Transit News

Here are a few news items that I just couldn't wait till Monday to post...

California: Caltrain to Electrify

Charlotte: Streetcar to Wait Until 2019

Hawaii: Transit Bill Signed

Muni Gets an F

I love transit, but this weekend when trying to get from the Mission to North Beach I had an awful time on what should be a rapid transit corridor. Aside from my subway under Geary, I'm going to say that Van Ness needs one too. This is the 101 corridor from LA to Oregon and it's always packed. Muni wants to turn it into a BRT corridor but once again that will just make people mad. Making a 6 Lane Urban thoroughfare into 4 lanes is a good idea most of the time. And people don't go fast on this street because there are too many stoplights.

But in this instance, taking away a lane for buses is A. A bad idea and B. A bad idea. Why? Because making a major road like this go to 4 lanes is like a snowstorm blocking planes at the airport in Denver. No one will get anywhere. If there was a subway, it would have taken me 35 minutes instead of an hour to get where i was going. 25 minutes is a HUGE time savings and worth it to the folks who want to get to the north side of town out of bus traffic. So instead of planning this long term, it should be done now, with the Geary Subway.

But we have no money says MUNI. There is tons of money out there. As referenced in the article above, Don Shoup (king of parking), states that parking in downtown San Francisco is too cheap. I have never driven downtown at any time other than 11pm or Sunday afternoon but the reason is I don't want to have to worry about parking. It's so much easier and faster to just take the train in the subway. But apparently if I did find a space downtown on the street it would be cheap cheap cheap.

While San Francisco has taken steps to make transit friendly and parking harder to come by it comes as no surprise that they still cater to the automobile. It is so entrenched in our society that even the most dense metropolis' can't get away from it. So if we can't get away from it, lets make it as expensive as possible. Another funding source that is being discussed is closing off downtown from anything but Taxi's, buses and rail. This is a great idea and it would raise money for transit, specifically the subways that are in planning but need funding.

Possible Capital Funding Sources #1

As a part of this blog, I'd like to toss out possible transit funding sources. These ideas are meant to spur ideas and thoughts about how to pay for the transit infrastructure that cities desperately need. Included in this discussion will be ways that the Feds can better fund and operate the New Starts program to support these other funding sources.

So today i'd like to throw out the first idea. A developer parking in lieu fee. Along major urban corridors in the United States, developers are facing a harsh reality. Parking spaces are required at suburban ratios along corridors that should be served by urban transit. There should be an exchange where parking spaces can be traded for transit money. So what would happen is a parking space costs a developer a certain amount of money, say 20,000 dollars in a very urban area. Usually a certain amount of spaces are required. So what if half of the spaces were required could be traded away for a half price solution. So if 50 spaces are required, then 25 of them could be traded for 50% of the cost meaning the developer builds 25 spaces but then pays $10,000 for each space he doesn't build into a capital fund for transit expansion. This single project would raise $250,000 for transit projects in the city and allow the developer to use the savings to build more housing or make the housing available more affordable. This solution has never been used to my knowledge in this fashion but its about time cities start looking at better ways to fund capital projects that will propel the transit space race forward.

Salt Lake City to Portland: Our TOD is Better than Yours

Salt Lake City shows that even a conservative town can be a haven for good transit. As one of the success stories of the transit revolution, the city basked in the glow of exponentially higher than expected ridership and the success of the 2002 Winter Olympics. So it comes as no surprise that this city which completed its first light rail line in 1999 would be a major competitor in the transit space race. Not only are they just competitors, they are taunting the other teams.

Case in point yesterday's article in the Salt Lake City Tribune. The article, about the Depot TOD to be envisioned around a Trax expansion to the intermodal hub showed that the city is pulling no punches in an effort to show everyone who they think is boss. Van Turner, Chairman of the Salt Lake City Council, had this to say.

Parks would take the place of backyards, and galleries, clubs, grocery stores, coffeehouses, restaurants and other retail would create the kind of neighborhoods cities such as Portland, Ore., have built along with their transit systems. City officials have visited Portland many times for inspiration, Turner said. The Depot District, he said, will someday draw the same kind of attention. "These old railroad yards are where we can build the city we want to be," he said. "Portland may be the model now, but soon we'll be the model."

Portland are you gonna take that? I'm not sure if Salt Lake is going to surpass Portland's transit system though. Portland has 4 operational light rail lines and one that's about to be under construction, a commuter rail line under construction, and an operational streetcar. There are also 3 possible streetcar extensions and another planned light rail expansion...not to mention a possible extension over the bridge into Washington.

Compare this to Salt Lake City which has two Trax Lines and a commuter rail line under construction and a small Trax expansion under construction. They just passed a sales tax for four more Trax expansions (Mid Jordan, West Valley, Airport, Draper) and a commuter rail expansion so they are up and coming. All of this and a planned streetcar could put them up with Portland. It's a very exciting time and I hope they do build a better TOD, perhaps even gloat about it. Because if they do it will just make other cities want to be that much better...which is in the best interest of all of us.

Twin Cities Want In the TSR

The Twin Cities was well known for it's street railways but not always for the best reasons. So it comes as no surprise that the only other metro region to have a regional government besides Portland would want to put together a light rail system. The most recent light rail success story in the United States turns out to be Minneapolis' Hiawatha Line. So successful is the line, that is has already surpassed it's projections for the year 2020 by 6,000+ riders a day. That's astonishing and it gets better.

This one success spurred the legislature to create a dedicated funding source for operating revenue for Metro Transit. Previously they were allocating funding every year, moving with the whim of the political winds. Now that they have an operating funding source, they need a capital funding source to match with Federal New Starts money for expansion projects.

Today Hennepin County realized as did all the other counties that this was necessary to build a real transit network. While the governor opposes the sales tax, he's going to have to get onto the idea quickly. The region can't afford to be left behind in the TSR. It's doing well so far and has a bit of a head start over places like Phoenix, Seattle and Charlotte but it's going to take more than the Hiawatha line to attracts jobs and the creative class.

Even if the governor doesn't agree, the mayor has been looking at a streetcar network.

A Real Hero

This is what a real hero does. He helps people he doesn't even know and then does not ask for anything in return. I think we need a few more folks like that. The world would be a better place.

(The Other) Subway to the Sea

With Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa planning the subway to the sea on Wilshire in Los Angeles, I think Mayor Newsom should start his own program in San Francisco. One of most ridden bus lines in the United States, the 38 Geary is always plastered with faces on the windows because it is so full and needs more capacity. The Geary Corridor also has the limited service 38L which acts as an express bus. So why are they going to spend millions of dollars to take away a lane and save riders only a few minutes while using the same buses?

The first step of the second subway to the sea is the 3rd Street light rail which opens in the next few months. The next step is the central subway project which leaves a spur going west to link up a future Geary Subway before it turns off to go under Stockton(which by the way should continue past broadway). The decision to build the GS to at least Masonic though is very far off while they wait for more money. But really the line is ready to go.

So the problem with this picture is that while the United States FWHA would put in 90% of the cost for a road that desperately needed to be built, they would do it. This is the top example of what is happening with the new starts program. Funding for major urban rail projects is getting stymied for artery clogging BRT and unneeded roads by folks who don't like to invest in infrastructure needed to make cities work. aka the libertarian movement. Where would they be without the Federal Highway Program in their arguments? Probably arguing for better transit to support the free market.

The point is that projects like Geary are the projects that need to be funded. Folks shouldn't be plastered on the windows bus service is not adequate. This is why the case needs to be made for a major transit infrastructure initiative that rivals that of the Highway expansion of the last century. The first project? Geary Subway to the Sea

It's a New Year, The Right Time for a Transit Revolution

Welcome to 2007! It's gone by fast but this last 10 years has been very productive in terms of what has happened in the world of transit and its only going to get better. First we have as always mentioned the Transit Space Race. But inside of the TSR which is mainly Rapid Transit, we also have a transit revolution that includes the stalwart workhorse from a century ago, Streetcars.

As move on into 2007 we'll see more and more news about these pedestrian accelerators. Even today on January 1st we have articles from Minnesota and Ohio discussing what Mayors in Minneapolis and Columbus would like to build into their legacies. They are even thinking of innovative ways to finance them rather than through the FTA. Many other cities are thinking about this as well and perhaps (shameless plug approaching) this book will help move the revolution. It will be an exciting year never the less.

Update from a few days ago: Tampa News Says that Folks There Want in the Space Race. - Hat Tip Tampa Rail Blog