The Pop Culture of Trains

You've seen those commercials where superstars are singing about their Chevys or car companies show that people love their cars so much because they were in a rap video or whatever...but what about trains? Here is a little Empire Builder, the train from Chicago to Minneapolis-St. Paul to Seattle made famous by the Great Northern Railway.

Empire Builder - Mason Jennings

All day, everyday
I swing my hammer to the metal on the northern railway
Always a movie playing in my head
A million movies starring you and me
Moonshine every night
Eating supper by the fire out in the clear moonlight
Ankles crossed, hands behind my head
Telling stories, singing songs about the west

I'm always thinking of you
Staring off down the railroad line
One sweet day i will see you
But i'll swing the hammer until
The empire builder brings me home

For two months and two odd weeks
Sometimes days go by in which nobody speaks
From Illinois to Washington
There ain't nothing but the hammer to the rail

One day when this track runs through
I'm gonna buy a new suit and come looking for you
Care free, you and me
We'll take the empire builder to the sea

And i'm always thinking of you
Staring off down the railroad line
One sweet day i will see you
But i'll swing the hammer until
The empire builder brings me home

Charlotte Citizens Understand the Space Race

So Charlotte is being held up by a lot of other cities around the country as one that will beat them if they don't get moving. It's a good position to be in as there is nothing easier that hanging in there and having hope on the attack instead of being afraid that someone is coming. There are always bumps in the road and Charlotte has had theirs but it I now think I understand the problems many cities are having with the Federal Government based on an article in today's Observer.

No matter how hard they try to push bus rapid transit, people just don't want it. In Connecticut, the Hartford Busway which will be a true BRT is costing $50 million per mile. Thats a lot of cash for a bus. And it's also more than the cost of building a rapid streetcar line on the same right of way. What is the point in that? Are they going to prove that it's just as cheap and useful as Curitiba that way? That model was based on easily changeable land use policy (NIMBY doesn't exist in South America) and cheap labor (easy in South America as well).

But that won't change what people on the Southeast Corridor want in Charlotte. They see the BRT as a lowly gesture in their direction. Why are the other corridors getting light rail and we are stuck with the BRT? Why aren't we going to be treated the same? This happened in Atlanta with MARTA. The rest of the system into the poor areas was to be built out as bus lines and that smacked of racism. Is the current trend towards BRT just a way to give poor citizens second class transit? Is it a way to keep transit only for the poor instead of providing rapid transit options for everyone? Well I have a feeling that the people who push BRT believe in these things. They aren't doing it for the betterment of cities but rather to keep transit down.

There are some good places where BRT might be the best option, but I feel like most BRT fanatics just don't like rail. They don't like that people ride it, they feel like it takes money from roads and they don't understand why not everyone wants to live in the Suburbs and drive to work everyday. To them i say, I don't understand you either, but perhaps we should work something out so that we stop wasting money on something that people just don't want. It's been voiced over and over again in public statements. Statements from Charlotte below.

Here are some of comments made by people at the Southeast Corridor public meetings:

"I want equity. Do not give us buses because we are poorer and have more minorities."

"Matthews-Bus Rapid Transit makes one feel cut off from Charlotte."

"I prefer commuter rail in the Southeast Corridor."

"Light rail benefits the Southeast Corridor."

"SE residents will not ride bus rapid transit! Light rail transit is the only viable alternative!"

The comments go on and on. Interestingly, nobody stood up at any of these meetings and said anything like "I like the busway" or "Busways are a good idea."

Seems like they should get what they want, they are the ones paying for it.

Milwaukee Mayor Makes a Leap

While Milwaukee has been making plans for Commuter rail and figuring out how to fund it to Chicago, the Mayor has been coming up with a plan to spend money that the FTA still owes the city. It includes a streetcar loop and a connection to express buses and the new commuter rail line. In the article though, the County Executive is calling it a trojan horse for light rail.

Barrett envisions a city where trains, buses, streetcars, parking facilities and pedestrian corridors would work together in a "comprehensive and affordable" way to provide improved transit for workers and city visitors. But the plan sparked conflict with Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who called it "really just a Trojan horse for light rail" and "a drain on the limited resources we have available to support the bus system."Barrett shot back by pointing to Walker's six years of cutting Milwaukee County Transit System service and raising fares, saying, "It sounds to me like his mission is to kill Milwaukee County transit," not protect it.

The comments from Walker are more bs straight from the O'Toole and Cox camp. If you don't have resources, then create them. People can't just keep getting away with everything for free, including roads. But perhaps we should even the playing field before arguing that free market forces are at work when we can see from the previous post that they most certainly won't. I would be glad to see this be a trojan horse for light rail and other modes. The trojan horse against rail was let loose years ago, why not fight back?

Update from the Comments...More on this Topic from Brewcityzen.

Automobility Quotes

As I was away from my computer this weekend i did pick up a book called 20th Century Sprawl by Owen Gutfreund, the director of Urban Studies at Columbia University. There is a lot of good research but this line hit me the most.

Between 1921 and 1932 American Governments spent $21 Billion dollars on streets and highways and collected only $5 billion from motor vehicle users. This meant that motorists were directly contributing less than 1/4 of the direct costs of adapting use of the automobile.

But of course freeways have always been paid for by user fees, never subsidized right??? But who subsidized the streets for cars and trucks without being allowed to raise their rates? Streetcar Companies

As a private company operating under a public franchise, large portions of DTCs (Denver Tramway Company) cost structure was governed by its franchise agreement, as were fares. For example, one of the oldest provisions of the contract required the company to pay half the maintenance and repair costs on streets with two way operation...As more and more streets were paved and improved and subjected to the pounding wear-and-tear of thousands of automobiles and trucks, which were much heavier than the horse drawn vehicles in use when DTC had made this financial commitment, the company had to contribute more and more money to street projects....However, the franchise agreement also capped fares at 5 cents and in 1917 despite record ridership levels, DTC was unable to pay a dividend and reported an annual loss of half a million dollars.

A change to a 7 cent fare led to the 1920 tramway strikes because people have never wanted to pay the full cost of transportation, whether it be roads or transit. They expect it to be subsidized for their autos, so why is everyone complaining about subsidizing transit, especially when initially transit helped build and maintain those roads that allowed autos to become dominant.

Representing TOD

This is really cool. A developer in Maryland on a Metro line has decided he is going to show residents what he is going to do....with balloons!

North College Park residents concerned that six planned buildings at the Greenbelt Metro will not mesh with existing neighborhoods will get a chance to see just how high the buildings would be. Six balloons — outlining the height and width of the proposed structures — will be raised by developer Petrie Ross Ventures from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday, giving residents a visual of what the buildings’ sizes.

I wonder if this will catch on.

The Billion Dollar Peachtree

An article in today's Atlanta Journal Constitution talks about plans for a Peachtree Streetcar and a total streetscape overhaul. They even figured out how to pay for it. The breakout is below

ROAD TO THE FUTURE

A group of business and civic leaders is fine-tuning a $1 billion recommendation to transform the Peachtree corridor, including a streetcar line and other improvements.

How would the money be spent?
Streetcar lines: $450 million
Land / right of way: $160 million
Streetcapes: $100 million
Burying utility lines: $75 million
Parks / green space: $70 million
Road improvements: $70 million

Where would the money come from?
Special tax district: $450-$650 million
Southside tax allocation district: $100-$150 million
Federal grants: $100-$150 million
Parking tax: $50 million
City of Atlanta: $25 million-$50 million
Private donations: $15 million-$20 million

That's a lot of cash. More info on the project can be found at AtlantaStreetcar.com

Building a Transit System

A lot has been said about different transit modes over the years but I'd like to offer some commentary on some advocates including sometimes myself. While we want to believe that there is a silver bullet for congestion out there but there isn't. What is needed is a system. A system where people can choose to take another mode instead of driving everyday everywhere. While some freeway opponents want to believe we can just expand our freeways, that is not possible. The reason being is that your never going to relieve congestion that way. However much room there is on the freeway, it will always fill up. Always. But if we have a transit SYSTEM, people can avoid that. Is it really so hard to understand?

Here is a quote that relates from Molly Ivins, who recently passed away....

"It's hard to argue against cynics -- they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side."

The Cost of Sprawl

A little food for thought on smart growth.

For a suburban home in somewhere like Oakley California or Spring Texas it costs $8,500 per housing unit to provide water and sewer infrastructure. Compare that to in a neighborhood like West University in Houston or Berkeley California where that same house only costs $6,540 to hook up to the water and sewer if it were single family detached.

Now if it were attached in West U or Berkeley it would cost $5050. And if it were a multi-family unit it would cost a measly $3,800. So perhaps someone can elaborate on why a 500 home subdivision that includes roads in the suburbs (not included in the above numbers) is market driven while the 500 unit building downtown is subsidized. According to the research, that apartment complex downtown just saved $2,350,000 in water and sewer alone. That doesn't even count roads and the negative externalities of driving or detached housing and energy use etc etc etc.

Data from Sprawl Costs by Robert Burchill et al. from Island Press.

Sacramento Wants in the Transit Space Race

So Sacramento needs to make some Capital improvements to their transit system in order to participate. Well Dr. Beverly Scott of RT is way ahead of the other Sacramento regional authorities and is said to plan a bond measure to pay for new rail and bus infrastructure by 2010. It's a good thing too because if they want to build a streetcar and the Downtown Nantomas Airport Light Rail line along with their 20 year vision they are going to need some more funding.

More from the Sacramento Bee

Houston We Have a Problem...

From Texas Transportation Institute Data. This is provided over at publictransit.us from a friend in Portland. While it would be good to see total expenditures and regions of similar size, this is really interesting information. Houston is always the dream of Cox and O'Toole while Portland is the planning dream world. I think the best number on here is the very last one. Congestion cost per person. Apparently building freeways doesn't work like they thought it did.

It's easier to read if you click on it. Enjoy!