June 12, 2008

Friends,

Last week we included an article in our Weekly Update about ridership on mass transit rising across the country. This week’s news reports ridership being up in Arizona as well, and specifically in the Valley, due in part to the increasing gas prices.

Also of note is an article on the Lynx Blue Line light rail system reports that system getting off to a good start- this is great news for the Valley as we gear up for the opening of the Metro Light Rail here.

As always, we welcome you to contact us with any suggestions on articles or topics you are interested in.

In the News:
Light-rail line rolls right along, The Charlotte Observer, May 29 ,2008
Tempe-Mesa light rail test put on hold, The Arizona Republic,  June 9, 2008
Bus ridership soars in Arizona, The Arizona Republic,  June 9, 2008
Big buses best for south Tempe, Tribune, June 11, 2008
Scottsdale trolley ridership doubles in a month, The Arizona Republic, June  11, 2008
Rural Road is on light-rail radar, The Arizona Republic, June 12, 2008
Mall developers seek to capitalize on light rail, The Arizona Republic, June 12, 2008

Don’t forget to visit Friends of Transit on the web at www.friendsoftransit.org!

 

Light-rail line rolls right along
More riders, continued development and few glitches
The Charlotte Observer
By Steve Harrison
5.29.2008

Last fall, light rail was synonymous with delays and cost overrruns.

What are people talking about today? The parking deck filling up by 9 a.m. and trains being too crowded.

“I have to admit, they are doing better than I expected,” said former Mecklenburg County commissioner Jim Puckett, who helped lead a failed effort to repeal the half-cent sales tax for mass transit last fall. “Our concern was whether we would have a white elephant, and it doesn't seem we do.”

The Lynx Blue Line has been in service for six months, and has led a mostly charmed life.

CATS projected that Lynx would average 9,100 passenger weekday trips in its first year. CATS is averaging more than 13,000 weekday trips through April.

The train could reach its 2025 goal of 18,100 weekday trips in the next decade.

“I think we'll safely be at those projections within five or seven years,” said CATS chief executive Keith Parker.

Some ridership was driven by special events such as the CIAA and ACC basketball tournaments. But in April, when there weren't any major events uptown, Lynx averaged 12,689 weekday trips.

When Lynx first opened, there were roughly 500 cars in park-and-ride lots, which have 3,200 spaces, according to CATS officials. By early May, there were 1,830 cars parked in the seven park-and-ride lots, according to an Observer weekday count. The parking deck at the I-485/South Boulevard lot now consistently fills up by the end of rush hour.

Nicole Talley of Fort Mill, S.C., a Wachovia employee, rides the train daily. She likes the commute, but said the trains are getting jammed with people.

“It's getting really crowded,” said Talley. “You can't always find a seat.”

The 9.6-mile Lynx is on pace to handle about 4.2 million trips for the year. Washington's 105-mile Metro handled 275 million trips.

But Washington is a walkable city where people don't have cars and depend on transit. When comparing Charlotte with other Sun Belt cities that recently added rail, Lynx compares more favorably.

Dallas' 45 miles of light rail handle roughly 65,000 weekday trips. That's about 1,400 trips per mile of track, only slightly more than Charlotte's 1,350 riders per mile. Other cities – such as Denver, Salt Lake City and Houston – carry more passengers per mile than Lynx.

Parker said CATS' short-term challenge is increasing capacity. CATS is studying ways to squeeze more parking spaces into the 1,120-space deck at the I-485/South Boulevard station. It also recently bought four new train cars from car manufacturer Siemens, which will allow CATS to always operate more two-car trains.

But those cars won't be delivered for two years.

How much does it cost?

CATS is still haggling with contractors over delay claims, but officials said last week the line's final price won't exceed the most recent budget figure of $462.7 million, from the fall.

Operating Lynx is cheaper than buses, especially in the wake of a surge in fuel prices.

The average Lynx trip costs $2.70 in operating dollars, but that doesn't include the cost of building the line. Three-quarters of the train's $462.7 million cost came from federal and state grants. When CATS' portion of the train's capital cost is included, the per-passenger cost jumps to about $4.50.

The average bus trip is about $4.30, which doesn't include the cost of buying the bus. The cost is rising quickly due to fuel prices.

Parker said he expects the train to become more efficient as more people ride it, and operating costs stay roughly the same. The electric-powered Lynx hasn't been impacted by the spiraling cost of oil, he said.

With the price of diesel fuel rising rapidly, Parker said the proposed electric streetcar for central Charlotte is looking more attractive. CATS is considering building a streetcar, a commuter train to Lake Norman and an extension of Lynx to University City.

A lack of glitches

When Lynx first opened, the line's ticket vending machines often malfunctioned, sometimes freezing or giving people incorrect change.

Parker said those problems have mostly been fixed – and he stressed there have been no significant problems since the train's debut.

Because light rail often operates at grade, with several street crossings, CATS worried there would be numerous collisions with cars. That happened when Houston's light-rail train opened in 2004.

That hasn't happened.

“From the customer's perspective, the operation has gone better than we expected,” Parker said. “Internally we've had to work our butts off to make that happen.”

In April, Lynx service was disrupted after sand, dirt and lime from a nearby silo that was being demolished poured on the tracks, south of the East/West station. The accident occurred before the evening rush hour, snarling train traffic.

CATS reacted quickly, dispatching a fleet of buses to carry passengers around the accident site.

The prospect of crime on the train wasn't an issue during the transit tax campaign – and it hasn't been a problem since Lynx opened.

Through April 30, two cars have been reported stolen from park-and-ride lots, and nine cars have been broken into. There has been one armed robbery, according to CATS.

Development along line

A key part of CATS long-range plans is to build high-density transit corridors, where apartments and stores are clustered around transit stations.

Since the train opened, the economy and the housing market have slumped. But almost all of the proposed developments along the Lynx are being built, or are on schedule, said CATS planner Tina Votaw. One reason, she said, is that many of the projects were planned as apartments, which are less impacted by the credit crunch than condominiums.

“People have to live somewhere,” Votaw said. “And if financing for buyers is difficult, they will migrate towards apartments.”

Between the New Bern and Bland Street stations, much of the land flanking the line is being transformed, with bulldozers clearing land for projects such as The Silos at South End and The Circle.

Votaw said only one project has fallen through: Harris Co.'s plans to build residential units and retail near the I-485 station. Another project, The Chelsea, has switched from condos to apartments.

Matt Browder of the Harris Development Group said zoning hurdles scuttled the I-485 project.

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Tempe-Mesa light rail test put on hold
Gary Nelson
The Arizona Republic
Jun. 9, 2008 01:14 PM

History was put on hold Monday in east Tempe and Mesa, but not for long.

About four miles of light-rail line from Sun Devil Stadium to the Sycamore Street station was to have gotten its first-ever workout Monday, a slow-speed run to uncover any kinks as the system nears its December inauguration.

It wasn't the train or the track that failed Monday, however. It was the testing equipment. 

A camera that was to monitor the train's connection to the overhead power line went on the fritz, according to Hillary Foose, spokesman for Metro Light Rail Inc.

That camera won't be part of the train's normal operating equipment, she said. But it was necessary on Monday because checking out the electrical line was to have been a big part of the test.

"Apparently it was working this morning when they were checking out the train and all its components," Foose said after the test was called off. But after the train rolled from the yard in east Phoenix to the station near Sun Devil Stadium, the camera failed.

From there, Metro had planned to run the car at about 4 mph to the Sycamore station, with technicians walking alongside to look for problems. "We're testing all the components of the system," Foose said.

One big part of the testing, she said, is to get drivers and pedestrians used to the sleek, quiet trains that will run up to 35 mph along mostly unguarded streets. Only five intersections along the entire 20-mile line will have crossing arms, Foose said. The rest will rely on normal traffic signals to keep trains and cars apart.

Despite Monday's glitch, testing will accelerate as the year speeds along.

Foose said the Tempe-Mesa test likely would be rescheduled for this week, and by the end of the summer the entire line will have had its initial inspection.

By November, Foose said, people all along the line can expect to see trains every 10 minutes, at normal operating speeds, as final bugs are worked out.

One problem that's already been fixed, Foose said, is the cracks that were found in at least 17 sections of rail after contractors used the wrong kind of torch in construction.

The $1.4 billion light-rail line opens Dec. 27, the Saturday after Christmas, with free rides on the inaugural weekend.

Each rail car can carry up to 200 people at standing-room-only capacity, and with the system's ability to hook three cars together, as many as 600 people could leave their cars and trucks behind every time a train rolls.

Service hours haven't been set yet, but Foose expects trains to run perhaps 4:30 a.m. to midnight every day.

In coming months, Mesa faces a major decision whether to extend the line from the Sycamore station into downtown - and, if so, what route to take. Some favor running the rails right down Main Street at least to Mesa Drive; others prefer moving them a block north or south to either First Street or First Avenue.

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Bus ridership soars in Arizona
by Jahna Berry
Jun. 9, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Ask April Wise why she rides the bus, and she will tell you how much it costs to fill her gas tank.

"I save about $400 a month," said the north Phoenix resident who commutes downtown to her job at a military processing center. Wise started riding about six weeks ago, after gas hit $3.50 per gallon, she said.

Ballooning gas prices - now a little more than $4 a gallon in some parts of the Valley - are changing the way many motorists commute to central Phoenix, a key regional employment center. Like commuters across the country, many are trading their car keys for bus cards.

Although buses are more popular than ever, transit agencies can't dramatically increase bus service anytime soon because of fuel and labor costs, officials say. And the surge in ridership will have a limited impact on public transit's bottom line because fares cover about 25 percent of Valley Metro's expenses, said Susan Tierney spokeswoman for the agency.

A big shift

The recent surge in bus riders has been striking, especially for the car-loving Valley, Tierney said.

"It's a whole paradigm shift," said Tierney, adding that on many routes, riders have taken for granted that they will snag a seat on the bus. "We are seeing something that we largely haven't seen before: people standing on buses."

Usually boardings - essentially one rider's one-way bus trip - go up 6 or 7 percent during a gas-price hike, she said.

In April, daily boardings on Rapid and Express buses shot up nearly 18 percent compared with the same month last year.

Rapid and Express buses are geared toward commuters and use the freeway for part of their routes. They cost slightly more than a regular bus ride: $1.75 for a one-way trip instead of $1.25.

Bus figures can be tricky to interpret. One boarding can't necessarily be counted as a person because a single rider might catch the bus twice in a day. Also, some riders carpool to work and take the bus home.

Valley trend

But it's clear that more commuters are leaving their car keys at home.

• At the Pecos Road park-and-ride in Ahwatukee Foothills, about 650 to 700 morning commuters take Rapid buses to downtown Phoenix, said Jonathan Dutson of Akal Security, a firm that monitors the lot and counts riders. A few months ago, that number was 400, Dutson said.

• In Tempe, daily boardings jumped 33 percent from February to May on a weekday Express bus route from Price and Broadway roads to downtown Phoenix. That May ridership figure is 75 percent higher than it was last year, said Sue Taaffe, a spokeswoman for Tempe's transportation department.

• In Glendale, a downtown Phoenix Express bus route that starts near Loop 101 and 75th Avenue more than doubled its daily ridership in three months, said Matthew Dudley, a Glendale transit-planning manager.

National figures mirror the Valley trend.

In the first three months of this year, people in the U.S. took nearly 85 million more trips on public transit than the same period last year, according to the American Public Transit Association. Those riders took 2.6 billion trips in January, February and March, the group reports.

Veteran Valley bus riders say that seats are getting scarce and park-and-ride lots are filling up.

Andrew Niles, a regular at the Ahwatukee Foothills park-and-ride, takes the bus to avoid the stress of bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic. He sees plenty of new faces these days.

"It's more crowded, especially in the afternoon," said the Phoenix resident who works in downtown Phoenix.

And more than a few downtown bus riders have left a fuel-hogging truck or SUV in their driveway.

"What I was driving before was a real gas guzzler," said Chase employee Barry Harris, 50, of Phoenix. "A Ford Expedition."

Thirst for options

Across the board, interest in many transit programs is high, transit officials say.

There has been an 80 percent jump in requests for carpool match lists, according to Valley Metro.

There has been a 20 percent increase in the number of bus trips made by riders who participate in employer-subsidized bus-fare programs, said Matthew Heil, a spokesman for Phoenix's Public Transit Department.

 And with gas and food prices expected to remain high for the near future, that enthusiasm could mean more riders when the 20-mile light-rail line debuts in December.

"People are looking for options," said Tierney, the Valley Metro spokeswoman. "Although we are adding service, (in some areas) the demand is exceeding the supply."

Tight budgets

It's more expensive to fill a bus fuel tank these days, and if an agency wants to invest in new buses, it isn't cheap. A new bus can cost as much as $750,000, officials say.

Sales-tax revenue, the well for many local government programs and transit projects, is down due to the economy.

Recently, Phoenix's transit office was part of a painful round of citywide budget cuts. The office trimmed $3.3 million of its $213 million annual operating budget, said Lauri Wingenroth, assistant public-transit director.

The transit office cut a bus route that mirrors the light-rail route, reduced internal-technology support, will clean some bus shelters less frequently, and will not fill vacant posts, Wingenroth said.

There is some relief in sight for riders.

Light rail will add more options for commuters. Several cities, including Glendale and Phoenix, have pre-existing plans to expand park-and-ride parking lots, and an Express route between Chandler and Scottsdale will debut this summer, transit officials say.

But in the public-transit world, supply usually lags behind demand because a lot of money is already spoken for, officials say.

"What money we have is completely scheduled out," said Tierney of Valley Metro. "We don't have money sitting around to expand."

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Experts: Big buses best for south Tempe
Metro says light-rail line not suitable, would require bridge
By MIKE BRANOM
TRIBUNE
6.11.2008

Transportation experts are suggesting that a high-capacity bus line might be the best way to serve the south Tempe/west Chandler area.

At a presentation given by regional and municipal planners on Tuesday night, buses comprised half of six options recommended to connect the area’s residents and businesses to the cross-Valley light-rail line due to open in December.

Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, is different from a typical bus line in that the vehicles carry more passengers, have priority at stoplights — when they are not on dedicated roads — and the stops are farther spread out.

The BRT routes under consideration are on Mill Avenue/ Kyrene Road, Rural Road and the railroad tracks that roughly parallel Kyrene.

Other alternatives offered involve commuter rail on the Union Pacific tracks and a light rail/ streetcar mix on Mill Avenue and Rural Road.

The meeting at the Tempe Public Library is an early part of the process to bring mass transit to the area known as Tempe South.

No construction is expected to begin before 2015.

Although one of the agencies presenting the information was Metro, which operates the 20-mile light-rail system, those vehicles do not appear to be suitable for Tempe South.

Two reasons, Metro planner Marc Soronson explained to the 30 residents in attendance, was that a rail line would necessitate the construction of a new bridge over U.S. 60 and perhaps a second bridge to cross the railroad line that cuts east-west through Tempe. The same presentation will be given at 6 p.m. today at Corona del Sol High School, 1001 W. Knox Road in Tempe

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Scottsdale trolley ridership doubles in month
by Nathan Gonzalez
Jun. 11, 2008 07:56 AM
The Arizona Republic

Ridership has more than doubled after the first full month of Scottsdale's expanded neighborhood trolley system.

Before the April 27 expansion, which lengthened the route 6 miles and included a first-ever Tempe connection, Scottsdale averaged about 350 riders per day on its neighborhood trolleys.
In May, average daily ridership more than doubled to 723, said Annie DeChance, public participation and outreach manager for Scottsdale's Transportation Department.

"Ridership has increased 113 percent," DeChance said. "That's pretty darn good."

Ridership on Scottsdale's expanded neighborhood trolley has run as high as 1,050 a day on May 14 and 16.

Riders are climbing aboard for a number of reasons, DeChance said:
• People are opting to keep their personal vehicles idle in hopes of avoiding frequent visits to area gas stations where average prices hovered this week as high as $4.08 per gallon.

• Others are realizing that Scottsdale's six neighborhood trolleys, which run every 20 minutes from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, are increasingly becoming a more convenient way to get around.

"It's giving people more mobility to getting to different parts of town," DeChance said. "It gives people more options whether they are simply running errands or heading to a larger destination."
Expanding routes reduces traffic congestion and connects two cities - Scottsdale and Tempe, said Scottsdale Mayor Mary Manross.

"It gives residents in both cities the opportunity to reduce auto trips to run errands, shop and go out for a meal," the mayor said. "Connecting these systems also provides access to schools, parks and community centers."

The 6-mile expansion takes the neighborhood trolley, or circulator, south and west, adding service to the Vista del Camino Community Center, Paiute Neighborhood Center and Tonalea Elementary School.

The expansion also connected Scottsdale Road and Roosevelt Street with Tempe's free neighborhood circulator, Orbit Earth, allowing Scottsdale riders access to Arizona State University's main campus and to the new Tempe Marketplace shopping center.
Manross, acting Scottsdale City Manager John Little and Tempe council members Shana Ellis and Onnie Shekerjian will gather today at the Paiute Neighborhood Center to celebrate the recent expansion to Tempe's Orbit System.

"We are pleased to connect two incredible communities, Scottsdale and Tempe, with this great system," Manross said.

Officials will also use the meeting to kick off a back-to-school supply drive. People can drop off supplies at the Paiute center during regular business hours throughout the summer.

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Rural Road is on light-rail radar
by Dianna M. Náñez
Jun. 11, 2008 01:15 PM
The Arizona Republic

Residents listening to transportation experts describe Rural Road as the jackpot of options for extending light rail into south Tempe and Chandler wanted to know how their homes and local businesses would be shielded from what could be years of construction.

Many attending the Metro transportation presentation at Tempe Public Library on Tuesday live near Rural Road.

Gloria Lamancha, 67, has lived off of Southern Avenue and Rural for nearly 25 years and has watched the intersection grow into one of Tempe's busiest. Lamancha said she would support Rural becoming the Tempe artery for expanding mass transit, as long as officials can promise to keep construction headaches to under a year.

"What's going to be the least of the messes? What's going to be the time for the messes?" Lamancha asked Marc Soronson, a transportation project manager for the Tempe South Alternatives Analysis study.

Soronson laid out options for connecting south Tempe and Chandler to a 20-mile light-rail line that opens in December and will cut primarily through Tempe and Phoenix.

"Dealing with the utilities takes the longest time. There's right-of-way (problems). It's hard to tell. Probably a year," he said.

The presentation also covered the benefits of high-capacity rapid bus transit and light rail over commuter rail and streetcars. Streetcars carry fewer passengers compared with light rail and Tempe would have to work out an agreement with Union Pacific Rail Road to use its tracks for commuter rail, Soronson said. He said Rural Road rose to the top of the Tempe transit-line options because it is one of the busiest streets in the city and one of the few streets that extends into Scottsdale and Chandler. Kyrene Road would lead to high costs because a bridge would have to be built over the Union Pacific Rail Road tracks, Soronson said. McClintock Drive is further from public hubs such as downtown Tempe and Arizona State University.

Dan Olsen, 59, a civil engineer who lives with his wife, Jacque, 58, near Southern and Rural, asked Soronson why transportation officials had highlighted the difficulties related to the railroad tracks on Kyrene but had not told the audience that Rural would present the same difficulties.

Soronson acknowledged that if the light rail line were extended along Rural, an overpass would have to built to cross the tracks between Apache Boulevard and Broadway Road.

"But if we're going to spend the money we might as well spend it where we get the residents," Soronson said, remarking on the transportation demand along Rural.

Of the Tempe streets studied, the bus route along Rural had the most users at about 3,500 daily boarders.

Olsen said he appreciates transportation planners holding the series of meetings to garner public input, but he thinks it is a bit of "dog-and-pony show."

"We're going to have light rail along Rural Road. They've made up their minds," he said.

If light rail is the only mass-transit option Valley cities are willing to provide its residents, Olsen, a bus rider himself, said he would take it. But as a civil engineer who helps manage local public works and land development projects, he said he does not consider light rail the best option for curing Valley traffic woes.

"We needed buses that travel throughout this city every 10 minutes. It would have been cheaper and moved more people," he said. "I hope Tempe realizes this and chooses more buses."

Soronson said transit options are still being evaluated and a final recommendation is expected by early 2009.

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Mall developers seek to capitalize on light rail
by Kerry Fehr-Snyder
Jun. 12, 2008 07:51 AM
The Arizona Republic

The state's largest shopping-mall developer wants to jump on the light-rail bandwagon with circulator buses or another mode to shuttle shoppers to Westcor malls in the Southeast Valley and elsewhere.

Westcor, which owns 16malls in Arizona, including Chandler Fashion Center and Fiesta Mall, said that it has been talking with city transportation directors to figure out how to tap riders who will begin boarding light-rail trains starting Dec. 27.

The most likely way to get passengers from the train to Westcor shopping malls will be shuttles or bus rapid transit, which city transportation planners have been discussing as the best strategy for extending light rail's reach to east Mesa, south Tempe and Chandler.

The 20-mile starter light-rail line will run from the western edge of Mesa, through all of Tempe, ending near Camelback Road and 19th Avenue in Phoenix.

Meanwhile, mall developer Vestar is attempting to capture shoppers from the Pinal County city of Maricopa by offering to send buses between there and Arizona Mills and Tempe Marketplace.

Both Westcor and Vestar realize that even if they build it, shoppers won't come if they can't get to their developments cheaply.

"Is the shopper going to make the trip 20 miles when gas is $5 or $6 a gallon?" asked Scott Nelson, a vice president for Westcor. "We need to create 'nodes of activity.' "

In Mesa specifically, Westcor executives have been talking to city leaders about Fiesta Mall's revitalization, upgrading the Banner Desert Samaritan area and possibly beginning bus circulator service like the Orbit in Tempe, ALEX in Ahwatukee and DASH in Phoenix.

"It's definitely something we're trying to take advantage of," said Garrett Newland, another Westcor development vice president.

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