The Madison Debates

Lately there has been a fervent debate in Madison Wisconsin over whether streetcars would be good for the urban environment there. In the Capital Times, Op-Eds for each side have been flying back and forth but most of the opposition is using the misinformation of Randal O'Toole and Wendell Cox (What great names for villains). The most recent one written by Ward Lyles of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin rebuffs the arguments made by local folks who don't know all the facts with data from the National Transit Database and professional anti-rail propaganda as stated by Randal O'Toole.

As a circulator system, streetcars are a great idea. They combine the stop spacing of buses with the economic development potential and ridership bump of semi-metro type light rail to which streetcars are related. They are not meant to go fast but rather act as pedestrian accelerators and meld with the urban environment. In Portland, the streetcar carries almost 9,000 folks a day and has helped to spur $2.8 billion in development. This development was not just because of the streetcar but as a part of the total planning package, the Pearl District and South Waterfront areas are becoming the most European like neighborhoods in the West.

In Madison like their sister city Austin, streetcars should only be part of the transportation solution as circulators connecting major destinations in the downtown. Cities such as Denver, Salt Lake City and Seattle are already way ahead of the game in thinking about transportation in bigger terms than just a single mode. All of them are building light rail, thinking about streetcars, and operate many different types of buses.

In some corridors streetcars work, in others light rail is more apt and in freeways with HOV lanes there might be an opportunity for express bus service but all of the modes are needed to beat dependence on the single occupancy automobile. This is something Madison, Austin and other towns need to be talking about if they want to have a transportation sea change like the previously mentioned members of the transit space race.

The Salt Lake City Experience

Today's article in The Arizona Republic lauds Salt Lake City for its rail system and compares differences between the two systems and regions. While SLC is a very conservative place, some of the folks who thought that roads were going to do the trick were converts to rail on the first day. This is telling of what the rail can really do for a cities knowledge base and perception of major investments. As the environmental movement picks up again i have a feeling we will see more investment in alternative transportation. Hopefully, folks in Phoenix will see similar benefits of their system on the first day.

3rd Street Light Rail Open in SF

Now running on the weekends, light rail is rolling on third street. This is the first part of the Central Subway project that will be the future lead to the Geary Subway and potential extensions to the Marina. The Central Subway should be paid for completely by the Feds because Muni is looking to use this initial segment as its match in the New Starts Process. Hopefully this means moving faster to the Geary Subway but until then, I'll be watching third street and the Central Subway with great interest.

Seattle Voters Asked to Cement Frontrunner Status in Transit Space Race

Today articles in all of the Seattle news papers discussed a bond measure that would go on next year's ballot to expand the light rail system that is currently under construction. The 40 more miles of Light Rail and Streetcars are part of a $17 billion dollar transportation ask. It also has money to buy right of way for a light rail extension to Everett.

The Seattle system even though not complete is already having cities beg to ask for extensions. The cities that don't get extensions or aren't guaranteed stations are upset. This system should when it opens set a national example. If you want to get something done, you have to just pay up and do it. It's for the good of the community and more cars and lane miles on already congested freeways is not going to help people get from point a to point b.

This is a really huge step to expand a system that hasn't even finished initial construction. It also shows that Seattle wants to be a world class city. The transit space race has many of these cities looking to build out serious systems to make themselves more livable and while it seems like it might be a little expensive, the benefits will be returned to the communities multi-fold. Imagine if the Washington DC Subway was never built. It would have been a travesty but it would have also influenced how that region grew out instead of up along the corridors. Hopefully when democratic leaders go to pick a presidential candidate they can see how Denver is shaping up in its bid to win the Transit Space Race.

I'm not sure how to rank cities in the TSR...but if i had to pick some that are doing the best, Denver and Seattle are front runners. Portland has a head start so i didn't count it in that initial assessment but soon i'll do a comarison between the frontrunners listed in the sidebar. But the others in the race don't seem that far behind either.

Possible Capital Funding Sources #2

Garage Tax - What if we had a garage Tax? Every garage has to pay an annual fee to operate transit. I got the idea when i heard about a roof tax in England of 10,000 English Pounds per house in a transit oriented neighborhood. Well why can't we have a garage tax that makes people pay to have a garage on their house.

However thinking about it maybe now we should have a parking space tax. For every lane mile of highway that the road warriors propose for moving people by car, they are also promoting sprawl because all of those cars end up somewhere. That somewhere is a space in a parking lot at work. So for every employer who has a parking lot, perhaps they should have to pay some sort of tax for creating the need for more freeways in the form of a transit tax. Just an idea. There has to be some sort of linkage there somewhere, so lets do it.

Streetcars are Back

Today's USA Today ran an article on streetcars and it was good except for one thing. The graphic was a light rail vehicle, not a streetcar. Other than that it was a good article and it had some good quotes including one I've heard Len Brandrup of Kenosha Transit say in person.

"Streetcars have sex appeal, it resonates with folks. Developers don't write checks for buses."

So True. But what does this have to do with the transit revolution? Everything. These streetcars are doing more with land use than light rail ever dreamed while promoting a true urbanism. Not that Light Rail can't do it either, but its kind of like showing the older brother up. The land use changes can happen around light rail, but it seems more linear around the streetcar. Hopefully we can learn how to build light rail for the same cost...the fact that they are different escapes me...but i'll write on it later.

So what is the next generation of this phenomenon? The Beltline in Atlanta is a good place to start. It was a scare earlier this year for BRT but the good folks of ATL realized that they didn't want to be jogging and biking next to hybrid fume puffers. Good for them and hopefully the plans will be accelerated, but all we can do now is wait and see.

Three lines are under construction...hopefully they have the same results as previous streetcar starts.

Anacostia - Washington DC
South Lake Union - Seattle
Clinton Library Extension - Little Rock

Charlotte's Next Move

Charlotte is a notable member and up and comer to the Transit Space Race. Their plans are ambitious and include 5 new rapid transit lines and a streetcar. After a 1998 half cent sales tax was raised to expand transit. The first line, the Lynx Blue Line (South Corridor) is under construction and will be complete at the end of this year.

The next line, the northeast corridor, is planned to run from downtown to the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Leadership from the University President, City Council and Ron Tober of CATS were very helpful in keeping the region on track after some costs for the south corridor were over budget and the community was worried about the long range plan. After some calls to rescind the tax from some libertarians egged on by Wendell Cox and a postponement of BRT to study Light Rail on the southeast corridor, things are looking up again.

So it comes as no surprise that even before the northeast corridor has gone into preliminary engineering in the new starts process, people are building TOD on properties adjacent to the future line as reported today by the Charlotte Observer. This is amazing and shows that new transit lines really have the ability to shape neighborhoods. I'm interested to see what happens to the next few years but as for now, Charlotte is up there with Denver in my book.

More News from the TSR

A fight is brewing in the Minnesota Legislature over Capital Transit Funding. This is the kind of spirit i like to see and it seems as if there is bipartisan support for one of the options that have been thrown on the table. According to today's Minneapolis Star Tribune -

"Included are proposals to increase the state's 20-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax by 10 cents, boost registration fees on new vehicles and authorize counties to impose a half-cent sales tax increase for transportation purposes, plus $20-per-vehicle sales taxes and annual wheelage taxes, in some cases subject to voter approval."

While the governor still opposes this, i think its a fight worth playing out. It will show if legislators in the state are really serious about funding future transit expansion sooner including the southwest corridor, the downtown streetcar and several commuter rail and BRT lines.