown Newark. The final segment would include stops at Newark Airport, Elizabeth's waterfront and the Jersey Gardens Mall. NJ Transit estimates that daily ridership for the completed project could top 25,000 by 2015. Denver Line Ridership Higher Than Expected The number of riders is more than six times the number who rode express buses on the same route before the line's opening in July. The RTD is putting spare light-rail cars in service to ease the rush-hour crunch. The line's current two-car trains are often full after they leave the Mineral Avenue terminal, leaving little room for other passengers boarding at other stations. RTD will begin running as many three-car trains as possible to add capacity. The agency's 31-car fleet includes four spares that will be used during early morning and afternoon rush hours. The agency is also considering running three-car trains to service Colorado Rockies games when they coincide with afternoon rush hour. RTD has six new light rail cars on order for the southwest line and the Central Platte Valley spur, which is slated to open fall 2001. The transit agency acknowledged it may have to purchase more cars to meet the demand. Construction on another project, the Southeast Corridor, is expected to start this year and last until 2008. The Southeast line will run along I-25 from the junction with the current LRT line at I-25/Broadway to Lincoln Avenue in Douglas County. Albany Studies Commuter Rail Routes The Capital District Transportation Committee, a regional planning agency, has given the city $50,000 to study redeveloping the warehouse into a commuter rail station and new home for the downtown bus depot. The city is folding the funds into a larger, $200,000 to $300,000 redevelopment study of its entire north waterfront district. The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA- the area's transit authority) is tasked with studying the commuter rail project. The commuter rail project is currently bogged down with a controversy over which route the initial demonstration project should take. Former Congressman Gerald Solomon had secured $5 million in 1998 for a pilot project with the expectation that the pilot project would run north along the Delaware & Hudson to Mechanicville. Rail passenger advocates raised concern that the slow speed of the D&H route (which has a large number of grade crossings and track designed for slower speeds). Schenectady County leaders balked, claiming the route through Schenectady was a quicker, safer one for passengers. Officials argued that Amtrak already uses that track going to-and-from the Rensselaer passenger station and the Schenectady, and that track improvement improvements for this line are already budgeted as part of the Albany-NYC high-speed rail program. Upgrading the Delaware and Hudson tracks to Mechanicville could cost $30 million. An additional $10 million for the project was included in the rejected $3.8 billion transportation bond act. It is not clear if the new state transportation funding initiatives will include funding for the project, although political support for the project is quite high. The CDTA's report detailing what it will take to hold a two-year demonstration project is expected to be finished within several months. With issues including negotiations with host railroads and determining the route to be used, it could be a couple of years before commuter rail service is launched. Dallas Accelerates Light Rail Expansion The bonding will be used by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) to build rail lines to Carrollton, Farmers Branch, north Irving, south Dallas, Fair Park, Pleasant Grove, Rowlett and Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport over a 15-year span. This accelerates the construction schedule about five years from earlier plans. The measure does not raise tax rates above the current 1 percent transit sales tax, but rather allows for 30-year bonding instead of the current "pay as you go" financing. The proposal will help DART build about 49 more miles of light rail, along with buying new buses and constructing more than 100 new miles of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Dallas-Richland Hills Commuter Rail Begins The line originates at Dallas Union Station, where it interfaces with the DART LRT line, and operates along the former Rock Island railroad line. The line will be extended to downtown Fort Worth by October 2001, making the line 34-mile long. The current service level is seventeen trains per day. Ridership during the line's first week of expansion reached about 6,000 per day, levels not expected for at least a year. Parking lots have overflowed, and the commuters rail cars are packed during peak hours. The popularity is forcing transit officials to expand parking lots at the Richland Hills station and CentrePort/DFW Airport stations. The T is awaiting the overhaul of 13 commuter rail cars and locomotives that previously used by GO Transit in Toronto. The new trains will allow the T to expand service to meet the demand. Dallas to Study 2nd Commuter Rail Route A new commuter rail station in North Richland Hills would help advance the “new urbanism” projects such as North Richland Hills Town Center, which would emphasize rail access to 5,000 homes, 5,000 jobs and a bevy of recreational opportunities. “It just makes absolute sense in order to relieve congestion and better manage the ozone levels that you take people out of their cars and put them on non-polluting rail systems,” said Bill Gietema, principal for Arcadia Realty, the town center developer. DART Spurs Development Plans More than 1,100 apartments and lofts have been built around two current DART rail stations at Mockingbird Lane and at the old Sears building south of downtown. Restaurants, retail, and theaters are also planned or under construction. This type of development will soon extend to Richardson, Plano, Irving and Farmers Branch along with the LRT extensions. In Richardson, the city is building a performing arts center near a major convention center and hotel. Residential units are also planned for the site, near the future Campbell Road light-rail station. Farmers Branch plans to sell some parcels of city owned land to a developer to build 300 to 500 condominium units. Irving officials also plan similar developments. Michael Morris, the transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments says that Smart Growth developments such as these are taking pressure off of outer suburban areas. "We're focusing on the way we develop land to be able to take advantage of existing infrastructure," said Roger Snoble, DART president and executive director. "Instead of a family having two or three cars, it might have one car and still be able to do everything." Orlando Re-examines Light Rail A separate proposal to run commuter trains from Volusia County to Osceola County has also been developed. The LRT study is examining an interface with this commuter rail line. Vermont Commuter Rail Line Opens The station in Charlotte currently consists of a temporary wooden platform and gravel parking lot, but permanent facilities should be completed over the winter. South Burlington currently does not have a station because an agreement could not be reached over a location. DC Completes Original Metro Plan MetroRail now carries 630,000 passengers per weekday with a total of 1.1 Billion passenger-miles per year. With the new extension, ridership is expected to increase to 650,000 per weekday and passenger-miles are expected to increase to 1.2 Billion. On the 2nd day of operations, 19,500 riders flocked to the 5 new stations, where 18,000 had been predicted. Rochester Transit Figures Lag Nation The Common Good Planning Center (CGPC) report compares Rochester to the benchmark cities on 48 separate measures. The report was intended to gather, but not interpret, statistics. The CGPC, a non-profit group founded to promote livable communities and a thriving Rochester region, intends the report to spark discussion. In measures of creativity, productivity, wealth, and affordability, the Rochester region ranks well. In measures of population growth, job growth and business establishment, Rochester lags the benchmark cities. The transit statistics measured are:
The 28 benchmark cities were Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Buffalo, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus,Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Grand Rapids, Hartford, Indianapolis, Lexington (KY), Louisville, Madison, Milwaukee, Minn-St. Paul, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Portland (Ore), Providence, Richmond, St. Louis, Seattle, Syracuse, and Tampa. Transit Ridership Continues to Climb Amtrak Sets All-Time Records for Ridership
and Revenue Ridership for the year topped last year's figures by one million passengers while ticket revenue climbed 10 percent, or more than $100 million over the previous year's total of $1.003 billion. This is the fourth consecutive year of increases in both ridership and ticket revenues. Amtrak attributes some of the increase to its new Satisfaction Guarantee and commitment to service quality. “This is just the beginning of a fundamental change at Amtrak,” said Amtrak Board Chairman Tommy Thompson. “This year's record- breaking performance is going to continue into next year as we redouble our commitment to put our guests at the center of everything we do and back that with our one-of-a-kind satisfaction guarantee.” In addition to the new Satisfaction Guarantee, Amtrak attributes the ridership increase to travelers' frustrations over higher gas prices, increased highway congestion, and airline delays and cancellations. Ridership on the NYC-Buffalo Empire Corridor rose 4.6% in FY2000 to 1,320,537. Empire Corridor ridership has grown 50% since 1996. Amtrak Initiates Acela Express HSR The current service is only one round trip per day. Amtrak hopes to add two more Acela Express round trips by the end of February. As more trainsets are delivered and complete acceptance testing, service is expected to increase to 19 weekday round trips per day. The North East Corridor is also served by slightly slower Acela Regional trains, which make additional station stops. Acela express service has now attracted 11,000 riders, 12% more than expected, and accumulated $1.25 million in ticket sales. Washington-NYC travel time is 2 hours and 43 minutes, and NYC-Boston travel time is 3 hours and 18 minutes.
Federal Transit Administration Announces Grants The appropriations includes funding for new projects in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Alaska, New York City, Los Angeles, Hoboken, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose San Juan (Puerto Rico), Seattle, St. Louis, and Minneapolis. Pittsburgh to Proceed with LRT Overhaul, Extensions One extension will continue the “T” light rail line from the Gateway Center station via a new tunnel under the Allegheny River to the “North Shore” area. The extension will serve the new Steelers stadium, the Carnegie Science Center and a new parking garage. The second extension will branch from the Steel Plaza station to the convention center, with an underground station opposite the Greyhound bus terminal. The Stage II light rail upgrade project will rebuild the mothballed Overbrook trolley line and improve the Library branch. A total of 12 miles of trolley line will be rebuilt to modern light rail standards, single track portions will be double-tracked, and 2,400 park-and-ride spaces will be added. The 55 light rail vehicles in Pittsburgh's current fleet will be overhauled, and 28 new vehicles will be purchased. Ground Breaking for Minneapolis LRT In a news release, Governor Ventura said: “This moment has been waiting to happen for more than 30 years. It is happening today because the public demanded more transportation choices and because so many have worked hard and kept their sights focused. Now the reality of the Hiawatha line will make the Twin Cities and Minnesota more competitive in the 21st century.” Sabo said: “Throughout the country light-rail transit has spurred development, played a key role in reducing congestion and helped peoples' quality of life. Today as we break ground on the Hiawatha Line, the Twin Cities joins a growing list of metropolitan areas that benefit from key smart-growth initiatives like light-rail transit.” U.S. Conference of Mayors Urges Investment
in Rail Rransit The U.S. Conference of Mayors also released a nationwide poll showing that a vast majority of residents (82%) support funding for rail as an option to driving. Eighty percent said that they supported building light rail and commuter rail systems. Sixty-eight percent reducing traffic congestion was a convincing reason for spending public funds on rail transit. Sixty-six percent said that they do not believe that building roads will relieve traffic congestion. Sixty-nine percent said that they favor creating high-speed intercity rail lines. California's Governor Proposes Major Rail Investment The new funds, above and beyond current commitments, are:
Pataki Budget Includes Little for Rail No funding was included for intercity passenger rail, however, Governor Pataki has proposed a reduction in freight railroad property tax. The state's current high property tax levels on freight railroads is a major concern to CSX, the host railroad to Amtrak in New York State. CSX has stated that a reduction in property taxes is a prerequisite to cooperation on high speed passenger rail improvements. The failed Transportation Bond Act was criticized by RRTC and other groups for its failure to include funding for high speed rail and upstate transit innovations (other than the Albany-Saratoga Springs commuter rail demonstration described in this newsletter). Los Angeles Starts Eastside LRT Project
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©2001 The Rochester Rail Transit Committee, Inc. All rights
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