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 Orléans Light Rail Tramway (Photo: N. Z. Adams)
· "Bus Rapid Transit" Analyses · Political Campaigns for Light Rail Related Links
Light Rail Now/Light Rail Progress can be contacted at: Light Rail Now! |
 This news feature provides an ongoing Weblog of particularly significant developments in public transportation and rail transit. 28 March 2005 Goiânia (Brazil) eyes light rail transit system In Goiânia, a city of about 1,100,000 population in south central Brazil, technical studies have been completed for a 15-km (9-mile) light rail line "to link the northern suburbs with the city of Aparecida in the south", according to Tramways & Urban Transit (Jan. 2005). Goiânia, located 209 km (130 miles) southwest of Brasília, is the capital of the central Brazilian state of Goiás. Surface operation, with a subway in the city center, seems to be the type of alignment being proposed for Goiânia's light rail system. A note of caution, however – Brazil has established an unfortunate reputation for "soap-bubble" transit schemes and ill-fated projects, including light rail. it's perhaps the lone country on earth with a history of actually constructing, operating, and then abandoning modern light rail transit (or light metro) lines in recent times. For more information, see Allen Morrison's informative report Light Rail in Brazil – Two Sad Stories. 27 March 2005 Orléans: The French city of Orléans, which already operates an 18-km (11-mile) light rail tramway, routed generally north-south, has apparently decided that its second, east-west, line will be "a true tram on rails", rather than a rubber-tired "guided busway" ("BRT" or so-called tramway sur pneu), reports French light rail and public transport activist Jean Claude Vaudois in postings to several online tramway and light rail discussion lists. The decision by the Urban Community of Orléans was reportedly taken March 25th. Located 125 km (about 80 miles) south of Paris, on the River Loire, Orléans has been operating its first light rail tramway (Tram Line 1) since November 2000 under the aegis of the Société d’Economie Mixte des Transports en commun de l’Agglomération Orléanaise. (For an overview of the system, with map and photo, see Orléans Light Rail Tramway: Key Facts.) While it's an old city, and rich with history, Orléans is not so large, with just 250,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area – thus it's currently the smallest city in France operating a tramway. As reported in Tramways & Urban Transit of May 2002, ridership on the Orléans light rail tramway (Tram Line 1) was averaging about 37,000 passenger boardings per day. The magazine also recounted that planning was to start for the proposed 20-km (12-mile) east-west line, to extend from La-Chapelle-Saint-Mensin to Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle. For a period, planners evidently envisioned a rubber-tired guided "BRT", or tramway sur pneu, for the east-west alignment. in May 2004, Tramways & Urban Transit reported that three "guided bus" bids had been received: the Bombardier GLT (Guided Light Transport, using a central guide rail), APTS (Phileas, using guidance by embedded magnets), and Translohr's system, using another form of central rail guidance. However, the first two systems were ruled out because of technical problems, and, rather than simply awarding the contract to Translohr, local planners decided to re-open bidding and to include the option of a standard steel-wheel tramway. Apparently technical considerations, plus public preference for a "real" tramway, according to Jean Claude Vaudois, tipped the final decision to a steel-wheel light rail tramway. 21 March 2005 Portland: The Portland Streetcar system continues to grow. On 11 March 2005, reports Jon Winslow, the system celebrated the grand opening of its 0.6-mile (1-km) extension to River Place, including 4 additional stops. Jon notes that this extension represents "the first time the streetcars run both directions on the same street."
The roughly half-mile extension stretches the total route length to three miles (4.8 km) long, with 44 stops,
and allows the streetcars to travel all the way from Portland State University (the previous terminus) to River
Place. Rail Transit Online (August 2004) reports that a short segment of this line includes "a
steep, nine-degree downgrade, providing passengers with a spectacular view of the RiverPlace
neighborhood and the Willamette River."
According to TriMet (the regional transit agency which runs the separate bus and interurban light rail
system), streetcars leaving the SW 5th and Montgomery stop travel southeast along SW Montgomery and
SW Harrison to SW River Parkway at Moody Ave. At that point they reverse course and travel northwest to
the PSU Urban Center stop. New platform stops are served in both directions along SW Harrison at
approximately SW 3rd, SW 1st,, and SW Harrison Roadway (near Harbor Drive). Currently, rolling stock
consists of a fleet of seven modern articulated streetcars manufactured by Skoda-inekon in the Czech
Republic. (For an overview of the line with map and photo, see Portland Streetcar: Key Facts.)
The Portland Streetcar, a public-private project run separately from the TriMet system, was initially opened
in July of 2001, routed in an enlongated loop configuration over 4.8 miles (7.7 km) of track which basically
resulted in a 2.4-mile route (with cars operating bidirectionally on separate streets 1-2 blocks apart). This
original route included a total of 40 stops, located along the alignment about every 3-4 blocks. The project
was installed at a cost (in 2001 dollars) of US$54.6 million, a unit cost of $11.4 million per track-mile ($7.1
million/track-km), which calculates to about $22.8 million per route-mile ($14.2 million/km). That calculates
to about $26 million/mile in year-2005 dollars.
The extension is reported to have cost $15.8 million, or about $25.5 million per mile (about $16 million per
km). Nearly $8.4 million of the expansion has been funded from tax-increment urban renewal funds
generated in the North Macadam Urban Renewal Area – based on property taxes paid by new
developments created by urban renewal.
Futher expansion of the system is in progress. Construction already is under way for the streetcar line to
reach another 0.6 mile south along Southwest Moody Avenue to Gibbs Street, where a new highrise
neighborhood is under construction, the South Waterfront, reports Jon Winslow. This extension will be
mostly off-street, using a portion of the old Willamette Shore Trolley right-of-way. The single stop at Gibbs
Street will permit an across-the-street transfer to the 3300-foot-long (1000-m) Portland Aerial Tram
connecting to the Marquam Hill campus of Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU Aerial Tram). Jon
further reports that while this streetcar extension will be finished in September 2005, it will not open for
another year (when the first condo towers open in SoWa). Service is not planned to begin until the summer
of 2006, when three new cars – made solely by the Czech firm inekon – are placed into service.
The cost of this extension is budgeted at another $15.8 million, including $8 million for the new streetcars.
Following this, the line may be extended another half-mile south on Moody Avenue to Bancroft Street,
"through the heart of the developing South Waterfront district and what will be housing, retail and new
OHSU offices" according to the Portland Tribune. “That would complete what i consider the
original streetcar plan” declared Rick Gustafson, chief operating officer of the Portland Streetcar. “This
feeds the development we’re trying to promote.”
15 March 2005 Phoenix: Valley Metro breaks ground on light rail project With hundreds of people gathered to celebrate, mayors and representatives from Phoenix and its partnering suburban cities of Tempe, Mesa, and Glendale led a ceremonial groundbreaking event in Tempe Beach Park on Tuesday night, 15 February 2005, to launch the Valley Light Rail construction project at long last – an occasion described by the Arizona Republic (16 Feb. 2005) as "the birth of a 20-mile rail system that promises to transform the Valley." Actual construction work is now under way on what will become one of the most ambitious new modern light rail transit (LRT) systems in the Southwest United States. The groundbreaking ceremony followed up on jubilation after a successful bond measure for system expansion passed in November, and the Federal Transit Administration finally committed to over US$587 million of project funding in late January. The 20.3-mile (32.7-km) starter line is projected to cost approximately US$1.3 billion. "While the initial span of tracks will link Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, Valley leaders predict that the $1.3 billion line will be the spine for a much larger system" relates the Republic, adding that, according to its backers, Valley Metro's LRT system will do more than just carry commuters. "it will lure development dollars into sleepy business districts, help tourism flower and ease traffic congestion." However, while Valley Metro's LRT may well be expected to provide relief for mobility congestion, its supporters might want to be very cautious in raising expectations about reducing motor vehicle congestion. As we point out in our article Denver Data Show Light Rail's Real impact on Mobility Congestion, it's a widespread fallacy and misconception "That any single transportation facility, roadway or transit, can ever truly 'reduce' congestion. It is almost universally recognized, even among highway planners, and throughout the transportation planning profession, that roadway traffic congestion is a fundamental fact of life – basically, it continues to grow with population expansion and the proliferation of motor vehicles." But significant reductions in mobility congestion may be achievable. As we've noted in our article Phoenix: LRT Project Under Way ... Expansion Sought, Valley Metro's computer modelling predicts significant annual travel time savings of up to 585 hours per year for many Valley residents living near the LRT system – as well as for those living as far away from the line as 15 miles.
Time will tell how accurate those predictions are. Meanwhile, work on actually installing the system is
gaining momentum. in what the Associated Press described as "the most visible sign so far that light-rail
construction has begun", on March 7th construction crews began removing a median on Washington Street
in Tempe, where the LRT tracks will be inserted. "Yesterday's work is the first on-street project other than
utility relocation", notes the AP.
Undoubtedly, news on project construction will soon become routine. But there's no question that the actual launch of construction on a project of this magnitude and longterm urban impact is an event of great historic importance. As Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman observed in his remarks to the crowd at the Feb. 16th groundbreaking, "We know that this light rail will change the face of this community" 14 March 2005 Rail photographers victimized by police "terrorism" crackdown in Chicago-area regional-rail system More evidence has emerged of the dangerous impact of the wave of "terrorism" hysteria sweeping the USA, which has prompted some officials and law-enforcement personnel to take aim at railway and transit photographers, and fuelled a drive to criminalize rail and transit photography on a wide scale. The case in point concerns the experiences of amateur rail photographers Paul Burgess and Randy Olson, involved in an incident on 8 January 2005 at a Chicago-area Metra (regional rail) station. This case is particularly instructive in conveying a sample of the flavor of the absurdly repressive environment currently overtaking some of America's public transport operations. It's helpful to follow the events in this case as they unfolded, in the sequence in which they occurred. This includes relating the subjective observations and comments of the original authors. Thus, we start with Paul and Randy waiting on the Morton Grove, illinois Metra station platform, preparing to photograph a northbound train (in particular, the locomotive). Here's how Paul relates the initial incident:
On 30 January 2005, Paul Burgess posted a followup report on events since the 8 January encounter with police.
Comments from "a locomotive engineer working out of Chicago", identified as "RW", were posed in mid-January by Gene Poon to several railway-interest discussion lists. This individual indicated that he/she had forwarded the photographers' original internet postings about the incident, and additional comments, to "a good friend" in Metra's mechanical department at Elgin, illinois. RW reports he asked this individual, Mark Llanuza,
This, reportedly, led to a meeting at Metra's offices involving Llanuza, Metra Executive Director Philip Pagano, Director of Media Relations Judith Pardononet, and Metra Chief of Police Lenard. As RW further relates,
The upshot of this meeting, according to this correspondent, was the following policy:
This source also reports that there actually had been a policy to "detain" (i.e., apprehend or arrest) rail photographers:
RW also quotes Mark Llanuza's apology: "Metra is very sorry how this has been handled and is going to make sure it does never happen again unless you are trespassing on their tracks or yards." in the future, we're told, anyone wishing to check the legality of photography of Metra facilities and trains can phone the Metra Police at 312.322-2800 or Judith Pardonnet 312.322-6760.
10 March 2005 Vienna (Wien): Light rail tramway is mainstay of overall transit network Vienna (Wien) provides an outstanding case study of a major, world-class city which relies intensely on light rail – especially its tramways (streetcars) – as a crucial mainstay of both its mobility and its quality of life. Vienna has been consistently upgrading and expanding all its public transport, and particularly its light rail modes. The urban area has an extensive network of metro, or U-Bahn (rail rapid transit), S-Bahn (Schnellbahn, or rapid regional railway), and Strassenbahn routes (streetcars, or tramways) – all in addition to battalions of motor buses, of course. There are five U-Bahn lines, totalling 61 km (about 38 miles), and no less than 34 light rail tramway lines (standard gauge), totalling 185 km (about 115 miles). For surface transport, the tramways are an essential component, providing high-quality, readily accessible, and relatively rapid interconnections among the U-Bahn and S-Bahn stations and the various bus routes. indeed, Vienna's tramway network ranks in size second in the world, just behind St. Petersburg's. It should be noted that higher-level light rail transit (LRT) services are included in the overall mix. These include one of the U-Bahn lines, U6, also known as the Gürtellinie (Belt Line). Line U6, the longest of the nominal U-Bahn lines, consists of 17.5 km (10.8 miles) of grade-separated route (mostly on an historic embankment), with 24 stations equipped with platforms 340-mm high (basically, the height of "standard" LRT vehicles or trams). This is a heavily used, high-traffic LRT line running 2.5-minute peak headways. And there's also the Wiener Lokalbahn, a 30-km (28-mile) interurban LRT tramway which shares a bit more than 3 km (about 2 miles) or trackage with the city tramway network. This line is also well-used, running 3- minute peak headways. On the whole, both the street-routed tramways and higher-level LRT lines are crucial, highly efficient, and cost-effective elements of Vienna's integrated public transport network. Out of a total annual Wiener Linien ridership of approximately 700 million passenger-trips, the light rail tramway system carries about 212 million, or 30%, the high-level LRT Line U6 about 107 million, or 15%, the "heavy" metro (U-Bahn) about 270 milion, or 39%, and the remainder on the bus system. In recent years, a key focus of light rail transit (LRT) improvement has been the upgrading of the city's rolling stock, particularly with the introduction of innovative ultra-lowfloor (ULF) trams, providing floor heights just 190 mm above rail level (in contrast to the "standard" lowfloor height of 350 mm) – plus the capability of "kneeling" to provide even lower access! Just within the past year, Wiener Linien (Vienna Lines), the urban transit agency, has ordered an additional 150 ULF articulated trams – eighty of them 24-m (79-feet) long, seventy of them 35-m (115-ft) long. Late last year (2004), the agency placed an order for another 38 lowfloor light rail vehicles (LRVs) for LRT U-Bahn Line U6, with an option for 42 more, at a cost of €91 million (about US$117 million). That's about $3.1 million per LRV. Vienna's urban tramway system has been undergoing modest but persistent expansion. Most recently, Route 25 is being extended 4.3 km (2.7 miles) to Hausfeldstrasse, at a cost of €35 mn (US$45 million) – a unit cost of about $10.5 million per km or $16.7 million/mile. Also in planning is the possibility of a 3.6-km (2.2-mi) extension of Route O in connection with the redevelopment of a former freight yard. And extensions to Routes 16, 26, and 27 are also in the planning stages. Expansion of Vienna's excellent U-Bahn system is also under way, with the following planned: · Line U1 to be extended 4.6 km (2.9 mi) from Kagran to Leopoldau, €530 million ($684 million) – about $149 million/km or $236 million/mile. · Line U2 to be extended from Schottentor to Aspernstrasse by 2008, then to the airport by 2011, and to Grundrunstrasse by 2017. · A possible new Line U5 to be installed, combining parts of Line U2 with a new segment in the south. Information in this report has particularly been drawn from Tramways & Urban Transit of Oct. 2004, Jan. 2005, and Feb. 2005; and from Jane's Urban Transport Systems, 1999-2000. 7 March 2005 Budapest: Light rail tramway extension to Savoya Park shopping mall finally opens Budapest's light rail urban tramway (streetcar) system seems to be undergoing fairly steady upgrading and some modest growth. On 1 February 2005, the long-awaited extension of tramway Route 18 to the new Savoya Park shopping mall opened at last, with a new, 605-meter (0.38-mile) alignment diverging from the tracks of route 41 and 47 to link the existing system to the mall, located in the suburb of Budafok. To make the connection, Route 18 was extended from Albertfalva kitér to Budafok depot (one stop before the junction of Route 41) on the existing tracks of Routes 41 and 47, and then on newly constructed track (involving some major civil works) from there to the Savoya Park retail center (mall). Budapest already has one of the largest urban and suburban rail transit networks in Eastern Europe, with over 155 km (96 miles) of light rail tramway, over 175 km (106 miles) of other light rail lines, and over 30 km (19 miles) of rapid transit metro. For more information and excellent photographs of the recent Savoya Park light rail tramway extension, see the photo-essay by Akos Varga. Information used in this report was provided by Akos Varga, David Vitézy, and Mike Taplin's World Systems List of rail transit systems.
6 March 2005 Eskisehir launches Turkey's newest light rail tramway Light rail tramway development in Turkish cities has continued to progress at a brisk pace – setting an interesting model of affordable, cost-effective, high-quality public transport for the developing Third World. The latest system to open is the 16.2-km (10.0-mile) system in Eskisehir, a rapidly developing industrial city of about 500,000 population, located approximately 200 km (about 125 miles) west of Ankara. After an initial launch on 2 September 2004, the tramway finally opened for full revenue service on 24 December. it consists of two lines, forming roughly an X shape, with a total of 26 stops. The two lines overlap in the city center, sharing a common stretch of 800 meters through a pedestrian precinct. Much of the system is constructed in reserved or segregated alignments, ensuring fairly rapid running speeds with minimal conflict with motor vehicle traffic. Particularly unusual for a newly constructed modern-day system is the meter-gauge track (1000 mm), rather than the more typical standard gauge of 1435 mm (4 ft 8.5 in). Meter gauge permits tighter turning radii, useful for navigating narrow streets and sinuous alignments with tight curves. Initial rolling stock for the new system consists of 18 totally lowfloor Bombardier tramcars, 29.5 m long by 2.3 m wide, with five articulated sections. Of a model already is use in the Austrian city of Linz, the cars have a maximum speed of 70 kph (about 40 mph). The fleet is designed to carry an initial ridership projected to reach 110,000 per day. Constructed on a turnkey basis by a partnership of Bombardier with the Turkish group Yapi Merkezi, the project is reported to have a total cost of US$120 million – calculating to about $12 million per mile ($7.4 million/km). This would seem to demonstrate, once again, the cost-effectiveness of light rail transit as an extremely affordable public transport option. Information in this report was drawn from Tramways & Urban Transit of October 2004 and March 2005. 6 March 2005 Several major monorail systems, projects experiencing trouble Several major monorail projects and recently launched new monorail systems in the USA and abroad are experiencing serious problems. Their experiences stand in contrast to the claims of many monorail promoters, who portray monorails as quasi-miraculous alternatives (in terms of financial and operational performance) to standard-rail transit systems – particularly light rail. Here are examples of some of the problems being encountered: · Las Vegas – The privately sponsored 4-mile, US$650-million monorail has exhibited a number of technical problems, the most serious being detachment of hardware which fell off onto the surface below, resulting in several months of total shutdown. Even after resumption of operation at the end of 2004, the monorail's ridership and revenue have been far below forecasts, raising questions over whether the system will be able to pay off its investors as promised. (See further details on our Las Vegas page.) · Seattle – The Green Line monorail project is grappling with a budget crisis, with revenues from a motor vehicle license surcharge tax totalling approximately 30% less than original projections. The single bid for the project reportedly has come in some $200 million over original estimates, and a scaling-down of the project's design apparently is in process – a move which may degrade eventual performance. Meanwhile, Seattle's "classic" 1960s-era monorail shuttle continues to operate at significantly reduced capacity, with a single trainset, as the result of an electrical fire last year, which damaged the line's other working trainset. (See further details on our Seattle page.) · Kuala Lumpur – The city's small 8.6-km (5.3-mile), 11-station monorail shuttle, which connects some of the Malaysian city's major rail transit lines, has experienced a spate of rather bizarre technical and operational problems. These include an incident of a detached wheel falling and injuring a pedestrian below the beamway; a tree falling on the beamway, stopping a train; and, most recently, a guide tire exploding and injuring passengers. However, the monorail has apparently continued to operate normally, carrying tens of thousands of rider-trips a day. · Naha – According to Leroy Demery, Jr., an expert on Asian transit developments, the 12.9-km (8.0-mile) monorail in the major city of Japan's island of Okinawa has been experiencing a drop in ridership to about 25,000/day, well below the 35,000 needed to sustain operations under original financing plans. in addition, some operating problems have been experienced, including children falling into the gap between train floors and station platforms. · Moscow – After being delayed for some two years by technical problems, the relatively short 4.7-km (2.9-mile), six-station monorail of the proprietary intamin design finally opened for "excursion" service this past November, charging a fare approximately five times that of the Moscow metro. Alexander Elagin reports a recent announcement that the line will not begin full regular service "until at least this summer [2005], because of unresolved problems with signalling and automation systems. The system, in its current state, is unable to meet the safety requirements if operated at short headways." As a result, the system's "excursion" service will be continued for the present, with headways of 30 minutes between trains. A report in Tramways & Urban Transit (Jan. 2005) notes that, while the system currently is running a single trainset, it would need a fleet of approximately 75 to meet its claimed capacity capability. · Jakarta – The city's 27.7-km (17.2-mile), $650-million monorail project has been stopped because of financial problems, according to recent reports. Empty support structures now mark the route of what was to be the 14.3-km (8.9-mile) Green Line, and, according to Melbourne's The Age (26 February 2005), even one of the monorail's director's "admits the project is in financial trouble and that the completion date is in doubt." And the Jakarta Post (2005/03/03) notes that "the project has made little progress since the initial groundbreaking ceremony...." The foregoing examples certainly don't suggest that monorail projects are unique in having serious problems. But they definitely don't bolster arguments that monorails are virtually immune from common problems, either. Moreover, all the projects enumerated above have been cited by monorail promoters as outstanding case studies of the alleged "superiority" of monorail technology. in view of the realities, it would seem wise to search for alternative examples ... If there are any left to be found. 2 March 2005 Washington: Transit agency hopes for operating surplus A major US transit system that earns enough revenue to actually generate an operating surplus? Well, don't get your hopes too high – yet – but that's exactly what some officials with the Washington Metro are hinting, at least for the current fiscal year. As a general rule, and with the rare exceptions of some unusual, "novelty", or heavily tourist-oriented single routes, major transit systems (at least, in modern times) cannot charge high enough fares to cover their ongoing operating costs because they must compete with the massively subsidized private motor vehicle system, which gets megabucks of public (and private) subsidy even if you just blink at it. But unusually high ridership, even in the face of stiff fare hikes, have placed Washington, DC's transit system in the running toward 100% farebox recovery. "Metro Projects $9 Million Surplus Thanks to increased Ridership " was the Associated Press headline in a dispatch dated this past 11 February, and writer Heather Greenfield noted that "Despite back-to-back fare hikes, more passengers are riding Metro, which should reach the end of the year in the black." Accordingly, says the AP, "The transit agency revealed Thursday it could finish the year with a surplus of up to $9 million, thanks to increased ridership on both subways and buses." The article notes that last June, Metrorail base fares increased to $1.35, a rise of 15 cents, while the maximum rush-hour rail fare became $3.90. Bus riders pay a fare of $1.25 on local routes. Even after this steep fare increase, "Ridership is up by 20,000 passengers during rush hours" reports the AP. And Metro Board Chairman Dana Kauffman of Fairfax County, Va., compared this surge of ridership to having a "small town" join the total population riding the system. Noting that many of these riders are federal employees, Kaufman also argued that the federal government needs to do more to cover Metro's costs. In any case, halfway through its fiscal year, reports the AP, "Metrorail ridership grew 4 percent and bus ridership grew 10 percent, compared to Dec. 2003." The article also cites figures from financial analyst Rick Harcum, who told Metro's Budget Committee members that the growth trend is "strong and stable". If the trend continues, Harcum predictsed, Metro will finish the year with an $8 million to $9 million surplus. 2 March 2005 Las Vegas Monorail: "Woeful" ridership prompts financial jitters Ridership far lower than forecast, plus a recent history of serious technical glitches, are casting a shadow over the Las Vegas Monorail operation and triggering worries over whether the privately sponsored system will meet its financial goals of sustainability. "The Las Vegas Monorail averaged a paltry 22,313 riders each day last month [January], falling well short of a projected daily ridership of 29,000 passengers for January" reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal (17 February 2005). In a sobering article, the paper noted that "The monorail eventually needs more than 40,000 daily riders for the system to break even on its $650 million construction cost and annual operating costs of more than $14 million per year." However, monorail revenues do not appear to be meeting sufficient levels. The Review-Journal further reports, "in January, the monorail's daily farebox revenues averaged $65,466, well below the targeted per-day average of $85,000." (As Light Rail Now has reported previously, original projections actually cited a ridership target of 53,000 a day needed for profitable operation.) The paper goes on to relate that "The monorail also fared poorly last month compared to its only other full month of operation, in August. Then, the monorail averaged more than 27,000 riders and $80,000 in farebox revenues each day." Even more troubling, the low January ridership came at a time when it was expected to be at one of the highest levels in the year: "The poor ridership showing came during the month in which the Consumer Electronics Show, annually among the city's largest conventions, was held." The monorail's poor performance apparently is raising worries among Nevada legislators, since the state has underwritten bonds which have been sold to support construction and operation of the system. According to a report by KVBC-TV (17 Feb. 2005), "Las Vegas Monorail officials are assuring lawmakers that the monorail's finances are sufficient to carry into 2005 despite various setbacks and that the state would not be responsible if the company can't repay its tax-exempts bonds." Monorail officials assured the state that the company has $33 million in bond proceeds that can be used as a "cushion" in case of emergency. Furthermore, the monorail company has on hand more than $11 million in "liquidated damages" that it has collected from the contractors, Bombardier Transportation, and its partner, Granite Construction, "for problems related to the monorail." 25 February 2005 Bratislava: Recent attention has been focused on the Slovakian capital city of Bratislava for hosting the "summit" meeting between US President George W. Bush and Russian President Valdimir Putin. "With huge numbers of journalists coming to Slovakia for the Bush-Putin summit, Bratislava city officials will take the opportunity to inform the world's media about planned developments and upgrades to essential infrastructure of the city" declares a news report from The Slovak Spectator (2005/02/21). Among these infrastructure upgrades, massive improvements are planned to Bratislava's already extensive light rail tramway network, totalling some 243.8 km (151.2 miles). "For over 25 years Bratislava has cherished the idea of a subway system" relates the Spectator. "Estimated at a cost of Sk100 billion (€2.5 billion) [US$3.2 billion], nobody could be found to pay for it." "But since 2003, the town council has been busily preparing a fast-track tram system that would run above as well as under ground" reports the Spectator article, noting that "The tramway would use modern, low-deck, aerodynamic trams that hold up to 500 people." (Presumably this refers to lowfloor tram or streetcar vehicles, which have become the standard in most major European light rail tramway systems.) As models, the article refers to the new light rail tramway systems in Dublin and Strasbourg, both of which use lowfloor vehicles. The article relates that the tramway upgrade is included in a massive investment program along the Danube over the next five years with "new projects worth up to €1 billion" (US$1.3 billion) targeted for completion in Bratislava. It also notes that the upgraded tramway system would be developed "between 2006 and 2008." Bratislava currently has 12 tramway routes using meter-gauge (1000-mm) tracks, and running about 225 tramcars. According to Jane's Urban Transport Systems (1999-2000), by the late 1990s the tramway network was carrying approximately 94 million annual passenger-trips, out of a systemwide total of more than 300 million (including motor buses and electric trolleybuses). Bratislava, whose current population is about 450,000, is a medium-sized city with an area of 367.6 sq. km (141.6 sq. miles). This calculates to a population density of about 1,200/sq. km or 3,200/sq. mi. Bratislava thus represents a case in point that, even in Europe, neither extremely high population nor staggering density is essential for the operation of a successful, high-quality urban rail transit system. In addition to the news item quoted, this report has relied on information from Jane's Urban Transport Systems, the iMHD.sk Bratislava website, and the public-transport.net website. 25 February 2005 Leading Personal Rapid Transit vendor undergoes shakeup Taxi 2000 (aka SkyWeb Express) – ostensibly, North America's leading vendor of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) hardware (a technological concept which has yet to see a single successful, working public transport installation, anywhere, despite decades of "development") – has been facing problems trying to procure public and private financing of its experimental version of "gadget transit" ... most recently, in the halls of the Minnesota state legislature (although, so far, without success). But apparently its problems are multiplying, as evidenced by the recent departure of its founder and longtime chief, J. Edward Anderson (described as "the leading proponent of PRT in North America" in our article Personal Rapid Transit – Cyberspace Dream Keeps Colliding With Reality). In a news release dated 14 February 2005, Anderson "is pleased to announce" that he's forming a totally new "international company to carry forward planning, design and development of Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) systems." Called PRT international, the new company is intended to provide "optimized personal rapid transit (PRT) technologies that will have remarkable benefits for urban residents everywhere." The main problems that many serious public transport planners have with such claims is that (1) with the possible exception of the Morgantown, WV system (which is actually an automated guideway peoplemover shuttle rather than the pervasive PRT network hypothesized by PRT theorists), no attempt at actually installing PRT has succeeded in even carrying through a project to completion, much less rendering "remarkable benefits for urban residents" anywhere; and (2) Anderson and other PRT promoters have used such vacuous promises as ammunition in their relentless attempts to disparage truly workable transit investments, including light rail transit, and to stymie proposals for their development and expansion. In his press release, Anderson explains the origins of his former enterprise: "Following receipt of a grant from the University of Minnesota’s Patent and Technology Transfer Office to begin development of the technology, Dr. Anderson formed Automated Transportation Systems, inc., which was later renamed Taxi 2000 Corporation." Within the past couple of years, with Anderson as the point man, Taxi 2000 made a concerted push to gain political support in Minneapolis, Duluth, and other cities, and to try to procure Minnesota legislative authorization of tax-supported bonds to fund a rudimentary PRT system. Despite being backed by a bizarre coalition of leftish Green Party techno-fantasists (including a Minneapolis councilman) joining forces with rightwing Republican Road Warriors, the PRT scheme repeatedly met with defeat. in this cauldron of political intrugue, the promise of "PRT in the sky, bye-and-bye" was used as a kind of bludgeon to try to thwart support for other major public transport projects, such as expansion of light rail and the Northstar regional "commuter" rail plan. The current separation between Anderson and the corporate enterprise he had founded and led for so long certainly does not imbue the PRT bonding venture with an aura of stability, and the prospects for legislative endorsement of the project seem increasingly remote. Reasons for Anderson's breakup with Taxi 2000 remain unclear for the moment, although a rumor with some credence suggests that Anderson was ejected because he had "founder's syndrome". Twin Cities cartoonist Ken Avidor, webmaster of the PRT is a Joke website, speculates that the split might have been the result of "a shareholders' revolt": "They wanted to recoup some of their investments by changing the product to a kinder and gentler 'people mover'." Avidor surmises that "Anderson balked and they made him walk the plank." in this hypothetical scenario, Anderson's new company has been launched, in retaliation, as a competitor to Taxi 2000. Time will tell whether, and how much, validity resides in Avidor's speculations. in any case, the Taxi 2000 schism would seem to represent the latest major deflation of a PRT balloon already thoroughly and repeatedly punctured by decades of setbacks. 23 February 2005 Graz light rail tramway system grows with extension to shopping mall According to a report in Tramways & Urban Transit (Feb. 2005), the small industrial city of Graz (pop. about 240,000) in southern Austria has secured financing for a 1.3-km (0.8-mile) extension of its light rail tramway route 4. The extension, estimated to cost €22.4 million (about US$29 million), and targeted for opening in 2007, will create a link to the new Murpark shopping center near Liebenau. At a unit cost of about $22 million/km ($36 million/mile), it ranks as a moderately cost-intensive project. With only about 30 km (19 miles) of route, Graz's tramway system is nevertheless a mainstay of the urban public transport network, carrying about 55% (more than 50 million annual passenger-trips) of public transport ridership in the entire system. The tramway represents an excellent example of how light rail transit continues to serve as a mainstay of European urban public transport, even in quite small cities. This report has relied on information from Michael Taplin's World Systems List (Light Rail Transit Association) and Jane's Urban Transport Systems (1999-2000. 22 February 2005 Hanoi: The Viet Nam News Agency (2005/02/19) reports that the proposed project to build an "experimental tramway system" in Vietnam's capital city of Hanoi has at last been given approval by Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. The article reports that approval "in principle" came on Wednesday, 16 February. (See also our earlier article, Hanoi moves to install a light rail tramway system...While it eyes elevated rapid transit.) The 14.5-km (9.0-mile) starter system is projected to cost €420 million (US$508 million), or about $34 million/km ($56 million/mile). Planned to be partly funded by the French government and built with French technology, the tramway will link Hanoi's Cau Dien area with the Hanoi Railway Station, and connect the areas of Cau Dien, Cau Giay, Quoc Tu Giam wards, Kim Ma, and Giang Van Minh streets. The tramway section from the Cau Dien area (on the west side of Hanoi) to Cat Linh Street will have a 1.5-km underground section (which helps account for the somewhat higher average unit cost of this project). The line will connect a number of key locations, including Kim Ma bus station, Van Mieu Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature), and the Hanoi Railway Station, on the way to the Hanoi Opera House, according to Nguyen Quoc Trieu, Mayor of the Hanoi People’s Committee. The Hanoi People’s Committee itself has been assigned to conduct a study, including the collection of opinions from relevant ministries and agencies, and to submit a feasibility evaluation to the Prime Minister for consideration. To carry out the project, the ministries of Planning and investment, Finance, the Hanoi People’s Committee, and the French partners will work out details of credit provision, equipment, supply, and other conditions. According to the French consultancy firm Systra, the tramway line will use advanced light rail transit (LRT) technology to save energy and comply with environment protection conditions. Scheduled to be completed in 2010, the tramway is expected to transport 9,000 to 10,000 passengers per hour one-way and will be the point of convergence for eight other tramways proposed in the city’s development plan for 2020, according to Trieu. That will interconnect with other major public transport services also being installed. The director of Hanoi's Transport and Public Work Deparment, Pham Quoc Truong, said his department was planning a transport network with one metro and five elevated railways that will be able to carry 160 million passenger-trips a year by 2015. All told, it looks like Hanoi is on track to become a showcase of modern LRT tramway technology and other state-of-the-art standard-rail transit technology currently under development among emerging Third World cities. 20 February 2005 Philadelphia: Transit opponents persistently try to denigrate the importance of public transport – especially rail transit llines – in urban areas by comparing the ridership of single lines to all the travel in a gigantic region, thus diluting the apparent impact of the transit service. However, as Light Rail Now has repeatedly emphasized, the impact of specific rail transit services must be assessed with respect to the specific corridor or travel need which the service is designed to address. Data aren't always available to enable such a "reality-based" assessment of rail transit impact, but one such survey of riders using the Port Authority Transit Corporation (PATCO) "Speedline" rail rapid transit service, connecting Center-City Philadelphia with southern New Jersey suburban areas, provides a case in point. Conducted by the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), this survey found that the PATCO Speedline (a "heavy", fully grade-separated rapid transit system) carries a whopping 47% of New Jersey business commuters and 58% of Camden County business commuters who work in Center City Philadelphia. in other words, approximately half of New Jersey business commuters travelling into Center City Philadelphia are relying on this rapid transit facility (opened in 1969). One can imagine the crush of additional vehicles on the Delaware River bridges into Philly if this rail transit service were not available! This is certainly a far cry from the minuscule, "one-half of one percent" figures typically claimed as "transit market share" by Road Warrior critics. The DVRPC study also revealed that, of PATCO riders, 95% live in New Jersey, 77% use the line to commute to work, and 23% ride for shopping and recreation; in addition, 88% are employed full time, 4% part time, 3% are retired, amd 3% are students. More information on the survey, and the PATCO line, can be found at: http://www.drpa.org/patco/history.html Special thanks to J. William Vigrass for referring this information. 16 February 2005 Minneapolis: Attracting new riders from the general population onto public transport is one of the foremost goals of major mass transportation investments. And that seems to be precisely what Minneapolis's new Hiawatha-corridor light rail transit (LRT) system has been doing.
Nearly 40 percent of LRT passengers are first-time transit users, according to a customer survey just
released by Metro Transit – the first onboard research the agency has conducted specifically to assess the
new rail service. "Rail ridership for January – the first full month with Hiawatha Line service from downtown
Minneapolis to the airport and Mall of America – was strong with customers boarding trains 441,846 times" reports the agency.
Edson L. Tennyson, PE, a Washington, DC-based transportation engineer, longtime public transport professional and advocate, and technical consultant to the Light Rail Now Project, notes that 441,846 monthly boardings roughly calculates to weekday ridership of 17,000 to 17,500, and may be somewhat lower because of seasonal travel behavior. "That should improve" he says. "January is not the best month. The summer riders should now be at 75 percent of potential but the [suburban] Bloomington riders should only be at half potential." Taken together, the survey and ridership results strongly underscore the whopping success of light rail in Minneapolis. "The forty percent new [transit riders] means corridor ridership increased 67 percent", Ed points out. "Of those new to transit, two-thirds said they would have otherwise driven alone for their commute, illustrating the line's initial impact on reducing traffic congestion" says Metro Transit, commenting on its survey. The agency provided additional revelations about passenger characteristics and behavior identified in the survey:
LRT ridership has been booming ever since the line opened last summer. in December, says Metro Transit, rail ridership was also "robust",
as "Fare-paying customers took 512,800 light-rail rides ..., reflecting strong demand for new service to the
airport, Bloomington and Mall of America, which began Dec. 4." The agency points out that "An additional
87,500 free rides were taken by customers the weekend of Dec. 4 and 5 to celebrate the completion of the
12-mile Hiawatha light-rail line, bringing the December total to 600,300."
in fact, it appears that the Hiawatha LRT service has already nearly reached a ridership target not expected for many months in the future. "We are especially pleased with ridership on business days, which averaged 19,200 per weekday during the month" said Brian Lamb, Metro Transit's general manager. “Our ridership target – set before construction began – was to reach 19,300 rides per weekday by the middle of 2005. In our first month of extended service we already are approaching that goal.” The agency further reports that since the LRT system's opening on 26 June 2004, "customers have taken 2.9 million light-rail rides through December, 106 percent higher than expectations." in addition, "Customers rode Metro Transit buses and trains 5.5 million times in December 2004, 228,300 more trips than the same period a year earlier." Very strong LRT ridership in December 2004 "boosted overall Metro Transit ridership 4.4 percent ahead of rides logged in December 2003." However, says the agency, "For the full year, train and bus rides were down 3.3 percent, or 1.9 million, over total bus rides in 2003." Metro Transit notes that its monthly ridership tally is based on a sampling of at least 25 percent of trips. "Staff members counted the number of customers boarding these trips at each station regardless of how the customer reached the rail platform." 16 February 2005 Seattle monorail project, facing revenue shortfall, seeks to extend bond payback period Faced with lower-than-expected tax revenues and possibly higher-than-expected project costs, the Seattle Monorail Project (SMP) – the agency in charge of installing the Green Line monorail system okayed by voters – has begun seeking legislative approval to extend its bond repayment period beyond the 40 years currently authorized. SMP officials argue the longer period is needed to help lower bond interest rates, but critics of the project – including some transit advocates – argue the move could significantly raise the total cost of the monorail project above what was promised to to Seattle residents.
"it represents an overreaching by [SMP] to try to grab more money than the voters ever authorized to fund
this project" argued Liv Finne, a monorail critic and co-chairwoman of the now-dormant Yes On 83
campaign, which last November tried unsuccessfully to block further development of the monorail project
through an initiative, i-83. (See Seattle: Monorail "recall" loses, but project continues to face criticism.)
"i think they're in a big bind" said Richard Borkowski, president of People for Modern Transit (an underwriter
of Light Rail Now), also a vocal critic of the monorail project.
These charges seemed somewhat corroborated by statements from SMP officials themselves.
According to the Seattle Post-intelligencer, "Monorail officials said the longer payout period
may be needed if the car-tab tax supporting the project doesn't produce enough to pay the bonds in a
shorter period." However, the paper noted that SMP officials still seem to be hoping that their project can be
adequately financed with the current "car-tab" tax, which is levied at 1.4 percent of the value of each motor
vehicle in municipal Seattle.
The Seattle monorail developments are of particular interest to rail transit professionals and advocates because monorail promoters, attacking plans for light rail and other standard railway projects, have persistently contended that monorails are much less costly and less prone to the budget overruns sometimes experienced by other "fixed guideway" projects. in a recent public statement and analysis, Borkowski aimed more sharp criticism at the SMP move to push a bond-repayment extension through the Washington state legislature, noting that the state senate had introduced "a bill that codifies monorail bonding at 40 years, 15 years longer than the 25 years that the SMP has been stating publicly." Borkowski also notes that SB5434 was sponsored by State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Wells, who also sits on the SMP Board of Directors. "While the bill is described as a housekeeping bill," says Borkowski, "it includes sweeping changes including 2 new depreciation schedules for cars and trucks." "in 2002," Borkowski continues, "the monorail tax was expected to last 25 years. The agency now states they will need at least 40 years. The bill gives them the ability to extend the bonding past 40 years, at the sole discretion of the agency. it removes many of the financial controls that were sold to the voters in 2002." Borkowski then offers an analysis of what the eventual financial impact of the bonding change could mean. He assumes $1.6 billion to be borrowed (the estimated cost of the project) and "a very conservative" interest rate of 4%. Using these values, Borkowski calculates that, over a payback period of 25 years, the monthly bond payment would be $8.4 million/month (year 2005 dollars). Total amount paid = $8.4 million x 300 months = $2.5 billion With a 40-year payback period, the monthly bond payment would be $6.7 million/month (again, in 2005 dollars). Total amount paid = $6.7 million x 480 months = $3.2 billion "So the total project costs for the monorail project will escalate from $2.5 billion to $3.2 billion" warns Borkowski. "By extending the term to 40 years, the interest charges accumulate dramatically. This represents a cost increase of $700 million, solely due to interest payments on the $1.6 billion estimated project costs." if the interest rate is higher than the "conservative" 4% assumed, says Borkowski, the total cost to Seattle taxpayers will be even higher. "At 5% interest the 40 year bonds would be $8.6 million per month or a total of $4.1 billion. (What's another billion?)" Borkowki also notes that, in 1999, Sound Transit's $350 million worth of 25-year bonds were issued "at a historically low interest rate of 4.97%." The bottom line: Approving extension of SMP's bonding period could increase total Green Line monorail project costs from about 28% to 64% or more, depending on the interest rate obtained. For further details on the Seattle Monorail Project, Borkowski recommends visiting the Seattle Channel's Web Site: http://www.seattlechannel.org/issues/monorail.htm 13 February 2005 Angers chooses steel-wheel light rail tramway over guided-bus "BRT" According to Urban Transit News of 11 February 2005, published by the Light Rail Transit Association, the small French city of Angers (with an urbanized area population of just 226,900) "has decided in favour of a steel wheel tramway for a 12-km [7.4-mile] north/south line to be built by 2009...." LRT tramway technology was selected over an alternative "rubber-tired tramway" (using guided "bus rapid transit", or "BRT", technology) for a variety of reasons (see below). The initial line, routed northwest from the city center, is projected to carry 35,000 passenger-trips a day by 2010, and will run within 400 meters (about a quarter-mile) of some 57,000 residents and 21,000 jobs. It's currently envisioned that riders will be served with a six-minute headway for 19 hours a day. Bids (tenders) are being invited for fifteen 32-meter (106-ft) trams. The project is estimated to cost €180 million (about US$232 million). That's about $19 million/km or $31 million/mile. A second, east-west, line is also being evaluated. Further details on the Angers tramway project can be found in an announcement of the decision on the website of the Angers Loire Métropole (metropolitan district): http://www.agglo-angers.fr/tramway According to the official announcement, well-proven, standard-rail tramway technology was selected rather than a guided-bus "BRT" system for reasons of safety as well as because of technical issues and financial advantages. A steel-wheel tramway offered the advantage of a large variety of vendors, and the hardware had "proven reliable for a very long time...." Angers planners apparently were extremely impressed with the performance and durability of light rail transit (LRT) tram rolling stock on other systems. For example, they note the "very good condition" of the first vehicles of the original trams in Nantes, despite their now being 20 years old. At the same time, they also appear impressed by advances in tram (light rail vehicle) technology, noting the "improvement of the quality (comfort, silence, flexibility, accessibility) of new vehicles recently put in service." Metro district officials recount that the only "tramway sur pneu" (rubber-tired "tramway", or guided-bus technology) which met the capacity requirements of the Angers project was the proprietary "new generation" system developed by Translohr. While this technology has been selected for deployment in the small city of Clermont Ferrand (headquarters of Michelin), notes the Métropole, it has not yet operated in actual service. Another advantage of LRT recognized by Angers was that it opened rolling-stock selection to a wider spectrum of competitive bidders, "thus attracting the best possible prices...." Apparently, the availability of a well-proven, widely standardized technology (steel-wheel on rail) was particularly attractive. The Métropole announcement cites again the example of Nantes, where "the oldest vehicles that run today were manufactured by Alstom and the most recent by Bombardier." Angers apparently was also not impressed by claims of significantly quieter operation made on behalf of guided "BRT" or "tram on rubber tires". The announcement cites a study demonstrating that, at lower operating speeds, typical in most populated areas, "where the noise issue is thus most important," the difference between the two systems (steel-wheel vs. rubber tire) was only one decibel. Now that the choice of mode has been made, Angers is moving swiftly to get the tramway project under way. Besides soliciting bids (tenders) for rolling stock, officials also expect to launch competitive bidding for construction of the system's maintenance center, to be located next to the city's old airport. Groundbreaking is expected by the autumn of 2006. 13 February 2005 Vilnius (Lithuania) planning light rail tramway network Yet another major European city is now planning a brand-new light rail tramway system. Vilnius, capital of the Baltic nation of Lithuania, with a population of about 580,000, has a tramway project "well advanced", according to public transport analyst and advocate Leroy Demery, Jr. Details of the project can be found at the municipal website pages on the tramway project, in Lithuanian: http://www.vilnius.lt/TRAMVAJUS Leroy notes that the feasibility study for the tramway was performed by SYSTRA. Line A is planned to extend 10.4 km [6.4 mi] from the station (Stotis) north to Santariskes. A three-line, 44.6-km [27.7-mi] network is planned for construction by 2015. A possible future extension to the airport is also under study. Leroy also points out that Vilnius "is the only European capital (aside from Reykjavik) that has never had an electric tramway." NOTE: For information and translated material used in this report, thanks to Leroy Demery, Jr. and Janis Eiduks. 10 February 2005 Bush budget proposal to kill Amtrak sparks widespread outrage in a move astounding in its wantonly destructive intentions, the USA's George W. Bush administration has proposed a budget eliminating funding for Amtrak's national intercity rail passenger operations. This attack on an essential element of the USA's public transport network – and concomitant with parallel cutbacks in mass transit funding – is a reckless assault on the mobility and quality of life of the American traveling public. Certainly the primary focus of Light Rail Now! is urban and regional public transport. However, as we explain on our Amtrak and intercity Public Transport page, we recognize that all mobility systems are interrelated – particularly urban, regional, and intercity public transport systems. Intercity rail passenger service – which, in the USA, means Amtrak – and other surface transportation (including motor coach services) are all integrally linked with the fortunes of local mass transit, including light rail transit (LRT). Bush's budget eliminates all funding for intercity Amtrak services. Apparently in an effort to throw a small political sop to political interests impacted by a total rail shutdown in the Northeast Corridor (NEC), the budget dollops a relatively tiny $360 million, to be allocated to the Surface Transportation Board ostensibly to continue commuter railway and freight operations within the NEC. But how such an agency would be able to carry out such a mission, and to what extent with the given funds, is highly questionable. As the National Association of Railroad Passengers points out, "it is not clear that this would be enough to accomplish these purposes, and not even the Administration claims it would allow continuation of any Amtrak trains." The Bush move to shut down Amtrak has touched off outrage across the nation, and prompted denunciations even from moderate voices. The normally restrained and circumspect Amtrak CEO, David L. Gunn, described the Bush proposal as a plan for "forcing an Amtrak bankruptcy". "Obviously, the proposal is irresponsible and a surprising disappointment" stated Gunn in a letter to Amtrak's workforce (7 Feb. 2005). Even before the Bush proposal was formally released, the Washington-based National Association of Railroad Passengers (the foremost lobbying group on behalf of intercity rail passenger service) stated that it was "outraged" at reports of Bush's move to eliminate Amtrak's funding (media release, 2 February 2005). After the official release of the proposal, NARP issued a blistering followup statement which "condemns this proposal as radical and irresponsible" (media release, 7 Feb.). The following is a sampling of other reactions, collected and published on Craig S. O'Connell's Friends of Amtrak website:
· Rep. Mike Castle (R-De), described as "a regular Amtrak rider", denounced the proposed
funding cuts, saying the move contradicts the goal of reforming the
nation`s passenger rail service. "Reducing the budget deficit by half
is going to be extremely difficult, and you can`t do it by zeroing out
the budget for Amtrak" said Castle.
· Senator Tom Carper (D-De) called the move to strike Amtrak subsidies
from the 2006 budget a "nonstarter in Congress... At a time when our
dependence on foreign oil is at an all-time high, when we have
unprecedented congestion on our highways and at our airports, and with
unacceptable air pollution, i cannot comprehend why Bush would want to
eliminate federal support for intercity passenger rail service" Carper told a local TV reporter (WJZ-TV, Channel 13, Md).
· Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) pointed out that "President Bush is willing to spend billions to
send a couple of people to Mars, but not one dime for Amtrak's 25 million annual travelers who
want better rail service to destinations on this planet."
· Montana Senator Max Baucus (D) also denounced the plan to eliminate Amtrak.
"i haven't seen the president`s budget as it won't be released until Monday. But, it would be outrageous to
eliminate funding for Amtrak.
Amtrak is vital to our state. It's essential for transportation, jobs, recreation and our economy." He also
noted that "Communities along the Hi-Line depend on Amtrak every day."
· J. P. Donovan, spokesman for US Sen. Conrad Burns, (R-Mt), said
Wednesday morning – before Bush's plan became known – that
Burns would continue to support Amtrak and try to get its next request
fully funded. A study commissioned by the state government in 2003
found that Amtrak's Empire Builder contributes nearly $14 million annually
to the economy in Montana. Ridership on the Empire Builder continues to
increase. (Havre Daily News, 4 Feb.)
· US Senate Democrats Jon Corzine and Frank Lautenberg "say cutting funds
to Amtrak will bring the railroad to the brink of bankruptcy, which
will have disastrous effects for New Jersey commuters.
The senators say nearly 4 million New Jerseyans ride Amtrak every year
and some 82,000 daily commuters take more than 300 New Jersey Transit
trains that operate along Amtrak's Northeast Corridor every day." (Wall Street Journal, 4 Feb.)
· Amtrak spokesman Cliff Black underscored that "Amtrak cannot operate without a federal
appropriation." "We are embarked upon a capital investment
program that cannot be interrupted without serious consequences" Black added.
9 February 2005 Dayton, Ohio envisions 3-route electric streetcar system
Could electric streetcars make a return to Dayton, Ohio? According to recent news reports, the prospect is
being seriously considered by Dayton-area planners and decisionmakers.
The Dayton Business Journal of 24 January 2005 reports that officials of the
Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission (MVRPC – basically, the region's metropolitan planning
organization) are favoring a plan for a $60 million electric streetcar system extending for 16 miles (about 26
km) over three interconnected routes, running "on area roads among regular vehicle traffic...." According to
the paper, the streetcar plan has been drafted by Gem Public Sector Services, an affiliate of Dayton-based
Gem Real Estate Group inc. Planners say the project could be built in a seven-year period.
A separate report in Rail Transit Online (February 2005) relates that destinations that could be
served by the system include the University of Dayton, the US Air Force Museum, various federal National
Parks sites, and downtown Dayton. Mike Robinette, MVRPC executive director, said the annual operating
cost are projected to be approximately $1.8 million.
The Business Journal reports that area officials are "encouraged" by a survey indicating that
"more than 50 percent of commuters who routinely drive their car to work or for other purposes downtown
are interested in using a streetcar". According to the study, the system would need at least 3,250 daily
boardings, at $1.25 a trip, plus other income from advertising, to cover its annual operation costs. Planners
expect that figure eventually to climb to more than 4,600 rider-trips at a slightly higher fare within several
years. The Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority is viewed as "the most logical organization to operate the system".
Light rail transit (LRT) plans have been floated for Dayton at least since the mid-1970s, when a modern
interurban-type LRT system was evaluated for a railroad corridor as an alternative to a previously proposed
busway. That and a string of other plans have seemed to go nowhere ... until now. The idea of "some sort of light-rail transportation linking tourist attractions and other areas" of
Dayton "has been kicked around for more than a decade", the MVRPC's Robinette told the Business
Journal. However, he emphasized that "this plan is the first to deal specifically with a streetcar system
and is by far the most realistic and extensive to date."
According to Norm Essman, Dayton's economic development director, a streetcar system could "enhance
economic development efforts, boost tourism, provide park and ride options, and better connect different
areas of the city...." Streetcars could carry sports fans to special events or workers to lunch, as well as
provide a convenient way for visitors to access museums – while reducing the number of motor vehicles clogging central-city streets.
Bolstering Dayton’s economic revival is another key objective of the trolley plan.
New Orleans, of course, is another major US city which has been in the forefront of the streetcar revival
(see New Orleans Rail Transit and Public Transport
Developments), and that city's deputy economic development director, John Talmage, emphasized the
value of streetcars to the Business Journal's reporter. "They are a community-friendly way of
moving people around" Talmage said. "They're something that adds a little more flavor to the city." in New
Orleans, he added, We have additional plans for a third and possibly a fourth line."
While the City of New Orleans per se has just less than 500,000 residents, it's already experiencing
significant redevelopment along its new streetcar lines. According to Talmage, "some of the development
includes the renovation of an old department store into condominiums, a medical district and a new hotel."
Current thinking in Dayton seems to be leaning toward installation of a heritage-style streetcar operation.
"The electric-powered streetcars are expected to look similar to the old-fashioned streetcars popularized in
San Francisco" notes the Business Journal article. However, Dayton would not have to go to
California to find the historic roots of streetcar transportation. At one time, Rail Transit Online
points out, "Dayton was served by six separate electric railway companies, two of which were interurbans."
9 February 2005 Algiers:
One thing that is particularly striking about recent transit development in many Third World developing
nations is that it increasingly seems to take the form of grade-separated rapid transit – ranging from
"exotic" automated guideway (AGT) systems for lighter-capacity feeder-type roles, to light metros and full
rapid transit metros for much heavier traffic. While this appears to be mainly a response to the large
populations and high densities now being experienced in many of these cities, it also seems to stand in
contrast to developments in North America and Europe, where there currently tends to be far greater emphasis on surface
rail modes, particularly light rail (LRT), including tramways (streetcar systems).
However, for the Third World, more exceptions are starting to emerge. These include new and upgraded surface-routed
light electric railways in Mexico and other Latin American countries, tramways and other LRT systems in
Turkish cities, a possible new tramway in Hanoi, and similar systems in several countries of North Africa.
One of the latest developments in this category is in Algeria. A new tramway system is now planned for the
capital city of Algiers, despite the fact that a full metro rapid transit system has already been under
construction. With the completion of the metro system still several years away, assessment of a tramway
system was undertaken under the authority of the transport minister. That assessment has led to the
decision to install a light rail tramway system with several branches.
The first line, Est (East), to be built within three years, is planned to extend from Annassers to Borj el
Kiffan. This line will be designed for a transport capacity of 150,000 passengers per day. The
project will extend 16.5 km [10.2 miles], with 38 stations, including six major passenger interchanges,
and will require 31 tram vehicles. An international invitation for tenders (bids) is expected soon. Startup is
currently targeted for 2008.
The second line, Ouest (West), is planned to extend from Place des Martyrs to Ain-benian, a distance of
15.8 km [9.8 mi] with 28 stations. This line is projected to have a transport capacity of 90,000 passengers
per day.
A third line is also planned to connect the first two, extending from Place des Martyrs to Ruisseau.
When completed, the multi-route system is projected to carry upwards of 200,000 passenger-trips a day.
Capital costs for the total system have not yet been made readily available to the public.
NOTE: Material in this report has been adapted from the Forum-Algerie online discussion list,
the newspaper Quotidien El -Khabar, and Tramways & Urban Transit, Feb. 2005. Thanks
to Leroy Demery, Jr. for assisting with translation from French source material.
1 February 2005 Ottawa:
Ottawa, Ontario's "Transitway" (busway) or "Bus Rapid Transit" ("BRT") system has, for more than a
decade, held the status (at least among its promoters) of a model for "BRT" in North America. "BRT"
marketers have extolled it with lavish claims as a supposedly less costly substitute for light rail transit (LRT).
However, according to a City of Ottawa document recently shared with us by a correspondent in Ontario, it
appears that the Ottawa Transitway's status as a showcase for "BRT" is rejected even by the city's own
municipal officials. The document also sheds insight on some of the planning issues being taken into
consideration by local planners.
The document is titled Rapid Transit Expansion Study (Feb 2003), and of particular interest is
the section "Comparing Bus and Rail Technologies". in this section, Ottawa planners note some general
comparative features between light rail transit (LRT) and "BRT":
· Based on review of existing transit operating systems, it is generally accepted within the rapid transit
industry that the relative capacities of BRT and LRT are comparable, with LRT having a greater capacity (up
to 30%).
· The right-of-way requirements for BRT and LRT are comparable.
· The capital costs for LRT are generally greater than that for BRT. However, depending upon the
extent and nature of the rapid transit rail service, operating costs for LRT can be lower when the vehicles
are used to capacity, resulting in lower life cycle costs and lower costs per passenger-kilometre.
Comparative capital and operating costs were acquired from Toronto, Calgary, Detroit, Dallas, Denver, Los
Angeles, Pittsburgh, San Diego and San Jose.
Despite over two decades of "BRT" operation, there does not seem to be rousing public enthusiasm for the
area's "BRT" system. instead, public sentiment, as reported in the City of Ottawa document, seems to favor
LRT technology. it should be noted that Ottawa's transit agency has been operating a short self-powered
light railway (called the O-Train), somewhat on an "experimental" basis, since the fall of 2001 – see
Ottawa (Finally) Opts for Light Rail. Whether this service played a significant role in influencing the attitudes
exhibited by the public is unknown. In any case, the document summarizes "Public comments comparing
LRT and BRT" as follows:
· a strongly stated preference by the public attendees of the open houses and stakeholder
participants in the study for the train over the bus
in proposing expansion of urban railway service in Ottawa, planners clearly envision an electrically powered
LRT system, rather than a more extensive system relying on self-powered vehicles:
The current Talent vehicle used on the O-Train corridor is not considered suitable for use in a downtown or
urban setting. For this reason, lighter vehicles are recommended for the Ottawa system. LRT vehicles that
travel in urban areas and are integrated into urban and/or downtown streetscapes have the following
features:
· low floors for easy entry and less obtrusive platforms
(it should be noted that self-powered railcars could also be "connected into longer train sets" (i.e., MUed).
This is not a capability exclusive to electric operation.)
Of especial interest is the document's discussion of the problems involved with "Conversion of the
Transitway to LRT". This is an issue drawing much discussion and debate among transit industry
professionals, and the possibility of eventual conversion from busway to railway is often used in
justifications for installing "BRT" rather than LRT – "We can convert to rail when ridership gets high
enough."
Some planners and rail advocates, however, counter that there have been almost no instances of such
conversions taking place (Seattle's expensive retrofitting of the city's Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, to accommodate south line Link LRT trains, is a
rare exception), particularly because any conversion project would add considerable extra expense, and, in
addition, transit agencies understandably aim to extract as much use and value as possible from their
investment in bus-specific facilities, which may have economic lives ranging between 30 and 50 years).
Furthermore, a conversion project in many cases would interrupt or disrupt existing "BRT" services –
and operators are reluctant to disrupt what may be one of their most heavily used transit services.
Several of these arguments by rail supporters appear to be corroborated by conclusions reached by City of
Ottawa planners, and expressed in the report. Significantly, the document notes that "The transitway has
been designed to be convertible to LRT." Nevertheless, and despite the advantages and public support
expressed on behalf of LRT, Ottawa planners conclude that the "BRT" Transitway still has usefulness for
another couple of decades:
The current Transitway incorporates exclusive right-of-way, a ‘rapid’ transit characteristic that allows faster
travel than conventional bus transit. With the exception of the downtown, the Transitway has sufficient
capacity for the next 20 years.
Furthermore, the document argues, "Conversion of the Transitway to LRT would be expensive" for several
reasons:
1. There will be service disruption during conversion. Rapid transit service would, in essence, cease while
rail construction takes place.
2. Value for money is not sufficient to justify conversion. Conversion of the Transitway from Orleans to
Kanata would cost about $1 billion and provide unnecessary under-utilized capacity.
As a result, states the document,
The study concludes that with limited financial resources, it is better to invest in new rapid transit corridors
than to replace an existing one. It is not considered cost-effective to convert the Transitway to LRT at this
time.
With further upgrades and extensions, the existing Transitway will continue to play an essential role in the
recommended Rapid Transit Network. The network is one in which BRT and LRT are effectively blended to
complement each other.
The issue of whether "BRT" (i.e., busway) was, in hindsight, the most cost-effective choice for the
Transitway corridor (which involved the widening and paving of an existing, abandoned railway right-of-way)
is not addressed. Nevertheless, the report seems to state conclusively that, once a busway investment is in
place, there are serious obstacles to converting it to LRT. This consequence should weigh heavily in the
deliberations of planners and decision-makers in other areas where LRT and "BRT" are being compared as
potential project alternatives for New Start investments.
31 January 2005 LA-area Metrolink wreck:
Once again, another major US disaster has provoked an hysterical rush to judgement and cry for
precipitous, ill-advised "remedies". This time, it's the recent Metrolink regional ("commuter") rail wreck in
Glendale, California (within the Los Angeles urbanized area), caused when an apparently deranged motorist
placed his SUV (a Jeep Cherokee) on the tracks, reportedly with initial intentions to attempt suicide.
According to news details, the vehicle was not placed on the tracks at a grade crossing; instead, the
motorist evidently drove his vehicle over rough terrain and then onto open tracks.
in addition to the usual media-driven finger-pointing, there's also the familiar stampede of "knee-jerk" rail
transit opponents who have emerged to denounce regional rail service (by far one of the safest
modes of urban transport) – fulminating against the "dangers" of regional passenger rail transit and, in
particular, "push-pull" operation.
Push-pull operation is widespread throughout the North American transit industry. In this very common practice, passenger coaches are pulled behind a
locomotive in one direction, then, in reverse for the return trip, they are pushed forward by the
locomotive in the other direction. This requires the end coach to be a "cab-car", i.e., equipped with a cab
and appropriate apparatus to control the locomotive from the opposite end of the train. in such
configurations, the engineer (train operator) operates the train from controls in a front compartment (cab) of the cab car, where
passengers also ride. Cab cars are typically built to more rigorous structural requirements than ordinary passenger coaches.
According to the Los Angeles Times (27 January 2005), push-pull operation has been
widespread since at least the 1950s, and "is viewed by many transportation experts as the best way to run a
commuter rail system, from a logistical and practical standpoint." The practice "is also less expensive
because train operators don't have to buy additional locomotives or build turnarounds to move engines from
one end of the train to the other" the Times points out. Without this flexibility, a number of
regional rail transit operations would be significantly less cost-effective.
Little wonder, then, that rail transit foes have been quick to seize on the fact that the Metrolink train which
struck the SUV on the tracks was a push-pull train being operated in "push" mode – it was the leading
cab-car which struck the SUV. "if you are going to hit something, you want to hit it with a locomotive. It just
makes sense" anti-rail crusader Tom Rubin told a Los Angeles Times reporter.
it should be noted that, while Rubin was blithely described as an "expert" by the Times reporter, he is actually well-known nationally for his anti-rail
transit campaigns, on occasion teaming with other "professional" rail critics like Wendell Cox.
Jim Moore, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California and another longtime, well-known rail opponent (many of whose tracts are published by the far-right, fanatically pro-highway Reason
Foundation), intoned that Metrolink service should be ceased immediately, not only because it was a killer,
but because it was an |
