News | Swindler | Articles

Light rail, other transit alternatives to resurface

tucsoncitizen.com September 11, 2004 Resident involvement and alternatives to cars will be critical to any plan that Pima County’s new Regional Transportation Authority presents to voters, members say. Members — representatives of the five area municipalities, Pima County, two tribal governments and the State Transportation Board — had their first meeting downtown yesterday. City and county voters have shot down four transportation packages and related sales taxes in the past 15 years. Authority members said yesterday this latest effort will emphasize community ideas and offer more than plans for new roads. “It will have to show every element in our community what is in it for them,” said authority Chairman S.L. Schorr, a Tucson lawyer and member of the state board, after fellow authority members elected him. “Everything must be on the table.” The plan will have to include light rail and other alternatives to cars, Schorr said. The authority was approved by Pima County voters last year to draft a 20-year regional transportation plan for presentation at the polls, accompanied by a half-cent sales tax to pay for improvements. One early priority will be to pick the makeup, size and mission of a citizens’ committee by the authority’s next meeting, Oct. 27, Schorr said. That sounded good to Steve Farley, whose organization Citizens for a Sensible Transportation Future, spearheaded a failed effort last year for a city plan that included expanded bus service and a light-rail line along Broadway. Voters rejected the plan, but the plan and tax were favored in precincts near the proposed rail line. “Our election proved that there is a solid block of voters willing to tax themselves in the central city for alternative modes of transportation,” said Farley, who did not attend the authority’s session and is not a member of that body. Farley said he hopes to have a member of his group join the citizens’ committee.

INVESTMENT WARNING: Monorail placed on watch list ; Bonds in danger of being downgraded

Las Vegas Review-Journal September 11, 2004 The Las Vegas Monorail has enough cash to make good on bond payments and bills into next year, but bondholders were warned Friday that all is not well with their investments. Fitch Ratings, a bond rating firm, on Friday placed a “Rating Watch Negative” status on $451.4 million in construction bonds that paid for the Strip monorail, now indefinitely closed. The move doesn’t downgrade the bond status, but it does warn bondholders that the status might be downgraded to reflect a greater chance of default on bond payments. Analysts note that the loss of around $100,000 in daily farebox revenues is being absorbed by more than $40 million in cash reserves and contractual penalties the monorail has collected. That’s enough for the monorail to stay on bond repayment schedules into January. “There are available funds that provide a very important near- term offset,” said Scott Trommer, a senior director with Fitch in New York. And the bonds themselves are insured against default. Nonetheless, the fact that the monorail has been shut down twice this month warranted the warning. “Given the recent closures of the monorail over the past couple of weeks, that raised concerns where we believed it was important to communicate that to investors,” Trommer said. Those closings were prompted by a piece of metal that fell away from a train Wednesday and a wheel that broke off another train Sept. 1. Previous problems have included a drive shaft that fell from a train during testing Jan. 5 and lingering glitches in the driverless trains’ steering computers that delayed its public opening to July 15. Monorail spokesman Todd Walker said if rail officials can get the system operating reliably, the fiscal status will take care of itself. “All of our focus is on ensuring the system operates sufficiently in the long-term,” Walker said. “Everything else will follow that.” Said Trommer: “One of the keys to keeping off a negative rating and having a stable outlook on the books is that the issues are addressed and that the monorail begins to operate over a period of time with reliable operations, and that ridership levels continue to ramp up and hold.” “If there’s an extended closure or if you have these episodes where the system is running and it shuts down for a period of time, that’s expected to have an adverse effect on ratings,” Trommer said. Fitch’s rating was no shock to Regional Transportation Commission officials, who on Thursday said a planned $450 million downtown extension is on indefinite hold until problems can be ironed out. “We’re not surprised at all,” said Ingrid Reisman, a commission spokeswoman. “It would seem that would be absolutely expected when the system isn’t currently running or bringing in any revenue.” Any future downgrade, default or inability to fix the system’s woes would bode poorly for a future $130 million bond sale needed for the downtown expansion. “We’ll have to see how it plays out,” Reisman said. The monorail’s bonds now carry a BBB-minus rating, which was its initial rating and the lowest grade of so-called “investment-grade” bonds. Such bonds are much more desirable to investors than bonds graded as “non- investment” or “junk bonds.” The state of Nevada’s bonding authority was used to issue the monorail bonds. The state won’t see its bond status affected if the monorail’s bonds flounder. “There’s no pledge on the state or tax sources,” Trommer said. Undergoing its own fiscal woes is monorail builder and operator Bombardier Corp. Last month, another bond rating firm, Moody’s Investment Service, said it may drop Bombardier’s debt ratings to “junk” status, citing the Canadian- based train and plane maker’s weak cash flow, according to the Reuters news service. On Friday, Bombardier stock closed at $3 a share. It has been sliding downward since hitting a 52-week high of $7.11 a share in February, according to CBS Marketwatch.com. Monorail officials this week were still in the early stages of an investigation. They said the closure was certain to go into next week and could last much longer. “We know there’s no way it’s going to be happening through the weekend,” Walker said.

Government of Western Australia Experiences the Future of Transportation with Ballard Powered Fuel Cell Buses

Canadian Corporate Newswire September 11, 2004 Ballard Power Systems’ President and Chief Executive Officer, Dennis Campbell, was present with various industry and government officials for the inaugural launch of three Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, powered with Ballard(R) heavy-duty fuel cell engines, in Perth, Western Australia. “The commissioning of these three buses powered with Ballard(R) fuel cells puts Western Australia at the forefront of the most dramatic and sweeping transformation in the history of motor transport,” said Dennis Campbell, Ballard’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Ballard(R) fuel cells produce electrical power without combustion, and without the urban pollutants and greenhouses gases that threaten our quality of life. The Government of Western Australia is to be commended for its leadership and commitment to zero emission urban transit, as the public transport system prepares for a two-year demonstration of Ballard-powered fuel cell buses.” The Western Australian Department for Planning and Infrastructure is hosting the “Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Futures Conference” from September 12 — 15, where there will be opportunities for conference participants to view and ride in Ballard-powered fuel cell buses. In addition, Dennis Campbell will be presenting at the conference on September 14 on “PEM Fuel Cells — An International Perspective”. Representatives from Ballard Power Systems will be on hand to demonstrate fuel cell technology at booth #23 and #24 for the duration of the conference. “Hydrogen fuel cell technology has extraordinary potential to reduce our oil dependency and improve environmental outcomes,” said Alannah MacTiernan, Western Australia’s Planning and Infrastructure Minister. “This fuel cell demonstration program that we are conducting in partnership with globally recognized technology leaders is a key element of Western Australia’s Sustainable Transport Energy Program.” The three buses will be demonstrated on various Perth City routes, including the central business district (CAT — Central Area Transit) routes, and the city circle route, and will complement the 30 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses equipped with Ballard(R) fuel cell engines on the roads of 10 cities worldwide: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Porto, Reykjavik, Stockholm and Stuttgart. Ballard has also delivered three heavy-duty fuel cell engines to Gillig Corporation for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority in California. In 2005, the City of Beijing will begin demonstrating three Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, powered by Ballard(R) fuel cell engines, bringing the number of buses to be demonstrated and driven on regular routes in daily service to 39 buses in 12 countries. Since 1993, Ballard has produced and tested five generations of heavy-duty fuel cell bus engines. Successful field demonstrations of Ballard(R) fuel cell-powered buses in Chicago, Vancouver and Palm Springs have played an integral role in advancing Ballard’s fuel cell engine technology.

Look out below!

Las Vegas Review-Journal September 12, 2004 The Las Vegas monorail sits idle again, the victim of yet another piece of falling machinery. At week’s end, it seemed more equipment has been dropped from the monorail’s cars than employees from Donald Trump’s payroll. But seriously, folks. The monorail has had some trouble. It opened months behind schedule, and saw its first accident in January when a drive shaft fell from a train. Once it did open, ridership lagged below numbers needed to pay off bonds, much less break even or make a profit. In August, an employee running a train manually opened the doors on the side of the vehicle that faced nothing but empty space rather than an adjacent platform. Then this month, a 60-pound tire fell from a train after employees ignored an alarm. That incident shuttered the monorail during the MAGIC convention, one of the year’s busiest, and the Labor Day holiday. Trains were running again until Wednesday, when a “two-pound metal object” fell to the ground on Audrie Street behind the Paris hotel-casino, but not before striking a live electrical line on the track and causing a “small electrical explosion,” according to a Review-Journal account. And this comes after the monorail’s creative corporate structure was examined by both the Review-Journal’s Omar Sofradzija and my colleague George Knapp in the Las Vegas Mercury. Both noted that a quasi-public, non-profit company actually owns the monorail’s infrastructure, and that it has been given tax-exempt status by the state. But Transit Systems Management, the private, for-profit management company that is in charge of the monorail, doesn’t reveal how much it pays in executive salaries to Chairman Jim Gibson, who’s also the mayor of Henderson, or Cam Walker, who’s the son-in-law of monorail founder the late Bob Broadbent. Response to the repeated problems with the monorail is curious. “It’s unacceptable that the system that has been given to us is operating like this,” says monorail spokesman Todd Walker, who is Cam Walker’s brother. “We want to ensure that the contractor and operator delivers the system that we paid for.” But it isn’t like the monorail sprung into existence yesterday and inherited a creaky, poorly built line from a disreputable predecessor. The Las Vegas Monorail Co., the non-profit side of the house, chose Bombardier Corp., the Canadian rail company, to operate the trains. On Thursday, monorail officials held a news conference to announce the system will be closed until an investigation is complete and the trains are deemed safe for carrying passengers. (Then again, the trains are safe for passengers right now, assuming the right doors open. It’s pedestrians and drivers on the streets below who need to don hard hats and close sunroofs.) And Regional Transportation Commission officials — who to this point have been extraordinarily friendly toward the monorail, once even calling the system the “backbone” of transportation in the county — have said plans to extend the system downtown (this time at full taxpayer expense) are on hold until the monorail is proven to be reliable and safe. The problem with things like the monorail (much like the Nevada State College in Henderson, which Gibson also endorsed in his mayoral role) is that by the time these things are built, too much has been invested for them to be scrapped. Lagging revenue and safety problems should be a cautionary tale for RTC members when mulling that downtown leg. It’s not built yet. And maybe it shouldn’t be.

Train travelers bypass parking woes; Rail speeds patrons to Reliant as drivers struggle to make kickoff

Houston Chronicle Sept. 12, 2004 More than 5,000 football fans crammed MetroRail trains Sunday in the first NFL regular season test of the Main Street line. Riders, several on board for the first time, had mostly favorable reviews of the new way to get to Houston Texans contests. Metro said about 5,100 took the rail to Reliant Park, 7 percent of the 70,255 people who had tickets to the game. The passenger count Sunday, while higher than the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s initial projection of 4,500, was down 19 percent from ridership of 6,262 to the preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys last month. Richard Zook of River Oaks had a $20 Red Lot parking permit that came with the tickets he bought. But he decided to park instead at his downtown office tower Sunday and hop on the light rail with his 8-year-old son, John, and a friend of his son instead. “It saves time and trouble by taking the train,” Zook said. “I’ve parked at the stadium in the past and getting in there can be a nightmare.” That was the experience several fans who drove to the game Sunday reported as they arrived late in the first quarter. “It took us an hour to circle around and park — they wouldn’t let us in,” said Bryce Miller of Spring, a club seat ticket holder who had a permit to park in the Blue Lot. “It’s kind of annoying when it’s prepaid parking.” Miller and other Blue Lot parkers said they exited westbound South Loop at Fannin Street and then were forced by police to turn right onto Fannin instead of proceeding straight to Kirby, where the lot’s entrance is located. They said it was a disaster to get over to Main and reach Kirby from the west side. And once they got in the lot, many club and suite patrons found the reserved parking area full and had to park in the far corner along with Six Flags AstroWorld customers. “It only took us 15 minutes to reach the Fannin exit but then more than an hour to get in the Blue Lot,” said Shaun Austin, who drove up from Pearland. “They are closing off the roads at the wrong spots.” Maps sent by the Texans to Blue Lot permit holders instruct fans coming from the east to “avoid delays” by exiting the Loop at Fannin, staying on the frontage road and turning right on Kirby. The traffic headaches frustrated some season-ticket holders, who described last year’s parking as more efficient. “I want a refund,” said an irate John Wald of Spring, walking toward the stadium 55 minutes after kickoff. “Those three cops made everyone turn. We couldn’t go straight. We sat for two hours.” Fans parking in other lots said they also got stuck in the congestion around the stadium. Jamey Rootes, Texans senior vice president, said he was told most streets in the vicinity were clear by 12:15, which is normal for a noon start time. “The report I got was that there was nothing out of the ordinary,” he said. “If there was miscommunication or a misunderstanding, we will try to fix it for the future games.” Afterward, many of those who had arrived by rail said they were pleased the line to go home moved expeditiously. The wait to board a train back was about 20 minutes.

City is drafted for rail facility

Pasadena Star-News (Pasadena, CA September 12, 2004 IRWINDALE — It could soon be Miller Time for the Gold Line, but plans to build a maintenance yard for light-rail trains in Irwindale taste flat to some city officials. A proposed $100-million facility for 80 Gold Line trains could sit on 18 acres next to Miller Brewing Co., which abuts the Foothill [210] Freeway at Irwindale Avenue. Plans are contingent upon the Gold Line light-rail system, which now ends in Pasadena, inching its way 11.4 miles east to Azusa in 2009 and then 12.6 miles further east to Montclair in 2014. Irwindale officials said they are not overjoyed by the idea. They say their city is known for many things, like rock quarries and businesses, but the idea of being home to the Gold Line light-rail maintenance facility isn’t appealing. They say rail yards are dirty and smelly, and there’s not much in it for Irwindale residents. “We don’t have an objection to it, but we didn’t ask for it to come to Irwindale,’ said Assistant City Manager Camille Diaz. “We understand there’s a regional transportation problem, but we don’t want the Gold Line to expand at the expense of Miller’s operation.’ Earlier this summer, Gold Line and Miller officials said negotiations are under way for a facility that would replace the current maintenance service building at Midway Yard near Dodger Stadium. “It’s always been contemplated that the maintenance and operation facilities would be in Irwindale,’ said Habib Balian, interim CEO of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority. “Since 2000, we knew if we built the line to Montclair we would need a maintenance facility since there was an agreement with [Los Angeles] that the current operations would be short term.’ Few details, such as the exact location or size of the service area, are known at this time. And, it’s unclear whether the move will bring new jobs, officials said. Dave Kubicek, deputy executive officer of rail operations, fleet service for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said cars are washed daily, receive maintenance and inspections at scheduled intervals. “We do anything that is required to keep the cars running,’ he said. Original plans included 80 acres and a 121 rail-car operation, but expansion plans by Miller, which has 650 employees at its Irwindale plant, forced a scaled- down Gold Line project. Miller Lite has had double-digit growth for nearly a year, company spokeswoman Julie Kubasa said. “Irwindale is our only West Coast production facility,’ she said. “We need to increase our production capabilities.’

Hold tight for memory lane

Sunday Tasmanian (Australia) September 12, 2004 LUMBERING through the narrow streets of London, the capital’s red double-decker buses are as much part of the cityscape as Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. But 50 years after their debut, the much-loved Routemaster buses, with their conductors, hop-on, hop-off platforms and pull-cord bells, are being removed from the streets, condemned as expensive antiques. These are the classics of the double-decker genre — not the first, nor the latest, but by far the most popular among passengers. Yet by the end of 2005, the buses, most of which have travelled continents with the amount of kilometres they have racked up, will disappear from the city’s streets. “It’s a great shame,” said Andrew Morgan, chairman of the Routemaster Association. “They are the classic icon of London — British built and British designed. The design is superb — look at the way it has lasted.” Created in 1947 to replace World War II-era trolleybuses, the snub-nosed, light-bodied Routemasters were hailed as revolutionary in meeting the challenges of negotiating London’s crowd-ed, winding streets. Between 1956 and 1968, a total of 2760 Routemasters were put into service, with expectations they would last no more than 17 years. Five decades later, about 300 are still on the road. Twice as many were in service last year, before the city began its campaign of forced retirement. “They’ve been fabulous, but this is the 21st century, and the city needs a 21st century transportation system,” said Graham Goodwin, a spokesman for Transport for London (TfL), the agency in charge of the city’s bus system. Goodwin said the Routemaster was being scrapped because of its 10 to 15 per cent higher operational costs and lack of accessibility to disabled passengers. As a replacement, the city has commissioned a greater number of bigger, boxy double-deckers with wheelchair access and, more notably, a fleet of so-called “bendy buses” — single-deck articulated buses that can carry up to 140 passengers. Neither model has been without its well-publicised problems. The bendy buses were temporarily banned earlier this year after four caught fire in a four-month period. And one newspaper described travel on the newer generation of-double deckers with their bright fluorescent lights and grey-flecked interiors as having as much charm as sitting at the bottom of a swimming pool. MORE irritating to harried commuters is the length of time it takes to load passengers past the driver, who must check all fares, unlike Routemasters where conductors speed the process along. “They’re trying to convince us they’re an improvement. I don’t know why they couldn’t just keep the Routemasters alongside the new buses,” said John Raferty, who regularly travels the Number 73 route from his home in north London. “I go out of my way to avoid the new ones,” said Stephanie North, a 26-year-old business manager waiting to catch a Number 19 in north London. “The old ones are part of our heritage. It’s so important for London’s image — it’s nostalgia.” Certainly there is an almost cinematic quality to jumping onto the open platform of a Routemaster and waving goodbye to a friend as the bus winds its way around Piccadilly Circus. For decades, tourists have climbed the narrow stairs and settled into the front seat of a Routemaster for an inexpensive eagle’s eye tour of the city’s top sites. “Look at the guide books, a lot of them have a Routemaster on the cover. Look at all the postcards — that shows you what a hold the Routemaster has as a symbol of London,” said Ben Brook, the organiser behind one of a handful of petitions against the bus’s demise. Mayor Ken Livingstone, who pledged four years ago to keep the Routemasters, has promised to retain some of the buses for use on a “heritage route” for tourists in central London. But Brook and other detractors are fiercely critical of city officials who they say are quietly robbing Londoners of a world-renowned icon, without their knowledge or approval. Forlorn fans of the doomed Routemaster do have one last option — buy one. Several websites in Britain advertise sales of the bus at prices starting from $5160.

Stop complaining: Traffic’s not so bad

Pittsburgh Tribune Review September 13, 2004 Drivers caught in the Squirrel Hill Tunnel during rush hour can find some comfort in knowing it’s worse almost everywhere else in the country. The Pittsburgh region ranks near the bottom when it comes to the number of hours stuck sitting in traffic, according to a new study released last week by a Texas firm. The 2004 Urban Mobility Study, produced by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University, shows that Pittsburgh commuters on average sit in traffic 12 hours a year during rush hours, ranking the region 25th out of 27 comparable cities with populations of 1 million to 3 million. Atlanta and San Bernardino, Calif., were at the top with commuters idling nearly 60 hours annually. Pittsburgh had similar results in the institute’s study last year. The study recorded the extra travel time from 6 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. “I’m surprised. I guess our traffic’s not so bad,” said Terry Koenig, 55, of McCandless, who drives Downtown for work daily. “When the weather’s bad, traffic gets worse.” Her commute should take 15 to 20 minutes with no traffic, but during rush hour it takes 30 to 45 minutes. Traffic congestion is partially tied to economic growth, said David Schrank, a co-author of the study. Fellow rust-belt cities Buffalo, N.Y., and Cleveland rounded out the bottom two spots on the list. “If the region is attracting people, it will be seen very quickly in traffic congestion,” Schrank said. “Transportation improvements take time. And if the region is losing people, like Pittsburgh, it happens in reverse.” The report used data from federal, state and local agencies to develop estimates of congestion. The institute is the nation’s largest university-affiliated transportation research agency. Allegheny County lost 4 percent of its population from 1990 to 2000 while Fulton County, Ga., gained more than 25 percent, according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The census also showed that the average work commute in Allegheny County is 25 minutes, slightly lower than the national average. “Pittsburgh has always been a city that uses public transportation, going back to street cars,” Port Authority spokesman Bob Grove said. “Over 50 percent who work or shop Downtown use our vehicles. That level of usage is high, and it’s clear public transit is helping to ease traffic.” The Port Authority gives 230,000 rides a day during the week, the majority on buses. The region ranked 14th in overall public transit of 27 comparable cities. The study measured the growth of traffic congestion from 1982 to 2002. Pittsburgh’s traffic congestion grew by only two hours (from 10 to 12 hours) per person per year in that period, ranking the city 82nd. Anchorage, Alaska, was last (85) with no traffic delays. The traffic study also grouped the 85 cities studied into a master ranking, regardless of population. Pittsburgh finished 69th, lower than much smaller cities such as Allentown-Bethlehem, Pa., and Salem, Ore. Los Angeles (93 hours) and San Francisco (73 hours) finished at the top nationally. But despite the relatively good ranking this year, some local commuters said traffic is still bad. “The structure of the city isn’t set up well,” said John Arca, 32, who commutes to work Downtown from his Highland Park home. “We need bigger highways and room to expand. I live by the zoo. You would think that’s right around the corner, but it takes me at least 30 minutes on most days (on Route 28) — longer if traffic is real bad.”

Light Rail Not The Only Ride On FasTracks

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO) September 13, 2004 When you think of the upcoming FasTracks ballot question, you probably think of light rail. But the full program consists of more than that. In fact, light-rail expansion isn’t even the largest piece of FasTracks. To get you a bit better acquainted with the basics, here’s a run-through of the nine transit corridors in the FasTracks plan. Downtown workers, commuters and south metro residents have seen light rail. The downtown line is 10 years old next month and the line to Littleton along Santa Fe Drive opened four years ago. A spur opened two years ago to run to Union Station past Pepsi Center and Invesco Field. And an extension along Interstate 25 from Broadway south to Douglas County and up Interstate 225 to Parker Road is under construction as part of the T-REX project. Because of this visibility, light rail has become the default image for FasTracks. But the program is really a mix of technologies. Here’s how it came about. After voters rejected RTD’s Guide the Ride proposal for rail expansion in 1997, the agency went back to communities in the corridors it wanted to serve. The purpose: to determine the specific kinds of service people in each area actually wanted. And not all of them wanted light rail. The recommended service for the lines to Denver International Airport, north Adams County through Commerce City and Thornton and to Boulder and Longmont was for diesel-powered commuter rail. It would use self-propelled passenger cars called diesel multiple units, which can be run as two- or three-car trains with an operator on the lead car. They don’t use the overhead electrical rigging that characterizes most light-rail systems. Commuter rail works better on longer hauls. It is less expensive per mile to build than light rail. And with fewer stations, the trains can get up to faster speeds without frequent braking and accelerating. Light rail is more efficient on shorter runs with many stations. Other communities chose light rail. Under FasTracks, it would serve the corridor to Lakewood and Golden, the one through Arvada and Wheat Ridge to Ward Road, and the extension of the T-REX light-rail line up I-225 from Parker Road to intersect with the airport line at Interstate 70. The remaining three corridors are extensions of existing light-rail lines. The downtown line would add a mile from the current terminal at 30th Avenue and Downing Street to link with the airport train at 40th Avenue and 40th Street. The T-REX line would be pushed farther south into RidgeGate, and the Littleton line would be extended to Highlands Ranch at Lucent Boulevard. The final piece of FasTracks isn’t even rail. The U.S. 36 corridor communities recommended, in addition to the commuter rail, a bus rapid-transit system on the Boulder Turnpike. Buses on the busy commuter route would be able to stop for passengers on the side of the highway instead of wasting time getting off at each park-n-ride exit. Street sweepings: Last week I pointed out that after constructing about $19 billion in planned road expansions over the next 20 years, the average rush hour speed would go up less than 1 mph. That wasn’t exactly right. The analysis by the Denver Regional Council of Governments shows that after $19 billion is spent, your rush hour commute will go down from 32 mph in 2001 to 27 mph in 2025 because of population growth. The expenditure of $1.2 billion of that for specific projects will raise the rush hour speed between 0.8 and 1 mph. FasTracks opponent Randal O’Toole pointed this out to me, but he doesn’t think the first $17.8 billion in road expansion should count. Most of it consists of local street expansion by cities, counties and private developers and aren’t aimed at easing congestion. But that’s precisely why it has to be in the analysis. New streets, new subdivisions, new commercial centers, added lanes on existing street — all these are part of the system. You don’t start your commute from the freeway ramp, or in O’Toole’s preferred toll road solution, at the toll booth. You start at your driveway. If you ignore new local roadway development, you overlook the very source of added congestion — the 900,000 new residents we expect to be living here by 2025. To examine only the main highway costs and impacts is like figuring out the costs and benefits of building floors six through 10 of a 10-story building. Yeah, you could figure out those additional costs, but what’s the point if you’re not going to account for the costs of also building floors one through five? Bumper sticker: If you can read this, I can slam on my brakes and sue you.

Making Cars Safer for Pedestrians

New York Times September 12, 2004 IT is a dark, moonless night, and the jogger on the road is wearing dark clothing. You do not see him, but your car does. Infrared cameras on your bumper identify his heat signature and send a signal to your car’s computer. A warning sounds as the brakes are automatically applied. A heads-up display projects his image onto the windshield. Your safety belt tightens in anticipation of an impact. But with the car slowed to a crawl, the crash never comes and a tragedy is averted. Such technology is not yet available on cars sold to the public, but it exists, thanks to research by automakers including Mercedes-Benz and Honda and by suppliers of safety technology including TRW, Siemens and Autoliv. The research has been conducted with some urgency, since manufacturers doing business in Europe have agreed to provide pedestrian-protection features in a two-stage commitment that goes into limited effect there in October 2005 and gets considerably stronger in 2010. Automakers have agreed to similar standards that take effect in Japan next year. Many of the changes being made to conform with the first phase involve passive systems, like redesigned bumper and hoods. But active, high-tech systems seem inevitable, including fiber-optic and radar sensors, exterior cameras and outside air bags that would deploy instantly when an accident occurs — or even before it takes place. Motor vehicles kill more than 7,000 pedestrians a year in the European Union, about 20 percent of all traffic-related fatalities. In Japan, the 2,700 pedestrians who die annually account for 30 percent of the traffic toll. But the issue does not have a high profile in the United States, where 5,000 pedestrians die each year, 13 percent of total fatalities. Yet even in the absence of a public outcry, and without pending legislation, pedestrian-safety technology has begun to appear on American-market cars and trucks. People are rarely “run over,” unless they are lying in the road. Instead, they are thrown up and onto the car, where their heads strike the hood or windshield. Since more than half of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities involve head injuries, many new cars, possibly including the 2006 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan, will have a softer “deformable” hood. In some cases, the hood will rise at the rear in a crash. A spokesman for Siemens, the German electronics giant, said the company had developed a bumper-mounted fiber-optic system that can, within 3 milliseconds, or three-thousandths of a second, determine whether the vehicle has just hit a person or an inanimate object like a lamppost. Within 30 to 60 milliseconds, the system can raise the rear of the hood several inches to create what the spokesman, David Ladd, called “a catching device to absorb the impact energy.” Since the hood would probably be designed to deform on impact, cushioning a blow, it would be a safer obstruction than unyielding steel. Mr. Ladd said Siemens had development contracts to explore the technology with two German companies. A similar “active hood” under development by TRW uses sensors that instruct the hood to rise at the rear, said a spokesman, John Wilkerson. He added, however, that such systems might not be effective with larger, higher sport utility vehicles because “the head impact will be in the very front-end area.” S.U.V. systems have focused on passive protection, like reducing sharp edges and softening front ends. Because of concerns about pedestrians, rigid “brush bars” have largely disappeared from European S.U.V.’s. The number of S.U.V.’s on American roads presents a challenge. Dr. Samir Fakhry, chief of trauma services at Inova Regional Trauma Center in Falls Church, Va., said people hit by cars were usually thrown onto the hood, but when hit by a large S.U.V., “there’s no way they’ll get up there.” “Instead,” he said, “they’ll go up in the air or under the vehicle.” According to a study published in the June issue of the journal Injury Prevention, pedestrians hit by light trucks, a category that includes S.U.V.’s, have a 300 percent higher risk of severe injury than if they were hit by passenger cars. The joint study, by Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle and the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of Virginia, analyzed federal data on 542 victims. Dr. Fakhry said that medical research work on pedestrian safety, especially involving impacts with S.U.V.’s, had lagged behind other automotive safety issues. Inova’s pedestrian research is primarily financed by Honda through the federal Crash Injury Research and Engineering Network, known as Ciren. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has conducted research on pedestrian safety, but after some consideration in the early 1990’s it decided not to go ahead with requirements for automakers. In the absence of legislation, price and consumer demand are driving the changes. Autoliv North America is also working on technology in which sensors would act to raise the hood; a spokesman, Patrick Jarboe, said incorporating such a system into a car would be likely to cost $200. “If customers demanded this kind of technology in the U.S., it could become standard within a year,” he said. Honda, a leader in pedestrian safety technology, has quietly incorporated some innovations into most of its current models without charging extra. The Accord, for instance, has windshield wipers that absorb energy when struck, hood hinges that bend on impact and spaces that allow the hood and fenders to deform, cushioning a blow. Andy Boyd, the company’s public relations manager, said two million Honda and Acura cars had some or all of these elements. Honda also developed the world’s first pedestrian dummy, called Polar II in its current form. According to Honda’s senior safety engineer, Tomiji Sugimoto, the dummy mimics the performance of the human leg, chest and shoulders in a collision with a car. Mr. Sugimoto added that there was considerable research on children’s safety inside vehicles, but that little was available on how their bodies fared in pedestrian accidents. Other carmakers have also introduced new safety designs, though Honda’s are perhaps the most far-reaching. The underside of the aluminum hood on the Mazda RX-8 sports car has a deforming egg-crate- style “shock cone” design without rigid ribs, a Mazda spokesman, Jeremy Barnes, said. Like Honda, DaimlerChrysler conducts extensive pedestrian safety testing, and some features are likely to be incorporated into the 2006 Mercedes-Benz S-Class luxury car, including an active hood-raising system. A Mercedes safety spokesman, Dirk Ockel, said that passive safety measures on new models might include a new hood design with fewer support ribs to stiffen it, a rearranged engine compartment to give more clearance above unyielding engine parts, and modified bumpers and spoilers. Mr. Ockel said Mercedes saw the greatest potential for reducing pedestrian injury in active safety systems that promote accident avoidance. One such system, he said, automatically applies the brakes when electronic sensors detect that an accident may be imminent. “In many events, the collision can even be fully avoided,” he said. The 2003 S-Class introduced Mercedes’s “pre-safe” system that tightened the safety belts and moved reclined seats upright as much as 6 seconds before a crash. In the future, the company says, such systems could be enhanced by radar to provide what Mercedes says are accurate three- dimensional digital models of the road and objects on it. Mr. Wilkerson of TRW said that pre-crash sensors based on video technology would disploy front-mounted active systems even before impact. These systems, still in the concept stage at TRW, include an “active bumper” whose lower area would move forward to absorb crash energy, and a grille-mounted air bag to catch pedestrians before they are struck by the car itself. Mr. Wilkerson said such video systems would need to be highly accurate, with a wide field of view. Honda’s pedestrian-sensing night vision technology will be an option this year on the Honda Legend luxury sedan in Japan. The infrared system is intended to identify pedestrians from an indistinct blur of dark images, wrap them in an orange frame and display the image through a heads-up display projected on the windshield. Toyota and General Motors have also developed night-vision systems, though they do not share Honda’s focus on pedestrians. Dr. Fakhry said that any onboard systems, active or passive, would have to work in conjunction with common-sense public safety campaigns. “Drivers have to be on the lookout for pedestrians,” he said.

Bus ridership dips after rail tie-in; Rail foes claim former passengers driving their cars

Houston Chronicle September 13, 2004 Ridership on nine Metro bus routes has dropped an average of 18 percent since they were shortened to tie into the Main Street light rail line, forcing many passengers to transfer to a train to complete their trips. Data released by the Metropolitan Transit Authority last week indicate six of the routes have seen a significant drop in average weekday riders since the service changes took effect May 30. One route has experienced a slight uptick in ridership, while the other two buses have seen their passenger counts increase by a third. The rail line saw its first monthly drop in average daily boardings in August, down slightly to 29,400 from July’s high of 29,570. But total ridership, including weekends, was a record 764,408 last month. Rail opponents had long predicted that bus ridership would decrease when passengers were forced to transfer to a train. Riders from southwest Houston, for example, used to take Route 2 straight into downtown. Now it terminates at the Texas Medical Center Transit Center. Passengers must get off, walk over a skybridge to the train station in the median of Fannin Street, and then hop on MetroRail. David Hutzelman, director of the Business Committee Against Rail, said he believes many former riders who own cars have decided to drive to work instead of using the rail. “If you find your commute suddenly lengthened because you have to transfer or walk farther from your stops, you’re going to go back and try some other way,” Hutzelman said. Jim Archer, manager of Metro service evaluation, said the transit authority expected about 15,000 fewer average daily bus boardings systemwide because people traveling along the dense Main Street corridor are now taking the light rail. The data indicate bus ridership has dropped by an average of 17,158 weekday boardings since the route changes took effect. “This is consistent with what we expected,” Archer said. “A large portion of these routes was replaced by the rail.”

GNER looks overseas for franchise ally

The Times (London) September 13, 2004 GNER, the operator of the London to Edinburgh railway, is to go into partnership with an overseas train operator in its bid for the Integrated Kent franchise. Christopher Garnett, chief executive of GNER, said that it was likely to bid for the contract with a partner, thought to be from outside Europe. Hong Kong’s Mass Transit Railway, which carries 2.4 million passengers a day, has been tipped as one possible partner, alongside one of the six privatised Japanese train operators. GNER is thought to be hampered in its attempt to bid for the Integrated Kent franchise by its lack of experience in running commuter trains. The last time GNER bid for a commuter service, South West Trains, it lost to Stagecoach after tendering what Mr Garnett called a “tutti frutti” bid which would have required a heavy investment from the Government to provide a service with lots of bells and whistles. “We got that one badly wrong, but Kent combines elements that we understand, for example the high-speed line,” Mr Garnett said. GNER has already joined up with Chiltern Rail to bid for the Great Western franchise, which is expected to be put up for tender next year. The train operator, whose parent company is Bermuda-based Sea Containers, is in a vulnerable position because it only holds one railway franchise at a time when no incumbent has succeeded in retaining a contract during the second round of contract awards. The Government has also indicated that it wants to reduce the number of franchises and is expected to do that by combining services around key stations, which eventually could lead to fewer operators. However, GNER is in pole position to win the franchise for the East Coast Main Line when its current contract expires in April, despite facing stiff competition from Stagecoach and Virgin, First Group and the Danish State Railway, which is working with EWS, Britain’s biggest freight operator, to bid for the franchise. GNER gets no direct subsidy from the Government and is viewed as one of the better operators on the network, with a reliability rate of 73.6 per cent last year. Pre-qualified bidders are expected to receive a formal invitation to tender for the Integrated Kent franchise this autumn, although the timetable for awarding the franchise is thought to be delayed. The Strategic Rail Authority is proposing that the new franchise will incorporate commuter services from Kent into Blackfriars and London Bridge, as well as the £5 billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The franchise will combine the southeastern routes, formerly run by Connex and used by 120,000 passengers a day in the morning rush hour, with new domestic services on the high-speed line.

John Prescott lauded Manchester’s Metrolink expansion but his successor as transport supremo triggered a weekend of protests: Minister shows how to do a U-turn on rails:

The Guardian (London) — Final Edition September 13, 2004 Four years ago it was hailed as the biggest single investment in public transport outside London and essential for breathing new life into run-down communities. In authorising a three-fold expansion of Greater Manchester’s super-tram system — Metrolink — deputy prime minister John Prescott, then transport supremo, hailed the network as a model for the rest of Britain. The local passenger transport executive (PTE) spent £200m buying land while demolishing houses, blocks of flats — even schools — along the proposed routes of three new lines while it prepared to let contracts for the expansion. Out of the blue two months ago, transport secretary Alistair Darling pulled the plug on the system, which began operations in 1991, because he claimed costs were rising out of control. However, others suspect that the Department of Transport has gone cool on schemes for light rail, or trams, in a string of cities — earlier this year Nottingham became the latest to take to the streets — as it grapples with the cost of the proposed Crossrail rail link between west and east London. At first sight Mr Darling’s decision appears to have some justification, with the cost of Metrolink’s expansion rising from an original £520m to £900m. But transport planners claim the costs are inflated because companies which run the system under contract to the PTE now include a sizeable sum in their estimates to take account of risk. The experts say costs could be reduced considerably if the government or local taxpayers agreed to underwrite some of that risk. The Department of Transport is said to be balking at the prospect. Whatever the financial arguments, Mr Darling’s decision, which has been privately questioned by Mr Prescott, has generated a big campaign in Greater Manchester, with slogans plastered on the sides of trams, town halls and in shopping precincts. As part of a Get Back on Track campaign, rallies are being held throughout the conurbation while a deputation of local MPs met Mr Darling at the weekend, apparently gaining few concessions. Tony Blair has agreed to meet another lobby group. “No issue in recent times has so united people in anger and bewilderment,” proclaimed Michael Meacher, the Oldham West and Royton MP and former environment minister, at a weekend rally in his constituency. “All of us are going to fight to get this changed for as long as it takes.” Earlier, Mr Prescott told the Guardian that expansion of the network was still a live issue. “The trams have been a success in Manchester. They have got people out of their cars and on to public transport, and brought growth to outlying areas.” The deputy prime minister is particularly uneasy because he will be hosting a conference on urban themes in Manchester in January which will attract speakers from around the world. It will include study visits around a city which Mr Prescott sees as one of the greatest regeneration successes in Britain. Metrolink was meant to symbolise that success. When the first Metrolink line opened in 1991, stretching 20 miles from Bury to Altrincham, with a short spur to Eccles following in 1998, the system was hailed as a pace-setter for the rest of the country. The planned new lines would link Manchester city centre with Oldham and Rochdale, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester’s booming airport, Britain’s third largest. Around the country, seven systems are now operating, from the extensive Tyne and Wear Metro, which opened almost 25 years ago, to Sheffield, Croydon, Birmingham-Wolverhampton and Nottingham. Others were planned for Leeds and Liverpool, while a system for Edinburgh, Mr Darling’s home city, is in the pipeline with part of the funding likely to come from the Scottish Executive, not the Department of Transport. Claiming the various systems were a huge success, the then transport minister John Spellar said his department was “extremely heartened” by their operation. But that was two years ago. At the weekend Mr Darling told the protesting MPs that the rise in Metrolink’s costs was not acceptable. Chris Mulligan, director general of Greater Manchester PTE, said the Department of Transport was encouraging the conurbation to consider congestion charging as a way of funding extensions. “That is a flip-flop in government policy because the idea is that you improve public transport to provide an alternative to the car before any changes take place,” he said. “We have proved this system is a great success. It makes a healthy surplus. I have never seen such a strength of feeling among our MPs.” Manchester city council maintains that the government has a moral commitment to proceed with the scheme because developers have been persuaded to invest in the city on the grounds that Metrolink will serve the regenerated areas, particularly around the Commonwealth Games complex in east Manchester.

Dubai light rail project moves ahead Government’s selection of engines to be announced soon

The Daily Star September 13, 2004 DUBAI: The first rail engines to chug across the sands of the Southern Arabian Peninsula this century will soon be selected, according to the promoters of the $3.89 billion Dubai Light Rail Project. The ambitious project, which aims to connect various parts of the mushrooming city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, is presently in the tendering stage, according to promoter Dubai Municipality. “The Dubai Light Rail Project is currently in the tendering stage,” said Qassim Sultan, Director General of Dubai Municipality, while explaining about the status of the project. “The estimated cost of the project is Dhs14.3 billion ($3.89) billion. However, the actual cost of the project will only be known after the tenders have been announced, and that should be fairly soon,” Sultan said. He added that the main contractor for the project is in the process of being finalized. “Though the project is extremely sophisticated and requires an extremely high level of expertise even on the international scale, Dubai Municipality’s current schedule of the project envisages that site preparation and ground works could start in another six months’ time. This, of course, will ultimately be decided by the qualification of the main contractor,” said the Dubai Municipality Director General. He said, apart from the appraisal process for the tender, the Supreme Committee in charge of the Dubai Light Rail project is busy evaluating various related sub-projects such as the sourcing of the rail engines and the cars that are to carry the passengers across the city of Dubai. “The passenger rail system will run on the Southern Arabian Peninsula for the first time. Early in the 20th century, the Hejaz network used to operate in the north. We are busy evaluating various options and equipment. We expect to announce the name of the company and the country from which we will source the train engines and cars very soon,” said the Dubai Municipality Director General. Each train will be approximately 75 meters long, consisting of five cars, with numerous double doors allowing fast and smooth flows of passengers at stations. They will be driverless, fully automated, offering an extremely safe and reliable service with trains which could run as often as one every minute and a half, with extensive window panels providing stunning views from the elevated sections over the cityscape.� “The Dubai Light Rail Project was born out of the visionary directives of General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, who foresaw the need to put in place modern and up-to-date Intelligent Transportation Systems to cater to the rapidly burgeoning city of Dubai, which expects 15 million visitors by 2010,” said Sultan. Dubai has seen a major spurt of growth since the mid-1990’s, and particularly since the establishment of projects such as the Dubai Media City and the Dubai Internet City, which have attracted large numbers of new global, regional and local entrepreneurs and their staff. The city’s built-up area has been further expanded with the opening of the property sector to 100 percent foreign freehold ownership in major waterfront projects, explained Nasser Saeed, Chairman of Dubai Light Rail Project. “Just 10 years ago, Jebel Ali was considered far away by the residents and visitors of Dubai. Now residential mini-cities have sprung up deep into the desert and there is no more any place left up to the approach of Jebel Ali Free Zone,” he added. “With this kind of growth, we needed to put in place from now on an Intelligent Transportation System, that could cater to the influx of visitors and the thousands of residents and workers who live and commute daily between old Dubai and the new growth corridor extending up to and beyond Jebel Ali. The Dubai Light Rail Project was the answer,” explained Nasser Saeed. The Dubai Light Rail Network will comprise two lines: The Red Line will initially run from close to al-Ghurair Center to the American University of Dubai though BurJuman and Sheikh Zayed Road, and will progressively be extended to Jebel Ali Port in the south and the intersection of al-Nahda and Damascus roads through al-Qiyadah intersection in the north. The Green Line will initially run from close to Dubai Municipality to Rashidiya bus station through Deira City Center and the Airport Terminals 1 and 3, and will progressively be extended to serve the Deira and Bur Dubai central areas and Souks up to BurJuman and Wafi shopping centres. The two lines will total nearly 70 kilometers, with 35 stations along the 50-kilometer-long Red Line, and 22 along the 20-kilometer-long Green Line. The two transfer stations at al-Ittihad Square and BurJuman are common to both lines. In total, the Dubai Light Rail System will include 55 stations, 18 kilometers of tunnels, 51 kilometers of viaduct, one major train depot and maintenance facilities site and several auxiliary stabling facilities. The total fleet size will be slightly in excess of 100 trains. Once in full operation, the Dubai Metro System is projected to carry approximately 1.2 million passengers on an average day, and 355 million passengers per year.

Metro expects first new vehicle for Cross-County MetroLink

St. Louis Business Journal September 14, 2004 Metro expects to receive its first new light-rail vehicle for the $550 million Cross-County MetroLink extension Sept. 16, it said Tuesday. The vehicle is the first of 22 new cars that will make up the new fleet that will add another 8 miles to the existing 38-mile system. The Cross County MetroLink extension will include a major redesign of the Forest Park station and the addition of nine new stations (two with Park-Ride lots): Skinker, University City-Big Bend, Forsyth, Clayton, Richmond Heights, Brentwood I-64, Maplewood — Manchester, Sunnen, and Shrewsbury — Lansdowne I-44. It is expected to be in operation in 2006. Separately, Metro said Clayton Road will be closed Sept. 18 to through traffic from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. just east of Brentwood Boulevard at the Interstate 70 overpass. During that time, Fred Weber Inc. will be installing steel girders for the MetroLink bridge over Clayton Road. Traffic will be rerouted to Eager Road.

RAILROAD EXPANSION PLAN; LIRR’s $2.4B solution; Despite fiscal woes at MTA, Long Island Rail Road seems set to spend billions on fixes, new rail yard and more

Newsday (New York September 14, 2004 Long Island Rail Road officials today are expected to detail a $2.4 billion capital plan for the next five years that calls for millions in track work, expanding the railroad and building a new rail yard east of Huntington. But some transit advocates are questioning why the LIRR would consider expansion at a time when its parent agency, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, is looking at closing down lines, raising fares and cutting service. “My problem is there does not seem to be a coordination … what they are proposing in the capital plan and some of the things they are saying on the operational side,” said state Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), a member of the state’s MTA Capital Review Board, which has final approval of the plan. He said he would not vote for it as it stands now. “What has to happen here is they have to go back and review their own capital plan, eliminate any inappropriate inclusions … and prioritize a little better,” Skelos said. “They have to be in the real world in what the fiscal realities are of the state, local government and the MTA itself. In July, the cash-strapped MTA warned of the possibility of ending service completely on the West Hempstead and Oyster Bay branches, and east of Ronkonkoma in 2006. The MTA also said that service reductions and a 5-percent fare hike are possible for commuter railroads next year. The MTA raised fares an average 25 percent last year. “We are reducing service in those areas mainly due to ridership,” LIRR president James Dermody said. “It is not our core area. There is a need for a third track to handle additional traffic on the main line and bring reverse peak travel out to them.” The MTA has said it is financially troubled, facing a $436 million deficit next year in its operating budget that could balloon to more than $1 billion in 2006. Dermody said he is hopeful that a mix of federal and state dollars could help pay for some of the LIRR’s 2005-2009 capital costs. There is money in it to support East Side Access infrastructure, but the bulk of that project’s $6.3 billion pricetag falls under the auspices of another MTA agency, the Capital Construction Company. Despite the financial problems, Dermody said, the railroad needs to improve its core service area, particularly the main line that runs through the heart of Long Island. The 2005-2009 capital plan, to be presented today to the Long Island Committee of the MTA board, includes $202 million for the first phase of a third track along the main line from Bellerose to Mineola. Railroad officials have said that would increase capacity as well as improve the reverse commute from Manhattan eastward. Track work makes up a majority of the capital program, at $736 million. In addition to the massive main line project, which is only just beginning with an environmental review, $5.5 million is set aside for planning to build double track from Farmingdale to Ronkonkoma. The capital plan also includes $190.7 million to design and construct a yard east of Huntington on the Port Jefferson branch. Railroad officials have said this yard would add service on the line and likely extend electrification east of Huntington. The LIRR is considering four sites in Smithtown and two locations in eastern Huntington for the rail yard. Dermody said a site has not been selected but could be announced later this year. Station work includes millions set aside to replace the platform at Seaford. Penn Station would receive $31.7 million in infrastructure improvement, such as new signage. The plan also includes completing replacement of the older M-1 cars with an M-7 fleet. And, $2.2 million is set aside for development of the next fleet of LIRR cars — the M-9. The plan also includes funding to upgrade communications, improve signals and maintain the current fleet and equipment. After the MTA’s LIRR committee approves the plan, it will go to the full board later this month. It is then submitted, along with the MTA’s total capital plan, to the state review board. Dermody said the overall LIRR plan is lean. “I’m positive it can be done,” Dermody said of the LIRR’s plan. “Paying for it is another matter.” Bottom line: Cost of LIRR’s expansion plans for 2005 to 2009 Track improvment $736.8 million Purchase of new cars $386 million Signals and communications $346.6 million Shops and Yards $301.5 million Building, fixing substations $158.6 million Upgrade stations $140.8 million Other $355.7 million Total $2.4 billion SOURCE: MTA

CenterLine Projections Are Lowered; Based on new federal criteria, OCTA reduces rider estimates for light-rail system

Los Angeles Times September 14, 2004 The Orange County Transportation Authority on Monday lowered its ridership forecast by almost 10% for the proposed CenterLine project, a billion-dollar light-rail system that would run from John Wayne Airport to downtown Santa Ana. OCTA officials revised their projections from 24,800 boardings per day by 2025 to 22,600, using tighter federal criteria for estimating the ridership for proposed light-rail lines. Despite the lower forecast, transit officials said CenterLine’s ridership estimate was higher than most of the light-rail projects in the nation that have applied to the Federal Transit Administration for funding. OCTA is seeking at least $500 million from the federal government to build CenterLine, which would run 9.3 miles through Santa Ana, Costa Mesa and a small part of Irvine near John Wayne Airport. The federal government is not expected to make a decision until after the November election. If approved, CenterLine would be scheduled to open by 2010. OCTA revised the projections under new federal criteria that required the authority to consider the bus and light-rail experiences of other cities in its estimates. The new forecast was presented Monday to the OCTA board of directors. Over the last five years CenterLine’s predicted ridership has been a moving target, given all the changes that have whittled the system down from 28 miles to 9.3 miles. Estimated boardings have fallen from a high of 60,000 a day to the current 22,600. The new figures brought mixed reactions from OCTA officials and board members. While some were pleased the system’s projections were better than many light-rail projects vying for federal funds, others said they thought the new numbers were another sign of the project’s shortcomings. “The goal of the modeling was to provide the most accurate figures possible so policymakers can make the best decision possible,” said Ted Nguyen, an OCTA spokesman. “We are proud that CenterLine is competitive nationally with a strong ridership showing.” But Orange County Supervisor and OCTA board member Bill Campbell said the revised forecast was “even more devastating for CenterLine.” Drawing on the total ridership figure, Campbell said CenterLine would remove only 4,400 people a day from their cars at a cost of $273,000 per head in construction costs. “This is one more reason not to support CenterLine,” he added. Light-rail supporters on the OCTA board, such as Cypress Councilman Tim Keenan and Buena Park Councilman Art Brown, defended the project, noting that first phases can be expensive and that light rail had been successful in other cities. In other board action Monday, the union that represents OCTA’s 1,200 bus drivers continued to pressure the agency to meet contract demands for a higher cost-of-living raise and a fairer citizen complaint process. Fourteen drivers and officials from Teamsters Local 952 addressed the board of directors shortly before the board met in closed session to discuss the labor talks. Drivers say they want a cost-of-living increase of more than 3% a year over the next three years. They also want to scrap the current complaint process, which they say is heavily weighted in favor of bus riders. OCTA Chief Executive Arthur Leahy “wants us to be the best, but he doesn’t want to offer us the best,” said Patti Stellmach, a veteran bus driver. “UPS drivers carry boxes at about $24 an hour. We haul precious cargo at $15 to $20 an hour.” OCTA officials said they hoped both sides would come to an agreement that was fair to the authority and bus drivers.

Cops sweep L cars for terror threats; Search for suspect packages, want to stop Spain-style bombing

Chicago Sun-Times September 14, 2004 With terror fears heightened leading up to the November election, Chicago Police and CTA security are stopping L trains to conduct security sweeps looking for suspicious packages and people. Brown Line rush hour commuters Monday were greeted by an anti-terrorism patrol at the Merchandise Mart station. Every train headed downtown during part of the morning rush was stopped while police officers, security guards and a K-9 unit checked each car. The highly visible sweeps, which began Aug. 30, are aimed at protecting Chicago’s mass transit system against terrorism similar to the May train bombing in Spain. Ten backpacks containing explosives were left on trains in Madrid and detonated by remote control, killing 200 people and injuring 1,500 more. After those attacks, security experts renewed warnings that U.S. rail systems are vulnerable to terrorism because they are open to the public and not closely monitored. And in August, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said al-Qaida cells were scouting targets in U.S. cities. While there have been no threats specifically targeting Chicago or the CTA, authorities say they want to send a clear message to passengers and potential terrorists alike. “It lets riders know we are out there trying to harden the target, so their commute will be safe,” said Cmdr. Ed Gross, who heads the Police Department’s public transportation division. “And we’re letting terrorists know we are all over and we change our location randomly. If they leave a package of explosives on a train, there’s a good chance we’ll find it or someone will bring it to our attention.” Four eight-member security teams target randomly selected L stations, stopping every train to search every car. The average search takes three to five minutes per train, typically more than enough time to finish before the next train is due to arrive. “We use the coordinated effort to reduce delays to a very minimum. And the only time you’ll have a long delay is if we find something that doesn’t belong there,” Gross said. In the event a suspicious package is found, passengers will be evacuated while the bomb and arson unit is called to investigate. In addition to the uniformed sweeps, undercover police officers are taking regular train rides looking for suspicious activity and packages left behind. Two-member teams of officers also are taking one-mile bus rides to conduct similar searches. Originally planned to last until the Nov. 5 presidential election, sweeps will likely become part of transit life. “This will be part of our normal procedure of policing the CTA,” Gross said. “Random searches will not stop.”

St. Clair Streetcar Study recommendations approved

Canada NewsWire September 14, 2004 Early this morning, following a 16-hour meeting, the City’s Planning and Transportation Committee, Works Committee and the Toronto Transit Commission jointly approved recommendations made in the staff report on the St. Clair Avenue West Streetcar Study. The transit improvements recommended in the report offer reserved lanes for streetcars and emergency vehicles, reduce congestion on St. Clair, enhance pedestrian and driver safety and eliminate delays to transit service that are caused by heavy traffic during rush hour and traffic patterns on St. Clair Avenue West. After hearing over 100 public deputations at yesterday’s meeting,�committee members adopted these key amendments: - Creating a community design consulting group with the four local City Councillors on it to make decisions about streetscape enhancements, urban design, streetcar shelter and platform designs and public art - Replacing trees lost as a result of sidewalk cuts or road widening with appropriate sized tress in the immediate area, and increasing the overall number of trees along St. Clair - Providing additional funding in the 2005-2009 TTC and City capital budgets for enhanced streetscape, urban design and public art - Staff from Economic Development’s Small Business and Local Partnership work with BIAs to support a “Shop St. Clair” campaign during construction - Polling on all Ward 21 local streets adjacent to St. Clair to determine street support for speed humps - Preserving the current sidewalk width on St. Clair Avenue West as a key guiding principle in the detailed design work - Requesting the Toronto Parking Authority to amend its capital budget submission to allocate up to $6 M in 2005-06 for necessary replacement parking to address parking deficiencies in Hillcrest Village BIA, St. Clair West BIA and Corso Italia BIA areas. - Considering relocating the Landsdowne Loop to Caledonia and the feasibility of a possible connection to the Bradford Line Go Station. The total project will cost approximately $55 — $65 million, including urban design and streetscape enhancements. The recommendation is on the agenda for a final decision by City Council at its September 28 meeting.

Pitch battle looms over plans for airport rail link

The Herald (Glasgow) September 14, 2004 A £ 140m rail link to Glasgow airport could be threatened because the route crosses playing fields used by hundreds of amateur sports teams. Linking the airport to the rail network is one of the Scottish Executive’s major policy objectives, allowing thousands of passengers to travel from the city centre to the terminal building in 15 minutes. However, it would require a one-and-a-half-mile rail line to be built between Paisley St James station and the airport. The route would cross the parks at St James playing fields, known locally as the racecourse pitches, which are used by hundreds of footballers. Because of the lack of pitches ballots are drawn weekly to decide which teams will be allowed to play, and the Scottish Amateur Football Association has already expressed concern over the proposed link. Brian Hossack, 29, of Cardonald, plays for Crookston Amateurs, and believes losing the pitches would have a devastating impact on the sports community. He said: “I grew up playing on the pitches, like thousands of other people in the area. There is no way the council would be able to replace them as there is no other space like the St James fields. Taking them away would mean the death of amateur football in the region.” A 12-week consultation is being launched by the Scottish Passenger Transport Executive. The Scottish Executive agreed to fund the link last year, with BAA Scotland, which owns Glasgow airport, building a terminal. Construction is scheduled to begin in late 2006, and if granted approval, it is anticipated the project will be completed as early as 2008, two years ahead of the initial deadline. Journey times to Prestwick airport, Ayrshire and Inverclyde would also be reduced. Sportscotland has yet to be formally consulted on the St James playing fields project, but Alastair Dempster, chairman of the country’s agency for sport, said he expected to become involved at a later stage. He said: “Sportscotland takes the protection and improvement of playing fields very seriously we are a statutory consultee on all planning applications for the development involving the loss of land used or last used as a playing field.” Renfrewshire Council has in the past opposed any move which would put the 20 fields at risk, but given planning guidelines, if the link is to go ahead, SPT would have to replace the playing fields. Tommy Williams, a local councillor, said if the pitches go they would have to be replaced. “I don’t oppose the principle of the link, but it’s the route that’s a concern,” he added.

Federal Funds Could Revive Maglev Project

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania) September 15, 2004 A futuristic high-speed, magnetically-levitated train is still on track for the Pittsburgh region. Sort of. The Port Authority board’s engineering committee yesterday recommended entering into a grant agreement with the Federal Railroad Administration for nearly $2 million to continue planning and pre-construction activities. It was the first time the once ballyhooed Maglev project has been officially resurrected in public in a year. As a public transit agency, the authority is acting as financial conduit for the federal money on behalf of other partners — the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and, primarily, Maglev Inc., a private consortium formed in 1991 to pursue construction of the 47-mile line connecting Pittsburgh International Airport, Downtown, Monroeville and Greensburg. Port Authority officials also disclosed yesterday that a pre-draft environmental impact statement for the $2.7 billion project was completed Aug. 31 and sent to the FRA for its review. After the document satisfies the FRA, the authority, PennDOT and Maglev Inc. will jointly hold public meetings, probably in January or February. The $2 million from the federal government will be used to continue those activities, convert documents to an electronic format, provide further technical support and develop a “lessons learned report” on a high-speed maglev system built in Shanghai, China, last year. The Chinese used the expertise and technology of Transrapid KG, the same German-based firm that Maglev Inc. uses. The money will bring to $19.5 million the amount invested by Oct. 31, 2005, by the FRA, PennDOT and Maglev Inc. in what’s now called “The Pennsylvania Project.” The authority is reimbursed for the costs of its time and services. Port Authority Chief Executive Officer Paul Skoutelas said that while the prospect of building a system of trains magnetically levitated and propelled along a mostly elevated track at speeds up to 240 mph remains alive, the future is uncertain. The FRA eventually narrowed its Maglev choices to Pittsburgh and a Baltimore-to-Washington, D.C., project. Not only has Congress failed to authorize that construction money but political forces have added a Las Vegas-Los Angeles project that appears to be gaining support. Maglev Inc. Chief Executive Officer Fred Gurney concurred with the Port Authority’s timetable for the environmental planning and assessment of the future for a high-speed, high-tech train system in the United States. The last national transportation spending bill, called TEA-21, expired in October. Interim legislation has enabled spending to continue while Congress works out the next six-year program. Maglev Inc. has proposed to build the 47-mile line for the region in phases, with the first phase running between Downtown and the airport and a special “Magport” station and park-n-ride lot near the airport. The 15-mile trip would take only seven minutes and cost an estimated $5 each way.

More SEPTA Blues

Philadelphia Inquirer September 15, 2004 The PATCO hi-speed system in New Jersey seems to have it all: Cleanliness, speed, economy. PATCO is also cheaper than SEPTA. At PATCO stations there are free telephones (that connect you to PATCO officials) for distressed travelers. SEPTA stations have only pay Verizon telephones (half of them broken) and the emergency red buttons are often taped over or bagged in strange burlap coverings. So what’s going on? Why has SEPTA become the brunt of so many jokes and cruel asides? Why is the system in such serious financial trouble? Why can’t SEPTA ever get it right? At a small Center City forum last week, SEPTA General Manager Faye Moore and Laurie Actman of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce talked about the crisis facing SEPTA and the City of Philadelphia if action is not taken soon. The forum, sponsored by Young Involved Philadelphia, attracted people who had more questions about the quality of transit service than the intricate labyrinths of dedicated funding. The two things, however, are linked in ways that Moore fleshed out for the group. The straight-shooting Moore started from the beginning and said that she has spent three years as SEPTA’s General Manager. “About this time every year the SEPTA annual financial crises saga continues,” she said with poetic emphasis. “All I did was dust off a chart of former SEPTA managers, and then it was on to the same roller coaster of funding we’ve been riding for the last 15 years.” While an explanation of funding intricacies may be yawn-inducing, Moore spelled out the situation succinctly: Transit funding is not a huge priority of the Pennsylvania’s General Assembly or legislative body. Moore described SEPTA as a Class “1” agency “A big dog as Harrisburg describes it,” she said. SEPTA’s 2005 operating budget is slated at 290 million dollars with a hefty 70 million dollar deficit that has to be found on or before June 30, she added. If that doesn’t happen, she says, Blue Cross will cut off insurance, gas bills will not get paid, and the lights will be cut off. In other words, all the buses, trains and trolleys will be in the dark. As Moore puts it, “The system will be shut down and personnel will walk off the job.” Until that time she promised that SEPTA will proceed until there’s nothing left. “Then we’ll pull the buses back into the depots, shut down the system, and nail it down till transit is funded.” “70,000,000 on a $920 million budget is a lot even for us. I’m a firm believer in living within your means. Last year’s budget deficit, $55,000,000, was no problem, but this year I can’t cut enough service and raise enough fares to make that $70,000,000. What worked last year cannot work this year,” she said. (In an attempt to save the state’s transit system, Senate Bill #1162 and companion House Bill #2697 seek to provide dedicated funding packages as well as long term subsidy funding for Pennsylvania transit.) What happened to put the transit system in such dire straits? SEPTA’s financial blues stems from the failure of dedicated taxes enacted in 1991 to reach their resource potential of $200 million in 1992. If the revenues had met expectation, an additional 66 million would have been made available to SEPTA this year. Another reason for the failure of the system, according to the Coalition founded by CCD Executive Director Paul Levy, Save Transit (saveTransit.org), was the imposition of a $75 million cap on the 1.22% sales tax dedicated to transit. Remove the cap, transit activists say, and another $20 million can be generated, $17 million of which will go to SEPTA. Actman agreed that the city is at a critical juncture at the regional and state level. “SEPTA needs more friends,” she said. “Philadelphia, despite job loss to the suburbs, is still a vibrant hub of the region whether or not corporations are willing to locate here. Almost 70% of down- town office workers take SEPTA to work.” Actman said that a vibrant transit system is necessary in order to get more companies to locate to the city. A more vibrant system would include extended hours of operation. Moore was asked why late night city bus service in Center City along Walnut Street was at best spotty and undependable. The buses simply do not come or they are so late disgruntled passengers wind up taking cabs. “Your demands and the service don’t match” she told one man. The most expensive service is night time service where sometimes there are only 6 people in a given bus, she said. “For every piece of new service we put out there we lose 50 to 75 cents on every dollar. New service is expensive. As we expand, we need money. The bigger we get the more money we need” A question was raised about the lack of transit maps at city bus stops. ‘This is the only system I ever encountered where there are no maps at bus stops” Moore was told. “SEPTA doesn’t own the bus stops/” Moore responded. “Let me tell you a story” Moore said. “I was in the office a little after 6 when a Board member called. There was a problem at the Ambler regional rail station, so I called our Control Center. On the panel at the Control Center they could see which one of the arms on the crossing gate was down. We have one of the most sophisticated Control Centers ever,” But sophistication won’t cure the headaches caused by city traffic and the bunching of buses along Broad and Market Streets. “Bunching” of course is when no bus appears for 40 minutes and then in a flash there are six of the same buses stuck back-to-back, “It is impossible to prevent this because of the traffic and clutter on these streets, and this will be a problem until there’s better transportation coordination” Moore said. “Until recently a lot of money had been funneled from the federal government to the state. I’m not expert enough to say what the federal government has short-changed for a city or state. The federal government had been a major supplier for funding for highway and transit”.

Mayor Nixes BRT; Rapid-transit Fans Slam Katz’s Decision

Winnipeg Sun (Manitoba, Canada) September 15, 2004 Winnipeggers will have to wait longer for a rapid transit bus system after Mayor Sam Katz yesterday pulled the $50 million earmarked to launch the project. Exactly how much longer is not clear. “Right now it’s all about priorities, and that’s where I’m going,” Katz said yesterday. Instead of rapid transit, most of the money ($43 million) will be go to community centres and clubs. The remaining $7 million will be used to improve the transit system. While Katz says the city will eventually have bus rapid transit (BRT), supporters of the concept fear it is dead. “This has been going on for 30 years,” said BRT backer Kaj Hasselriis. “When will it have its time? This is not moving forward.” But Katz denied the bus rapid transit system is dead “Rapid transit, I believe, is part of our future — when we’re in a position to do it,” Katz argued at a press conference where he was heckled by supporters of the BRT. “I’d love to do everything right now. Unfortunately there’s not enough money to go around to do everything,” Katz told the hecklers. The mayor said he’s been told by Liberal MP Reg Alcock and Premier Gary Doer the $34 million made available by the two senior levels of government for the BRT can be used for community centres and perhaps other projects. The mayor said he wants to improve Winnipeg Transit’s bus fleet to add real-time scheduling and diesel-electric power — key components of high-tech BRT vehicles — to keep aspects of the BRT system alive. Councillors Donald Benham (River Heights-Fort Garry) and Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry), both rapid transit supporters, accused Katz of manipulating Winnipeggers by raising the spectre of unfortunate children having nowhere to play. “The cynical attempt to set up little children playing softball against rapid transit is such a transparent attempt to manipulate Winnipeggers,” Benham charged. “They’re way too smart for that and are going to see right through Sam Katz.” Dave Angus, president of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, supported Katz but added the money could still be shifted to basic infrastructure needs when council begins deliberating next year’s budget in the fall. FINANCIAL SUICIDE Katz said he had wanted to avoid what he called BRT procrastination, which he said was financial “suicide on the instalment plan.” A Doer government spokesman said the New Democrats are willing to discuss other options for the province’s $17-million contribution to BRT. Katz said the city must get a “new deal” with higher governments to meet all its budgetary needs, including rapid transit. He said he’ll go to Toronto this weekend to join other big city mayors for a strategy session on funding.

Public transit users right to be angry with Martin

Calgary sun Septembe 15, 2004 Sardines. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten any but I can see them most any night on my drive home. They’re those unfortunate Calgarians who do the right thing and use public transit but have to make like the tightly-packed little fish to do so. Another 14 LRT cars would go a long way to reducing much of Calgary’s commuter crunch but there is going to be yet another delay before those cars are ordered. Those of you who suffer through the daily rush-hour indignity would be forgiven for saying any more delays in getting new cars hitched up stinks. But that’s exactly what happened at City Hall yesterday, when council agreed to once again delay ordering the $57 million in LRT cars until early November. But don’t blame council for the delay. Look to Edmonton and Ottawa the next time your nose is pressed up hard against that fella’s armpit on your commute. For well over a decade now, both the Alberta and federal governments have been raking in tonnes of tax cash from the boom that is Calgary. Unfortunately, those same governments have not reinvested in Calgary which has a $1 billion infrastructure backlog and has grown by 190,000 people in the past 10 years As Mayor Dave Bronconnier pointed out yesterday, that’s like plunking down the city of Regina into Calgary with almost no infrastructure investment by the province or the feds. Ah, but surely relief is on the way, right? After all, a provincial election is on the horizon and what of all of those pre-election promises made by Prime Minister Paul Martin to help Canada’s cities cope with crumbling infrastructure? Well, so far, Martin has shown that believing in his promises is akin to believing in the tooth fairy. Even before Martin was first sworn in as Prime Minister back in December 2003 he promised he would give cities five cents out of the feds’ take on every litre of gas sold in this country. Now he’s saying we all have to wait until some time in 2005 to get maybe one or two cents a litre. Canadian mayors are clearly concerned. On Friday and Saturday Bronco, along with Canada’s nine other big-city mayors will meet in Toronto to craft an agreement that the cities, provinces and feds can all agree on for infrastructure cost sharing. If Martin still doesn’t act by November, Bronco says the city will order the LRT cars anyway. And yesterday Bronconnier met with the province’s Municipal Affairs council in Edmonton, where the province agreed to release on Sept. 22 a long-awaited report on infrastructure funding to cities. No surprise there. Premier Ralph Klein is expected to call a provincial election for Nov. 22 shortly and a new deal for cities — where the bulk of voters live — will undoubtedly be part of the package. So why not go ahead and order those LRT cars now? Why waste another month-and-a-half and potentially lose our place in the two-year lineup to have the cars built as a result? Because if we order now, Martin may disqualify the LRT car purchase as an old project and refuse to help fund it. Bronco and council don’t want to be left holding the entire $57-million bill. Naive? Maybe. But Bronco thinks $57 million is worth another two-month wait. Ward 13 Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart — herself a disgruntled user of the LRT — doesn’t agree. “I take the train and we’re like sardines on there and it’s reaching the point now where people are starting to stop taking the train and getting in their cars, which is exactly what we want to avoid,” she laments. “I’m not holding my breath on Paul Martin coming through with money.” Sadly, she’s probably right. But hey, what’s another two-month wait when some $50 million is on the line, right? Then again, don’t ask me, ask the sardines.

The man behind the BELT LINE; Officials onboard for transit loop using Atlanta’s old train tracks

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution September 16, 2004 The idea of turning existing railroad tracks into a streetcar or trolley line that would encircle Atlanta was born in 1999, in Ryan Gravel’s graduate thesis at Georgia Tech. Now it’s the mass transit darling of the region’s 25-year transportation plan. It came out on top in a 2003 study of possible transit routes, beating out bus lanes on I-285, commuter train service to Gainesville, and any new MARTA train line. Now the region is ready to invest over $680 million in the Belt Line and another intown transit route called the C-Loop because it forms a “C” linking Emory University, Lindbergh Center, downtown Atlanta and the Gallery at South DeKalb, formerly South DeKalb Mall. The plan also includes a ribbon of green around the railroad tracks for walking and biking trails. “I certainly thought it was a good enough idea to get this far, but I never thought it would,” said Gravel, 32. Gravel, who grew up in Chamblee, was inspired to make something of the 22 miles of mostly abandoned rail tracks circling Atlanta after returning in 1995 from Paris, where he spent his senior year in Tech’s undergraduate architectural program. “You have this new respect for urban living, and you come back to Atlanta and it’s a little disappointing,” he said. “I was interested in the relationship of transit to urban growth and high-quality urban spaces.” In his vision, the Belt Line is a streetcar or trolley route with platforms where passengers can board. There are no big stations or parking lots, and people can walk across the tracks in crosswalks. After Gravel graduated from Tech with a joint master’s degree in city planning and architecture, he figured his grand plan would die on a shelf, like almost every other thesis project. Then about three years ago, as he was talking to colleagues at Surber Barber Choate & Hertlein Architects in Atlanta, the idea took on new life. They put together maps and a synopsis of the Belt Line and sent copies to everyone they could think of, from the governor to Atlanta City Council members, Gravel said. Cathy Woolard, then representing the 6th District on the City Council, became their champion. She continued to push the Belt Line during her stint as council president, and now it’s a major slice of the region’s long-range transportation plan. Gravel left the architectural firm earlier this year to work full-time on the Belt Line. He’s working for the Community Housing Resource Center, a nonprofit group formed in 1994 to help Atlanta’s low-income communities navigate the pre-Olympic redevelopment process. CHRC is lending a hand to Friends of the Belt Line, a fledgling group Gravel founded for neighbors and others interested in the project. Gravel and his wife live about 3 1/2 blocks from the abandoned tracks in south Atlanta’s Capitol View Manor neighborhood. Scott Ball, CHRC’s executive director, said the Belt Line is exactly the type of transportation solution planners would choose for Atlanta even if the unused rail line weren’t there. CHRC, with Gravel, is working on a plan for parks around the Belt Line with Alexander Garvin, a renowned urban planner from New York. Garvin was hired by the Trust for Public Land, a national land conservation group with an Atlanta office. “I think it’s really inspiring that within what everyone thinks of as a poster child for sprawl that there is this sort of deep infrastructure,” Ball said. Last week, Gravel took a helicopter ride to view the Belt Line with Garvin. This week, he walked the route. “It’s easy to see how all these different parts of the city can be tied together,” Gravel said. Standing in Piedmont Park next to a section of the abandoned rail line, Gravel pointed to the top of City Hall East, which one day will be a mixed-used development of shops and condominiums or apartments. In a car, Ponce de Leon Avenue seems farther from Piedmont Park than it is. But on the train route, which passes over Ponce and right past City Hall East, the trip is a quick bike ride, jog or train ride away, Gravel said. The line would connect Peachtree Hills to Virginia-Highland, Midtown to Cabbagetown, Peoplestown to West End, and all of them to MARTA stations. Catherine Ross, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s first executive director — — now director of the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development at Georgia Tech — — said she’s not surprised by the Belt Line idea’s rapid rise. “It takes advantage of existing networks, expands those and creates redevelopment opportunities. It has so much potential,” Ross said. “It also impacts the mobility and congestion that we face, and it creates new employment opportunities.” Buying land for the transit line could start as early as next year. But it may take until 2030 to complete, with some type of train or bus system through a series of parks. Some sections could be ready by 2020. “The reason we’ve gotten so far is that the neighborhoods generally love it,” Gravel said. “The environmentalists love it, the developers love it, and the city loves it.”

6 firms bidding on rail station; Farley post office job may cost $1B

The Record (Bergen County, NJ) September 16, 2004 Paramus-based Vornado Realty Trust is among six bidders competing to develop the new railroad station replacing Pennsylvania Station in New York and to control its 850,000 feet of commercial space, the head of the state agency overseeing the project said. The winner will oversee the $900 million to $1 billion plan to convert the James A. Farley post office building, across Eighth Avenue from the current station, said Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp. The station, due for completion in 2009, would serve more than 500,000 commuters a day, he said. The other bidders are Related Cos. LP, Boston Properties Inc., Staubach Co., LCOR Inc., and Tishman Speyer LP, which is partnered with Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The Farley and the original Pennsylvania Station, razed in 1965, were designed by Mead, McKim & White. New York officials, led by the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, have said the new station would rival Grand Central Terminal on East 42nd Street for architectural distinction. The new station is to be named for the senator. The companies are to submit bids before the end of the year, with a winner selected by Feb. 28, 2005, Gargano said. Construction would start in about a year, he said. Staubach Co., whose chief executive is Roger Staubach, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, was selected as the project’s builder and operator in 2001, when the state intended to lease 40 percent of the building from the U.S. Postal Service. It became “a different deal” in 2002 when the state instead bought the building, so the contract was voided, Gargano said. The other bidders include some of New York’s most active real estate companies. Vornado is New York’s largest office landlord and owner of most of the Penn Plaza buildings surrounding Pennsylvania Station, as well as the Hotel Pennsylvania, across Seventh Avenue from the current station. Boston Properties, headed by New York Daily News publisher Mortimer Zuckerman, owns Citigroup Center, 5 Times Square, Times Square Tower, and three other midtown skyscrapers. Tishman Speyer, whose president is Jerry Speyer, co-owns the Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center. Chicago-based Jones Lang manages Grand Central’s retail operations for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The Related Cos., headed by Stephen Ross, developed Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle. LCOR, of Berwyn, Pa., built a U.S. courthouse, also named for Moynihan, in New York’s Foley Square. None of the companies contacted would discuss the project, citing a confidentiality agreement signed with the agency. The project still faces other hurdles. Amtrak, the U.S. national passenger railroad and owner of the current Pennsylvania Station, has said it wants to stay put, instead of moving across the street. The other prospective tenants for the new station are the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road and New Jersey Transit.

Estimates of cost for MetroLink’s southern extension reach $700 million

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) September 16, 2004 An expansion of MetroLink south of Shrewsbury could cost as much as $700 million, planners for the project estimate. No source of money for the work is in sight. The cost projection is part of data that staff planners and consultants for the East-West Gateway Council of Governments recently made public. The planners are considering three main options for extending the system. Two of them have shorter alternatives. The planners estimated costs in 2010 dollars, which are inflated compared with current ones. Planners have said that if money becomes available reasonably soon, the expansion could open by 2014. If the current financial situation continues for Metro, which would build and operate the line, the agency would be unable to finance the southern extension for 29 years. The $700 million estimate is at the high end of a cost range for an 8 1/2-mile extension, generally along the Burlington Northern railroad right of way and Interstate 55 to Butler Hill Road. The high-end cost estimate for an 11-mile extension to Butler Hill by way of the River Des Peres and Interstate 55 would be $648.5 million. The high-end cost for a 1.1-mile Burlington-Northern route extension that ends at Watson Road would be $91 million, for a 6.9-mile River Des Peres extension that ends at Reavis Barracks Road, $339.5 million, and for a 1 1/2-mile extension along River Des Peres and Watson Road that ends on Watson across from Trianon Parkway, $112 million. That translates to per-mile costs of $82.5 million for the Burlington Northern-to-Butler Hill route, $59 million for the River Des Peres-Butler Hill, $81.5 million for Burlington Northern-Watson, $49.5 million for River Des Peres-Reavis Barracks and $77.5 million for Watson-Trianon. The cost to Metro of the 8 1/2-mile MetroLink extension from Forest Park to Shrewsbury, now under construction, is $550.3 million, or about $65 million a mile. The original MetroLink segment, which started in 1993, cost $360 million, or about $20 million a mile. An extension in St. Clair County has a cost per mile similar to the original line. Justin Carney, deputy project manager for the planners, said a main reason for the cost of the routes ending at Butler Hill was the expense of taking a line in and out of South County Center at Lindbergh Boulevard and Lemay Ferry Road. Because of requirements of the railroad, about two-thirds of the Burlington Northern-Butler Hill line is at least 10 feet above ground on fill held between two retaining walls. He said that work would add significantly to the cost. “Had the line been in the middle of an abandoned right of way, the cost would be dramatically less,” Carney said. The Burlington Northern-Butler Hill route would add up to 10,500 passengers a weekday to MetroLink, compared with doing nothing more than what is in East-West Gateway’s long-range transportation plan. Each weekday, the River Des Peres-Butler Hill route would add up to 9,900 passengers and the River Des Peres-Reavis Barracks up to 7,900 passengers. The Burlington-Northern-Watson and the Watson-Trianon routes could add up to 600 passengers each a weekday. Donna Day, manager of the study for East-West Gateway, said the data and analysis so far had not shown that any route clearly stood out as better than the others. She also said the planners still had a lot of data to evaluate. The planners expected to discuss their data with East-West Gateway directors at their October meeting, Carney said. The planners will recommend a preferred option early next year when they complete a draft of an environmental statement at the end of their study. The planners also prepared a chart showing 14 key categories. They rated each route on whether it would be favorable, somewhat favorable, neutral, somewhat unfavorable or unfavorable in each category. As many as three options drew the same rating in a category. Neither potential route along the River Des Peres drew an unfavorable rating. Each had three favorable ratings, but not in the same categories. The Burlington Northern routes each had four unfavorable ratings. The route to Butler Hill had four favorable ratings, and the one to Watson Road, three. The route along Watson Road had four unfavorable ratings and the same number of favorable ones. The Burlington Northern-Butler Hill route had favorable ratings for potential ridership, savings in travel time, jobs near stations by 2025 and potential for development encouraged by MetroLink. The River Des Peres-Butler Hill route had favorable ratings for ridership, service to households without cars and households near stations in 2025.

Word To Describe Rail Trip: Stinky

The Boston Globe September 16, 2004 You may want to avert your eyes if you’re sitting down to breakfast. Karen of Sharon , who says her commute has largely been uneventful since she began taking the train in 1988, wrote recently to tell about an experience on the 832 (from Mansfield) that she’d rather soon forget: a ride into South Station in a carriage wet with what she and fellow passengers believed was sewage water from an overflowing toilet. The horror! To hear Karen tell it, the Sept. 1 episode was truly disturbing, despite what the commuter rail folks had to say afterward. “On the 7:30 a.m. train out of Sharon, I sat across from the bathroom,” Karen began. “I noticed that there was liquid on the floor, but I thought it was from the A/C. I noticed there appeared to be a lot of liquid by the bathroom, and I then noticed the smell. The liquid was not from the A/C it was from an overflowing toilet. I changed seats, but the aisle was wet with the sewer water. When I asked the conductor if there was a sewage problem on the train, he said yes, and when I asked if the liquid on the floor was sewage, he also said yes. He could not have cared less. It was so unimportant to him that we were walking on and putting our belongings on water contaminated with urine and feces. Why didn’t the MBTA close down the car? I am sure if they had explained that the toilet had overflowed and that there was dirty water in the aisle, the commuters would have been happy to crowd into the remaining cars.” She continued: “I find the conductor’s response disgraceful. This summer we have endured trains without A/C and the threat of being searched for bombs, but I never thought that I would have to walk though human waste to get to work. So what exactly is the MBTA doing with the rate increase?” We put Karen’s complaint to the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., which operates commuter rail services for the T, expecting MBCR to confirm the account and issue the mea culpa. (We have seen plenty of ugliness on trains elsewhere.) But MBCR spokeswoman Tara Frier said the water on the floor was not from a toilet overflow but from a “leaky” air-conditioning valve above the bathroom of the car. “We spoke with the conductors on the Sharon train about the incident, and at the time they believed that the problem was coming from the toilet and relayed that information to passengers,” she said via e-mail. “When the coach was inspected by the mechanical department, the real source of the leak (the A/C) was the problem. That car had been inspected at Readville both the day before and on the morning of the commute, and the toilet was running properly. When it came back into mechanical later in the day, there were no blockages or overflows related to the toilet just water on the floor that was attributed to the A/C.” Frier said it was not possible to close off the problematic car because the 832 was a full rush-hour train. “However, the conductors did open one of the doors to better circulate air through the car,” she said. There’s no convincing Karen, though. “Leaking air conditioners don’t smell like that smell,” she said by phone last week. “It was bad . . . enough that my neighbor got up and left the car. So I know it wasn’t just me.” We won’t arbitrate here, but we know Karen might have been less inclined to make a stink had she felt she had a sympathetic conductor on the 832 that morning. But, said Karen, who takes the train to work in Cambridge four times a week (monthly pass from Sharon: $149), “There was absolutely no customer-service orientation at all.” By the way, the leak from whatever has been fixed, according to Frier. As for the conductor’s conduct, Frier said: “We expect all of our conductors to address passenger concerns quickly and professionally. We have discussed Karen’s e-mail with the conductor to reinforce our expectations.”

Sound Transit Checks Price Of Light Rail Stop; Deferred Station May Be Added Near Sports Fields

THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER September 16, 2004 Sound Transit has quietly asked a contractor building part of its 14-mile light rail line the cost of a change order to add a new station on South Royal Brougham Way two blocks east of Safeco and Qwest fields. The light rail system under construction has no station between the International District station at South Jackson Street and a station planned for Lander Street near Sixth Avenue South. But that could quickly change if the contractor, Kiewit Pacific, returns next month with a price tag the Sound Transit board decides is within reason. The Royal Brougham Station has always been in the plans of Sound Transit, but it had been “deferred” for lack of money. But with about two-thirds of the contracts for construction of the $2.4 billion system awarded, the project is running about 3 percent below the budget established three years ago. “We’re doing well with contracts issued to date,” said Sound Transit spokesman Geoff Patrick, adding the agency now has a “higher level of comfort” with the idea of adding a station to the project. Staff believe it would save money to build the Royal Brougham Station while construction crews are already mobilized and familiar with the area, even if it will involve a change order. Kiewit won two contracts totaling $95 million to build the part of the light rail line that is in the Sodo area, between the downtown transit tunnel and the Beacon Hill tunnel. But soon after it began work, the company faced steel shortages that resulted in price surges and delays. Kiewit has told Sound Transit it plans to make a claim for compensation. Sound Transit so far has taken the position that it was a fixed-price contract and Kiewit is due no money. A change order theoretically might offer the company an opportunity to try to recover some of those losses, but Patrick said the staff would carefully scrutinize the estimate for the Royal Brougham Station. “We would anticipate they would provide a breakdown,” Patrick said. “At a certain point, it is apparent when their numbers are not passing the straight-face test.” Sound Transit estimates the cost of light rail stations at street level at $5 million to $7 million. The Royal Brougham Station might be on the low end of that range, because it is in a dedicated right of way. The news that Sound Transit was looking into adding the station was greeted enthusiastically by area businesses and also by the Seattle Monorail Project, which is planning to build its own station near the two sports stadiums. “We’re pleased to hear about any public transportation options that would help traffic congestion down in this area,” said Seattle Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale. Mike Peringer, president of the Sodo Business Association, was delighted with the news. “With all of the events on both sides of (Royal Brougham), it would clearly be a destination for a lot of folks from either south or north,” he said. Besides the Qwest and Safeco fields, the area features the Qwest Field Event Center, formerly known as Seahawks Exhibition Center. The trio of facilities hosts a variety of commercial shows, religious programs, concerts and other events, Peringer said. “That’s where a lot of action happens every day,” he said. The monorail station is planned to be about a block or so west of the light rail station, but monorail spokeswoman Natasha Jones said having the two stations so close is not overkill. “It can be nothing but good for commuters, for Sound Transit and for the monorail,” Jones said. “Transit integration is a huge part of the work that we’re doing and will continue to do.” Besides, the light rail line will be serving Southeast Seattle, while the monorail will run from Ballard to West Seattle, she noted. The proximity of the stations provides a good chance to make connections between the two systems as well as with the nearby King Street railroad station, Jones said. When voters passed the Sound Move regional transit plan in 1996, they were told the “starter” light rail system from North Seattle to South 200th Street would have 25 miles of track with 26 stations. But by the time the agency got up and running and began planning the light rail system, it found the cost was more than double what it had told voters. In 2001, with new Executive Director Joni Earl in place, Sound Transit decided it could afford to build only a 14-mile line from Westlake Center to South 154th Street, a mile and a half short of the airport. The line would have 11 stations, with two others deferred. One of the deferred stations was Royal Brougham, and the other was at the Boeing Access Road in Tukwila. Adding the Royal Brougham Station would bring the number of stations on the line to 12.

River-bound/ The Subway Extension Will Be Worth The Detours

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania September 16, 2004 Now that the bulk of the Fort Pitt Tunnel work is finished, it’s time for Pittsburghers to get ready for the region’s next major transportation improvement, the extension of the underground light-rail system to the North Shore and also to the convention center. The Port Authority has been successful so far in shepherding the 1.5-mile, $363 million project through the federal labyrinth. The plan, part of which will build twin subway tunnels under the Allegheny River, has been recommended to Congress by the Federal Transit Administration for the full measure of funding, which means 80 percent of project cost. That’s a coup for Pittsburgh, testimony to the hard work of the authority and proof of a worthy proposal in the face of stiff national competition. It won’t be a done deal, however, until the Port Authority wraps up negotiations on a full-funding agreement with the FTA and Congress approves a transportation bill containing the money. Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, along with Reps. Mike Doyle, Melissa Hart and Tim Murphy, have fought hard for the project and need to maintain their vigilance. In the meantime, commuters, shoppers, business owners, students and, of course, Pirates and Steelers fans would be wise to brace themselves for the start of construction in 2005. Between then and late 2008, when the new subway lines would open, Pittsburgh will see road closings and traffic reroutings between the North Side stadiums and in Downtown in the vicinity of Stanwix Street at Liberty and Penn avenues and along 11th Street at Liberty and Penn. Although Pittsburgh has already suffered, survived and benefited from subway construction in the Golden Triangle when the original system was built in the 1980s, this round of disruption will be more confined to a corner of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the Gateway Plaza area next to its new station and the North Shore zone where the boring machine will go underground to drill below the river. In the end, commuters will enjoy a string of light-rail benefits they didn’t have before. A direct connection to the convention center and a spur that could eventually go to the Strip District and points east. A direct connection to the North Side — to the community college, to the Carnegie Science Center, to new development like the Equitable Resources and Del Monte buildings, to fringe parking for Downtown workers and, of course, to Pirates and Steelers games — and a spur that could eventually go west and north. It will be a major undertaking for the Port Authority, contractors and the traveling public. But lessons have been learned from the initial subway project and commuters have shown their perseverance through the Fort Pitt construction. We say, speed the plow. Bring on the Big Dig./

Indictment ties N.Y. project to the mob

The International Herald Tribune September 17, 2004 An effort by the regional transit agency to turn a vacant 32-story office building at the foot of Manhattan into its headquarters has long been regarded by many as a fiasco, more than $300 million over budget and plagued by leaky pipes, courtroom battles and accusations of cronyism. And it got worse Wednesday, when U.S. prosecutors unsealed court papers revealing that the man who ran the project for the agency and who received more than $10 million in salary and bonuses had longstanding ties to not one, but two Mafia groups. The authorities said that the executive, Frederick Contini, 45, who was named developer of the year in 1999 by the National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives for his work on the project, was actually working with the Gambino and Genovese crime families and had entered a secret guilty plea to racketeering charges earlier this year. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority had put Contini, 45, in charge of the project even after an earlier employer fired him and warned the agency to steer clear of him. Prosecutors also revealed that the corruption was more widespread than had been disclosed and cost millions of dollars for the public transportation authority, which is struggling for cash and again raising the possibility of fare increases for buses, subways and commuter trains. According to the court papers unsealed by Roslynn Mauskopf, the chief federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, Contini played a key role in siphoning off substantially more than $10 million from the work on the headquarters through inflated bills, extortion and kickbacks on demolition, fireproofing, asbestos and elevator contracts. The alleged wrongdoing involves 10 separate contracts. The 43-count indictment charged a soldier in the Gambino crime family, Edward Garafolo; his son Mario, a union business agent for Local 79 of the Laborers union; and a fourth man with fraud for the bogus bills and extortion that took place at the agency’s headquarters project. All pleaded not guilty. The indictment described Contini as an earner for the mob, who had regularly paid tens of thousands of dollars in tribute to Garafolo, a brother-in-law of Salvatore Gravano, the former Gambino family underboss. Court papers said that Contini had pleaded guilty in July to participating in a 13-year racketeering conspiracy with the Gambino family in a variety of construction projects in New York and New Jersey. Prosecutors would not say whether Contini was providing testimony against the other defendants. But lawyers said it seemed clear that he was cooperating because of his plea. The financial problems involving the transportation agency’s headquarters began when the agency first announced its plan in 1998 to consolidate its far-flung operations and lease the vacant building. It then estimated the cost of renovating the tower at about $135 million, but the actual costs have grown to $440 million.

Tubas trumpet Transbay Tube’s 30th year; Celebration includes plea for passage of bond measure to improve quake safety

The San Francisco Chronicle SEPTEMBER 17, 2004 BART celebrated the 30th anniversary of trains speeding beneath San Francisco Bay through the Transbay Tube on Thursday by cutting a cake on an anchored barge in Alameda — to the accompaniment of a trio of tubas playing “Happy Birthday” — and by taking a pack of journalists on a boat ride to the middle of the bay. As incongruous as that may seem, there was some logic to the oddly situated and orchestrated birthday celebration, as BART Director Lynette Sweet explained. “We’re not only here to celebrate the tube’s birthday,” she said. “We’re here to tell people that BART needs the public’s help.” That help is Measure AA, a $980 million general obligation bond issue that will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot in San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa counties, the three counties within the BART district. The measure would raise money to seismically strengthen BART to withstand a major earthquake — and be up and running the day after. BART has $143 million in hand for the job from Regional Measure 2, which was approved by voters in March and authorized an increase in bridge tolls to $3 in July. Money from the toll hike will pay for a series of transportation improvements, including part of the Transbay Tube upgrade. But BART needs a total of $1.3 billion to complete the work on the tube and to bolster other parts of the system. The 3.6-mile tube, which opened on Sept. 16, 1974, and links San Francisco and the East Bay, is the busiest and most critical part of the 104-mile BART system. About 150,000 passengers a day ride through it at speeds up to 80 mph. BART officials like to boast that it carries more people to San Francisco during the morning commute than the Bay Bridge. When it was built in the late 1960s, the tube was considered state-of-the-art in its earthquake resistance. But seismic engineers have learned lessons from subsequent quakes and say that while the tube survived the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake without damage, it could fail in the next big quake without $330 million in repairs. Possible methods of making those repairs include: — Compacting the loose fill beneath, around and atop the concrete-and-steel tube, which sits in a 50-foot-deep trench on the bay floor, to prevent liquefaction and control movement of the tube. — Installing piles beside the tube, with crossbeams on top, essentially stapling the tube to the bay floor to reduce movement. — Punching “micropiles” through the bottom of the tube and into the bay floor to limit movement. BART’s boat tour took reporters to a site southeast of Yerba Buena Island, right above the Transbay Tube, where a drilling crew is making test borings. The crew will drill 11 shallow borings — nine in the bay, two onshore — to test the soils around the tube, and 10 deep borings to determine the soil characteristics of the bay floor all the way to bedrock. The borings, and a sonar-produced map of the bay floor, will be used to determine the best methods for retrofitting the tube and to guide engineering. The geotechnical work is expected to cost about $1.4 million. If it passes in November, BART’s bond measure would raise property taxes in the three counties about $7 per $100,000 of assessed valuation. It would be collected for 30 years. If the measure fails, said Tom Horton, BART earthquake safety engineer, the transit district would probably be able to afford just the exploratory work now under way and the compaction of the soil around the tube. “We know an earthquake’s coming,” said Sweet. “It’s just a matter of when. We want to be prepared.” Oh, and as to why tubas — played by students from Alameda High School — were selected for Thursday’s birthday party, here’s a hint from BART spokesman Linton Johnson for those not inclined to understand puns: “You know,” he said. “Transbay Tube — tuba.” Thursday’s celebration came just hours after the transit system’s latest troubles. A train-control computer shutdown at 9:40 p.m. Wednesday slowed or stalled trains until almost midnight, when the system began its nightly shutdown. With the computer that controls trains unable to send orders, operators had to work closely with dispatchers to move trains. That means they were forced to run trains manually, limiting speeds to 25 mph and throwing switches by hand. The computer was shut down and restarted overnight, Johnson said, and there were no computer troubles Thursday morning. About 4,400 passengers were affected by the computer failure, the cause of which remains under investigation.

Washington Update

September 17, 2004 This report is based on news articles and not from “inside knowledge,” but I believe the information is correct. Great news � according to a TV report this morning the 2.7 mile light rail demonstration line passed its last obstacle and construction could start this fall. It will run from the Blue Line Anacostia station to Bolling Air Force Base (the latter is a major employment and military residential loc