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Mass Transit: All Aboard?

Plans in Pipeline, but Some Could Get Stalled at the Station

By Scott Judy

The plans and hopes of mass-transit proponents and governmental bodies across the Southeast are gaining various levels of increased momentum as planners, politicians and others increasingly embrace the idea as a partial solution to growing congestion problems.

Indeed, Federal Transit Administration officials say there's a "full pipeline" of potential projects, and adjustments in funding resulting from the recently enacted SAFETEA-LU transportation bill could cause an "explosion" in requests for certain, less-intensive transit projects.

Around the four-state region, a variety of folks think they see the train coming around the bend:

• "There is increasing support. Transit isn't the only solution. But it's part of the solution, and people are increasingly seeing it as the way to get around." - Alan Brick-Turin, vice president with HNTB in Miami.
• "There's a change in priority from building more roads and laying down more pavement versus developing mass-transit systems. The decision-makers are looking ahead, and part of the answer seems to be mass transit." - Mike Sherman, a project manager with PBS&J in Fort Lauderdale.
  
• "I think it's just building the infrastructure that's going to make it attractive for them to get out of their cars. It is a car mentality, and until we put the public transportation infrastructure there that encourages people to give it a try, it's not going to take off." - Bonnie Arnold, public affairs manager, South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Fort Lauderdale.
  
• "They're kind of out in front of the crisis stage. Instead of just waiting for traffic, they're anticipating it and building the transit system now." - Donal Simpson, director of urban design and planning and associate vice president, HNTB, Charlotte.
  
• "People always ask about passenger service. It's definitely on people's radar and probably will be of more interest as the state grows." - Kat Christian, public affairs director, North Carolina Railroad, Raleigh.
  

Charlotte: At the Front of the Line

Charlotte planners are at the front of the current Southeastern transit line with construction already progressing on a multifaceted, $2 billion system that will include light rail, a streetcar system and possibly some bus rapid transit, or BRT. The Charlotte Area Transit System is working toward a late 2007 opening of its first light-rail line, called the South Corridor.

The 9.6-mi. line will be the first of five corridors and a streetcar line CATS plans to build that will converge on uptown Charlotte and connect all of Mecklenburg County.

"This system is something to treasure," said James Sampson, vice president and project manager with STV, the construction manager for the light-rail line. "Charlotte has gotten into light rail early, and that's a good thing."

Construction costs are $426.8 million, with approximately $200 million coming from federal grants and $107 million from the state.

All of this activity is the result of a half-penny tax approved by Charlotte voters in 1998 that is dedicated to transit development. In industry terms, that's a dedicated-funding source - the holy grail of turning a transit dream into reality and the key to winning major federal funding. So far, only Charlotte and Miami have these secured for future systems.

In addition to its light rail, Charlotte is moving forward on plans for a streetcar system, described as a European-style tram. Initial plans will have it running for about 3 mi. in the city's downtown and eventually extended for a total of about 11 mi. Simpson, the associate vice president with HNTB, designers of the streetcar system, said it will be retro and modern at the same time.

"It's sort of extra-light rail," he added. "It runs on rail and has overhead power. It's a new version of the old streetcar. Cars can drive in the same lane, whereas light rail has to run on a separate track."

For future corridors, CATS is also looking at commuter rail - a more conventional train system - as well as the possibility of BRT in a couple of corridors. BRT makes use of modern bus vehicles that often look more like light rail than a bus and use various techniques, such as express lanes, to make this mode of transportation an attractive and viable alternative to more expensive rail systems.

But Charlotte has more than just money and an emerging rail line. City planners there have garnered respect for their long-range and comprehensive vision that connects their emerging transit system with overall community development.

Planners there have already taken the step of changing zoning requirements to foster transit-oriented development - private-sector development around transit hubs - and promote overall residential development along the planned corridors.

"There are multiple mixed-use development projects around the light-rail stations," Simpson said. "The development community has really seen the long-term potential, and consequently the city has really embraced it."

Transit-oriented development, or TOD, is also a big part of the vision in sunny South Florida.

Miami and South Florida, Too

The dreams in South Florida - Miami in particular - are pretty ambitious.

"South Florida may be pursuing transit as aggressively as anywhere else in the country," said Brick-Turin with HNTB. "There will be a lot of activity."

Miami's $17 billion People's Transportation Plan was adopted in 2002 when Miami-Dade voters approved a half-penny sales tax.

Miami-Dade officials say the county - which currently has a limited light-rail system - has plans for eight rail extension projects: the North Corridor; Earlington Heights-MIC Connection; Bay Link; East-West Multimodal Corridor; Kendall; North-East Corridor; South Miami-Dade Corridor; and Douglas. All are in various stages of engineering and planning. (For more information on these and other projects, visit http://www.miamidade.gov/trafficrelief/home.asp)

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Because it has a dedicated funding source, these projects may have better prospects than others around the country also seeking federal funding. But the feds have strict regulations for proving a project's merits, and each must progress through the multiple steps to receive federal funding.

"They think it's rock-solid, but the federal government is looking at hundreds of projects across the country, so South Florida is in competition with every other part of the country for those same dollars," Brick-Turin said.

But he added that the projects are probably going to happen, but "it's a question of which will happen first."

Sherman, who is with PBS&J, a firm working on the study of the East-West corridor, said that section could likely be light rail and probably travel along Interstate 595. The North Corridor, meanwhile, has already achieved "approved" status from the FTA. That may put it to the front of the list of projects seeking funding.

The transportation plan would also fund highway and road improvements that would include creating viable reverse-flow lanes on major thoroughfares; construction of N.W. 87th Avenue between N.W. 154th Street and Miami Gardens Drive; and constructing ingress/egress improvements in downtown Miami, among other items.

Bus improvements are part of the mix, too. Miami-Dade wants to add 635 new buses and an examination of the possibilities of BRT. There's also the proposed downtown streetcar, which Brick-Turin labeled a "serious project."

The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority - formerly Tri-Rail - has its own set of plans. They include the following proposed transit corridors: Central Broward East-West Transit; Dolphin Extension; Florida East Coast Corridor; Jupiter Extension (Florida East Coast); and the Kendall Extension. (For more information on all of these, visit http://www.southeast.construction.com to download a pdf of SFRTA's "Direction and Vision.")

Of these, the Jupiter and Kendall extensions "may come to fruition the fastest," said Arnold, public affairs director for SFRTA. She added that at the same time, all of SFRTA's plans are riding on a statewide legislative initiative that would add a $2 daily surcharge to car rentals for transit funding.

"Everything's riding on the dedicated funding source," she said.

If the funding source is enacted, Arnold estimated that SFRTA would gain about $45 million annually - the amount generated by the surcharge in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

That's still a hope and would likely have to go to the voters first, said Robert Burleson, president of the Federal Transportation Builders Association in Tallahassee.

Burleson added that he'd rather see voters offered a choice between transit and highway construction. Large, capital-intensive systems still have the potential to impact the state's highway trust fund due to their operational expenses, he said. It was for that reason that FTBA fought against the state's high-speed rail plan, which was ultimately derailed.

"The issues are how do you fund it, and does it make sense economically?" Burleson said. "We thought high-speed rail would suck the trust fund dry, not so much to build it as to operate it. We would have a similar concern with any kind of public transportation system that might evolve in South Florida."

And he doesn't buy the arguments that transit is the only way out of the congestion conundrum.

"There's a certain amount of truth to that, but you heard those same arguments from people in public transportation 20 years ago," Burleson said. "When 100 percent of the goods and 98 percent of the people move on the roadway, you've got to figure that's where the people choose to go. Even though we might fuss about being stuck in traffic, most people aren't jumping on the MetroRail or TriRail.

"It's just a question of where you've got limited resources you have to try to make the best use of it that you possibly can."

Burleson added that he'd like to see more money put into bus systems. And he's probably going to get his wish.

BRT is set for an "explosion," said FTA officials. They added that SAFETEA-LU expands eligibility of the major capital program to include Small Starts, which are projects that are less than $250 million in total cost and $75 million in New Starts funding. SAFETEA-LU also broadened eligibility to nonfixed guideway systems for technologies such as bus rapid transit.

Transit-oriented development is also a major push. Like Charlotte, South Florida is hoping to do much of that. SFRTA has purchased land around many of its stations and is currently investigating residential and mixed-use projects around those sites that would be developed by private-sector firms.

A major TOD in West Palm Beach, near the City Place retail district, holds "tremendous potential," said Arnold. A design charette has been held and the project has been turned over to the county and the city to develop.

In Atlanta, which already has its MARTA system, the initiatives aren't quite as lofty.

There, city officials are strongly promoting the Beltline, a 22-mi. transit-oriented loop around the city that reuses existing railroad rights-of-way as a wide linear park with streetcars, bicycle and pedestrian paths connecting over 40 different neighborhoods. It organizes adjacent abandoned industrial land for TOD, expands transit service within the urban core and connects various parts of an emerging regional trail system.

In 2005, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin created the Beltline Partnership, which she charged with creating an organizational structure and strategic plan for the implementation of the Beltline.

A group of city leaders is also moving forward with a plan to get a streetcar system up and running in downtown Atlanta.

Overall, it may be awhile, but something's coming down that track.

"We're going to continue to see things moving at a rapid pace, toward construction of transit and more extensive transit," said HNTB's Brick-Turin. "People are going to see increased benefits, and we'll continue to see an interest in things happening in the transit world."

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