A predictor of the battle to come in the Ohio General Assembly? I hope not! We aren't looking for $10 million only to come up with $5 million. Not when we may need more than $200 million to get just half of the 3-C Corridor going.

Now this is what a commuter railroad needs to not be doing to build support.  The story is from the Nashville Tennesseean.

 

July 5, 2008

 

Packed 'Fireworks Express' leaves hundreds behind

More tickets sold for Music City Star train than expected

 

By JENNIFER BROOKS

Staff Writer

 

The Music City Star's overcrowded "Fireworks Express" train left hundreds of fuming passengers standing on the platforms and unable to catch a ride to the Fourth of July fireworks.

 

More than 1,100 passengers crowded into the five-car train, which has a seating capacity of just 750, at its first stop in Lebanon. Although hundreds of other passengers were waiting with tickets at the other stations along the route, the packed train rolled past without stopping.

 

 

http://www.tennessean.com:80/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080705/NEWS01/807050345/1006

 

I'd say that falls into the category of "OOPS!!"

Oh how nice. For a line that was definitely built on the cheap (most likely unbuildable otherwise, though), that has suffered from poor ridership (what happened to its planned expansions to other metro cities with more population?), this is a major OOPS.

sucks!

Transit

East Side Access Plan Moving Forward

July 03, 2008

 

The MTA's plan to bring Long Island Rail Road customers to the East Side of Manhattan is moving forward.

 

After eight months of work, a 200-ton drilling machine has made the mile-long trip down the Upper East Side, from 63rd Street to Grand Central Terminal.

 

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=5&aid=83387

 

Agreed. The Federal Transit Administration should be re-named the Federal Transit Obstacle.

 

But as you said, a new administration will hopefully change this.

As well as Rep. Oberstar who is trying to undo what was done by his predecessors who chaired the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (Istook and Knollenberg). Oberstar's predecessors used the power of the purse strings to force changes to the FTA's project scoring criteria in order to reduce funding for rail and shift it to bus and even HOV lanes.

http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/v-printerfriendly/story/712488.html

 

A high-speed future for California

Rail proposal is antidote for rising gas prices, dirty air, stagnant economy.

07/05/08 21:30:38

 

High-speed rail won the pole position on the November ballot -- it was named Proposition 1 when the secretary of state assigned numbers to the 11 initiatives voters will consider. That's no guarantee of victory, but the momentum is clearly building.

 

The proposal to build an 800-mile system of 200-mph trains linking Southern and Northern California, by way of the Valley, has made a great deal of sense throughout its two-decade gestation. Proposition 1, the $9.95 billion bond measure, is the necessary first step.

 

More at link above:

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature4-7-8

 

July 7, 2008

Pennsylvania increases freight rail funding

 

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward G. Rendell has signed a FY 2008-09 budget that increases funding for the commonwealth’s Rail Transportation Assistance Program by $10 million to $30 million. The budge earmarks $3 million for railroad bridge rehabilitation. The governor’s office said the remaining funds will be spent to build new and preserve existing rail lines and to improve safety. The announcement noted that the governor has tripled rail funding since he took office because “rail freight investment entices economic development and promotes an environmentally and fuel-friendly alternative to moving goods through the commonwealth.”

hard to believe it's been 20 years of portland, oregon rail already -- and much more is on the way!  :clap:

 

 

 

Posted on: Monday, July 7, 2008

Portland transit system still expanding

City's mass-transit system still expanding, 20 years later

 

    * 13,000 a day riding new Charlotte rail

 

    * Read comments (263)

 

 

By Dylan Rivera

 

PORTLAND, Ore. — Welcome to Railtown USA, where light rail and streetcar lines crisscross the metro area.

Advertisement

 

The largest city in Oregon, Portland built one of the nation's first light rail lines in the mid-1980s, and since then has relentlessly expanded the system. Its three-line, 44-mile MAX light rail system is poised to expand by 50 percent in the next year and a half.

 

As Honolulu moves tentatively toward building a $3.7 billion rail system, Portland may have some lessons to share.

 

Every month or so, another magazine calls Portland the nation's "most sustainable city," usually citing its high mass-transit use. Federal transit dollars pour into the city at rates far exceeding the national average for cities its size. Every week or so, delegations from cities across the globe visit Portland to see the system firsthand.

 

"This feedback is great for our collective ego," says Sam Adams, a City Council member recently elected mayor. "But we need to stay humble in the knowledge that our transportation system does not adequately serve tens of thousands of Portlanders."

 

Portland's experience with rail exemplifies the congestion reduction, reduced driving and mixed-use development that rail-transit advocates often forecast.

 

But the system also exhibits blemishes.

 

Randal O'Toole of the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., published a paper in 2007 titled "Debunking Portland," arguing that the region's land use and mass-transit policies promote congestion and waste money.  :laugh:  :roll:

 

"Planners made housing unaffordable to force more people to live in multifamily housing or in homes on tiny lots," O'Toole wrote. "They allowed congestion to increase to near-gridlock levels to force more people to ride the region's expensive rail-transit lines."

 

Yet most analysts consider Portland's light rail system a success. Each weekday the light rail system eliminates 72,000 car trips, and as gas prices rise, that figure is growing. In the first quarter of 2008, the light rail system logged its highest annual growth rate in four years, not counting times when ice storms and new rail lines boosted ridership.

 

popular option

 

While buses still account for two-thirds of Portland-area mass-transit rides, light rail attracts higher-income mass-transit riders who often shy away from buses. Weekday ridership on a North Portland rail line attracted 76 percent more rides a week in the first year it opened than the bus line it replaced — even though the rail cars come less frequently than the bus did.

 

A Portland-area commuter's average 38 hours a year of congestion delay would be eight hours longer if buses and rail service halted tomorrow, according to an influential national study by the Texas Transportation Institute. Portland saved more hours than larger metro areas such as Denver and San Jose, Calif.

 

While many cities, such as Honolulu, struggle to establish their first rail line, Portland's transit system continues to expand. In 2001, Portland opened the nation's first modern streetcar line, a four-mile route that runs on city streets from downtown to a nearby urban neighborhood. It has since been extended twice, and the city is planning for 75 miles more, connecting neighborhoods throughout the city.

 

Next year, the region's first commuter rail line will open in the western suburbs, sharing tracks with an existing freight rail line.

Perhaps because of the system's ubiquity in the Portland area, any failure is carefully scrutinized.

 

The region was stunned in November when a 71-year old man was severely beaten with a baseball bat at a light rail stop in Gresham, a suburb at the end of the region's initial 1986 line. That assault, and a spate of other violent incidents, led transit leaders to review safety policies, adding brighter lights to some dark older stations, and establishing suburban police precincts.

 

But the safety issue lingers with the public. Opponents of light rail have added crime to their list of complaints about it, even after the addition of more police and several months without a major incident.

staying on schedule

 

One aspect of Portland's transit system that is admired by most cities is its ability to get projects completed on schedule and under budget.

 

Each of Portland's four light rail lines was finished on time or ahead of time, and on budget or under the budgeted cost.

 

How is that possible? Portland's TriMet transit agency doesn't go for conventional low-bid contracts. Instead, it structures "construction management general contractor" agreements that allow it to choose a construction contractor when a rail project is only 30 percent designed.

 

That brings in the contractor's expertise earlier in the construction process, allowing both the agency and the contractor to benefit from unforeseen cost savings and share the burden of unforeseen expenses, said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen. Going with a low-bid contract can set up an agency for expensive change orders later, and litigation with contractors if things don't work out well, he said.

 

"Our view is 'No, you've got to manage those things,' " Hansen said. "The contractor knows that if we find something that's beyond everyone's control, we're going to find common ground. We're not out to take advantage of somebody and we don't want them taking advantage of us."

 

The one blemish on the TriMet transit agency's construction record was difficulty with boring a three-mile tunnel for one rail stop 260 feet underground, which ran over budget and was combined with an extension of the same line.

 

The revised larger tunnel and rail extension ended up with unspent reserve money, which the agency used to buy more trains and make service more frequent.

 

challenges ahead

 

Another challenge that lingers for Portland is making good on the pledge to attract dense, mixed-use development near transit stations. The TriMet transit agency counts more than $6 billion in new development near its rail lines since the 1980 decision to build its first line, but that includes anything built near a station, regardless of whether the station was considered an attraction by the developers or not.

 

In many cases, developers have built commercial centers near a transit station, but facing a nearby parking lot, rather than the rail stop.

 

Mixed-use developments often sprout near light rail stations only with the help of tax breaks, development fee waivers and other incentives.

 

This willingness to invest public money — or at least forgo revenue — riles opponents, who say that smaller-scale development might have occurred without government help.

 

In mixed-use neighborhoods with good mass-transit service, residents drive on average about 10 miles a day, compared with more than double that in conventional suburbs, according to surveys by Metro, Portland's regional planning agency. Portland's mayor-elect sees more work ahead to bring more of those transit-oriented neighborhoods to fruition and fewer car-oriented ones.

 

"Every transit station in the city should be a vibrant micro-community with its own unique sense of place and identity," Adams said. "We need to maximize the return on our multibillion-dollar transit investments with station area development that makes walking, bicycling and transit the easiest and best set of travel choices."

 

Dylan Rivera is a writer in Portland, Ore., and can be reached at [email protected].

 

Why do media keep interviewing Randy "Golly Gee" O'Toole? Might as well get a six-year-old boy drunk and ask him what he thinks. You'll get the same quality answer.

Look on the bright side: he (like Wendell Cox) is easily refutable. But most media is just plain too lazy to either look for a credible local or national opposing view.  They take the easy way out and make the call to O'Toole & Cox. 

 

BTW: I recently e-mail Larry Sandler, a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and he sent me a copy of a story he did in 1998 about Wendell Cox's sticking his nose into the debate over a proposed light rail line.  Here's the story:

 

Light rail cost estimate too low, study finds Mayor's office disputes numbers in report prepared by rail opponent

By LARRY  SANDLER

Journal Sentinel staff

 

            A Milwaukee County light rail system would cost more money and carry fewer riders than planners project, a longtime rail opponent argues in a study to be released Tuesday by the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute.

But the numbers cited by transportation consultant  Wendell  Cox are themselves inflated, a top aide to Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, a leading light rail supporter, said Monday.

Cox, who lives in the St. Louis suburb of Belleville, Ill., has visited Milwaukee several times to offer support for Against Light Electric Rail Transit and its spokesman, downtown merchant George Watts. He has written numerous studies criticizing different types of passenger rail projects and supporting highway projects.

His latest study focuses on state consultants' final recommendation, or "locally preferred alternative," for the East-West Corridor between downtown Milwaukee and Waukesha: a $444 million, 15-mile light rail system in Milwaukee County; a $1.32 billion reconstruction of I-94 with new bus and car-pool lanes; and a $90 million expansion of bus service.

State Transportation Secretary Charles Thompson had recommended further engineering studies on the entire $1.86 billion package before legislators forced him to promise he wouldn't even study light rail and special lanes.

Cox, however, bundles the $444 million cost of light rail with the $250 million cost of special lanes and the $90 million cost of expanded bus service to come up with a $784 million cost for what he calls the "light rail preferred alternative."

He says the estimate is low compared with other cities' light rail projects.  Cox cites a National Academy of Sciences report that says "cost overruns of 50% to 100% are common" on large transportation projects -- both highway and rail -- and concludes "this could . . . add $600 million to $1 billion to the capital cost of light rail."

Similarly,  Cox bundles the $11 million annual operating cost of light rail with the costs of operating expanded bus service and maintaining special lanes to produce a $31.1 million annual cost.

Then he says the operating cost estimate was too low to account for inflation and for higher average costs on other cities' light rail lines, and that labor costs appear to be higher in Milwaukee. He concludes that "annual operating costs could be at least $5 million higher than projected," which he describes as "a nearly 50% operating cost overrun."

James Rowen, Norquist's policy chief, said: "This is the way a highway proponent would attack light rail. He would inflate the numbers and forget to remind people that the highway portion of the East-West Corridor would be three times the cost of light rail."

Referring to the "cost overrun" estimates, Rowen said, "He's throwing out this giant number just to scare people."

In an interview,  Cox said he didn't mean to mislead anyone by grouping numbers together.

He also said he wasn't arguing against light rail but was just trying to bring better cost estimates to policymakers' attention before a decision is made.

In a foreword to the study, James Miller, Wisconsin Policy Research Institute president, says officials might still choose to build a light rail system out of "a combination of civic boosterism and pride," as they chose to build a new Milwaukee Brewers stadium, but they should be aware of the costs involved.

On other points:

--  Cox claims light rail wouldn't attract any new riders and says state consultants used methods biased in favor of light rail to estimate ridership.

Mass transit advocates have said ridership estimates must account for not only commuters, but also people who would ride light rail to special events or travel around downtown on their lunch hour.  Cox said buses could handle the special event and downtown shuttle ridership.

Rowen said it was "laughable" to think the Transportation Department would hire consultants biased in favor of light rail. Norquist frequently accuses the agency of being biased against transit and in favor of highways.

--  Cox says light rail doesn't reduce traffic congestion or air pollution, and says congestion could be reduced better by adding another regular lane in each direction to I-94.

Federal environmental regulations ruled out the idea of adding regular lanes. Rowen said  Cox's arguments were "irrational" and "completely goofy."

--  Cox also predicts that two commuter rail projects -- a 90-day extension of Amtrak service to the western suburbs and a proposed extension of Chicago's Metra service from Kenosha to Milwaukee -- would be "expensive and ineffective."

Footnotes show  Cox's only research on either project was to read one article each in the Journal Sentinel and Milwaukee magazine. When questioned, he apologized for not reviewing the projects more thoroughly.

 

^ nice job. excellent of reporter sandler to call'em out like that. "completely goofy" indeed -- lots of good quotes like that. yes, that's quite a funny read.

 

well to us anyway.

 

but i know these guys like cox & o'toole are dangerous because they confuse the public at large. fortunately for public transit (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it) fifty more cents a gallon and they'll fade away.

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature3-7-10

 

July 9, 2008

Alberta creates $2 billion “Green Transit” fund

 

New and expanded commuter and light rail systems will be eligible for funding under a $2 billion “Green Transit” initiative announced July 8 by the Canadian province of Alberta. As part of a frontal attack on greenhouse emissions, the Alberta government is also establishing a $2 billion fund for carbon capture and storage—for example, at coal-fired power stations and oil sands extraction sites.

 

More at link above:

^Dear Alberta, you will always be a environmental clusterf@rk as long as you continue to allow the raping of the tarsands.

peak-rate pricing for parking meters in nyc and sf? interesting approach:

 

 

July 10, 2008

Peak Rate Parking Meter Test in West Village, Brooklyn

 

 

 

The Department of Transportation announced a plan to test charging higher parking meter rates at high-demand times--the parking meter version of congestion pricing, as it were--in Manhattan and Brooklyn this fall.

 

 

http://gothamist.com/2008/07/10/peak_rate_parking_meter_test_in_wes.php#comments

 

^That's a good start.  But they really should be charging for all on-street parking in Manhattan, most of which is currently free, encouraging endless circling by every UESer and UWSer returning from their Sunday golfing outings or evening runs to Fairway.

 

Maybe they can use the extra revenue to help resuscitate the MTA's station rebuilding program.  There is now a palpable fear among policymakers that the MTA could be entering another spiral of decline if new funding sources aren't lined up.  Maybe reading AM New York on the subway will help motivate the masses to agitate for some funding changes: http://www.amny.com/news/local/transportation/am-mta0710,0,4518818.story

yeah, i totally agree. that free parking gift has got to go. having alternate side rules only obfuscates the issue. since when is space allowed to be free in manhattan? that could equate to major, major potential city & mta revenue.

 

i also wonder if the relatively new free daily newspapers have an effect like that? they must. they do tend to focus on transit a lot thankfully, which makes sense given their constituancy.

 

 

July 10, 2008

 

 

Sound Transit, BNSF completing massive track and signal project

 

In July, Sound Transit and BNSF will reach the milestone of substantial completion on a series of track and signal improvements along the rail line between Seattle and Tacoma that were started back in 2000. The eight-year project to improve 40 miles of track between Seattle and Tacoma will allow Sound Transit to begin running two additional round trip trains between Tacoma and Seattle later this fall.

 

http://www.rtands.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature4-7-11

 

take a very clever and cute balloon grafitti break while you wait on the subway platform!  :clap:

 

 

http://curbed.com/archives/2008/07/11/and_now_the_coolest_thing_ever.php#reader_comments

 

Ann Arbor-Detroit rail project on track for 2010

 

Long-term funding could be issue for line, which includes stop in W. Dearborn

 

By Jason Carmel Davis, Press & Guide Newspapers.

 

PUBLISHED: July 13, 2008

 

DEARBORN - By fall 2010, residents of Dearborn will be able to hop on a train and head to downtown Detroit to take in a Tigers game or a show at the Detroit Opera House.

 

Click headline above for full story:

Ever notice how articles about proposed rail projects generated by suburban media (or at least suburban-minded media) conjure as the reasons for such projects are things like going to ballgames or museums or other amenities that comprise a small portion of total trips into a downtown area? This typically happens throughout the country, but especially in cities that don't have rail transit; suburban folks who don't work downtown or have never ridden transit can't imagine other uses for rail. How did we become so insular?

Sprawl removed a lot of people emotionally from their urban roots.

Or the urban crisis alienated a lot of Americans from cities .  .  . the chicken or the egg .  .  .

Detroit MPO backs light rail plan

 

Detroit's metropolitan planning organization (MPO), the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, has approved a Detroit Department of Transportation plan to construct and operate an eight-mile light rail service in Detroit.

 

More at:

 

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml

well, learned a new acronym today (MPO)...

interesting -- i always wondered how much money the mta made on all the advertising:

 

 

Subway Ads Generating Millions For The MTA

July 14, 2008

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's advertising department is taking advantage of its captive audience underground to make money.

 

The cash-strapped agency confirmed Monday that it made more than $106 million from advertisements last year – a $16 million increase from the year before.

 

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=5&aid=83723

 

interesting -- i always wondered how much money the mta made on all the advertising:

 

 

Subway Ads Generating Millions For The MTA

July 14, 2008

 

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's advertising department is taking advantage of its captive audience underground to make money.

 

The cash-strapped agency confirmed Monday that it made more than $106 million from advertisements last year – a $16 million increase from the year before.

 

The MTA says it plans on introducing several new kinds of ads this year, which will make its advertising profits rise even higher. Riders may soon see ads on tunnel walls between stations. Other options already being tested include using projectors to show ads in stations and placing big-screen monitors above platforms.

 

Next year's MTA budget will have a reported gap of hundreds of millions of dollars partly due to less-than-expected revenues from real estate. As a result, officials have said a fare hike might be unavoidable.

 

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=5&aid=83723

 

 

They charge and arm and a leg!  We used to buy entire trains.  It's not cost prohibitive, when they are nickel-and-diming would be advertisers. They are as bad as airlines.

oh please -- if dr. zizmor can afford it, certainly time-warner can!  :laugh:

 

oh please -- if dr. zizmor can afford it, certainly time-warner can!  :laugh:

 

I hate that man!

well, learned a new acronym today (MPO)...

 

And you call yourself an urbanist... hmmpf!

kc is seriously looking into rail:

 

 

Posted on Wed, Jul. 16, 2008 02:25 PM

 

Light rail costs go up

By BRAD COOPER AND JEFFREY SPIVAK

 

Transit planners today priced a starter light rail line for Kansas City at roughly $727 million, or at least $140 million more than what a starter line was originally expected to cost.

 

Engineers hired to study the city’s light rail options presented their cost estimates this morning to the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority’s Board of Commissioners.

 

More at:

 

http://www.kansascity.com/679/story/707808.html

 

^^ Yay Detroit.

^^ Yay Detroit.

 

We use the skipper's rule in Detroit. We'll be happy/believe it when there is shovels in the ground. And not the shiny shovels with a press conference.

^I hear that.  At the very least, there's been more activity on these 2 projects -- Ann Arbor commuter rail and light rail -- in recent months.  The community seems to have settled and focused on these 2, and not thrown everything on the table with very little focus or prioritization -- a tactic that has dogged Cleveland's RTA transit planners historically as well as Detroit, of course, ‘til now. And with the overarching menace of $5/gallon lurking, I think these rail projects will finally get done, Pope.

^Yeah, the good news is that Woodward is Phase One in a larger master plan. If you're familiar with Detroit, the later phases follow along the hub and spoke roads of Detroit (Gratiot, Michigan, Jefferson, etc.). With the obvious possibility to expand Woodward further out to Pontiac.

 

DDOT (IMO) said, "there's no way we can get the 15 or so Woodward communities, 2 counties, two transit authorities to agree on everything", so they are going ahead with routes and land that falls within DDOT's jurisdiction.

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature4-7-18

 

July 17, 2008

Texas county picks URS Corp. to design rail line

 

San Francisco-based URS Corp. has been chosen by Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) to provide final design services for the county's proposed $310 million, 21-mile regional passenger rail line. The diesel light rail transit operation would link downtown Denton and nearby Lewisville, Texas, with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail at a transfer point in Carrollton.

 

URS previously had conducted the alternatives analysis, environmental impact analysis and preliminary engineering studies, station design, and ridership forecasting for the proposed rail line. The project is intended to open in conjunction with the extension of DART's Northwest Line to Carrollton in late 2010.

 

DCTA ceased pursuing federal New Starts funding for the project in 2007, citing the length of time and potential competition involved in the process. The authority is tapping regional funding sources for the project, which if opened on schedule would become the second DLRT operation in Texas, after Austin's expected DLRT debut late this year.

Ohio's not the only place where state legislators haven't caught up to their constituents....

 

July 17, 2008

Northern Virginia MPO delays VRE, other rail upgrades

 

Northern Virginia's National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board has voted to delay improvements targeted to bolster passenger rail capacity for the Virginia Railway Express, citing the inability of state lawmakers to provide adequate funding support.

 

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature4-7-18

 

 

Transit funding in VA is currently a gigantic clusterf#%@ . . . Basically the 2/3 of the state doesn't want any money to go to Hampton Roads or NOVA for anything, but those areas strongly opposed local taxation (with some good reason since those areas get lots of tourist/drive through traffic that wouldn't be affected by the taxes proposed. Anyway, it is not pretty and I don't see it changing maybe ever.

bravo dallas & way to rope in the ft. worth mayor!  :clap:

 

 

Dallas mayor proudly shows off Mockingbird station

 

01:54 PM CDT on Thursday, July 17, 2008

 

By MICHAEL LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News

[email protected]

 

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert welcomed Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief and dozens of other officials this morning, showing off what's billed as the region's most successful transit-oriented development, the busy Mockingbird Station.

 

"This was seen as a template when it was built," Mr. Leppert said. "But now, with $4.50 a gallon gas, we are really seeing this as a necessity for what has to happen in large metropolitan cities. We are going to need development and higher-density development."

Also Online

 

Link: Mockingbird Station Web site

 

Link: Mockingbird Station interactive map

 

He drew laughs when he looked at the crowd from the west and asked, "Are you trying to annex us? Is that what is happening here? Looks kind of like a takeover."

 

Mayor Moncrief said he was excited to get a look at Mockingbird Station.

 

"This is my first time getting a look at what's on the ground here," Mr. Moncrief said as he stepped off the DART rail line immediately adjacent to the development.

 

Fort Worth is studying the idea of building a street car system in downtown Fort Worth.

 

Fort Worth, which does not have a DART-style light rail system, is also interested in development tied to future transit systems.

 

Mockingbird Station is the live-work-and-play real estate development near the corner of Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane. It opened in 2001, and developer Ken Hughes said today "it represents what we believe works today" as a mixed use development.

 

Regional transportation planners have for years said that for light rail and other transit investments to achieve the kind of success their proponents promise, cities like Dallas can't just watch as the rail lines are built and hope users will ride them. Instead, they have urged cities to do more to attract housing, office buildings and retail to the train stations.

 

Mockingbird Station, which has 211 loft-style apartments, a movie theater, restaurants and 1,600 parking spaces is immediately next to a DART rail station and bus center.

 

DART expects $7 billion to be invested in real estate near its lines over the next 20 years.

 

more on mockingbird station & dart:

http://www.mockingbirdstation.com/

http://www.dart.org/newsroom/imagelibrary.asp

 

clik for a texas-sized interior photo:

http://www.dart.org/images/newsroom/jpgs/MockingbirdStation.jpg

 

 

 

good news for long islanders -- a lirr milestone was reached:

 

 

First LIRR Tunnel To Grand Central Complete

July 17, 2008

 

The MTA’s East Side Access project, which will extend the Long Island Rail Road to Grand Central Station, reached a major milestone recently with the completion of a new Midtown tunnel. NY1’s Transit reporter Bobby Cuza filed the following report.

 

some video:

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=5&aid=83864

 

 

http://www.railwayage.com/breaking_news.shtml#Feature2-7-21

 

 

July 18, 2008

DART, TRE set ridership records in June

 

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) light rail service and Trinity Railway Express (TRE), serving Dallas and Fort Worth, both notched their highest weekday ridership numbers during June.

 

DART averaged 69,861 trips per day, up 14.2% from June 2007, and notched 10.3 million trips during the month. TRE commuter rail service averaged 11,105 trips per day, up 19.8% over year-ago average ridership, and totaled 251,522 trips for June 2008.

 

Including bus and high-occupancy vehicle customers, DART recorded 10.3 million passenger trips for the month, its highest total ever, and up from the prior record of 10.28 million trips set in May, a DART spokesman said.

 

_____________________

 

July 18, 2008

Cash infusion expected for Nashville commuter rail

 

Nashville's commuter rail service, one of the few U.S. services struggling with financial constraints due to lower-than-expected ridership, will receive $1 million from the Tennessee Department of Transportation to keep trains running.

 

TDOT's funding follows earlier disclosure of a $1.7 million funding shortfall by the Regional Transportation Authority, and comes with conditions attached. Primary among them: Nashville's Metropolitan Transit Authority, which oversees the city's bus operations, is to assume management oversight of the commuter rail service. TDOT anticipates administrative cost savings of $300,000 through this move. "The operation by the MTA would lead to a number of economic and operational efficiencies and will put the things into balance this fiscal year," an MTA spokesman said.

 

To close the remaining funding gap of $400,000, other participants, including Wilson County and the cities of Lebanon and Mt. Juliet, must each agree to contribute $100,000; Lebanon already has agreed to the deal. A $100,000 contribution from the Nashville & Eastern Railroad, which leases the right-of-way, is also anticipated.

 

"TDOT has invested a significant amount of money in the Music City Star, and we'll do all we can to ensure it succeeds," a department spokeswoman said.

 

_____________________

 

July 18, 2008

Toronto scuttles streetcar RFP

 

The Toronto Transit Commission late Thursday announced cancellation of its Request for Proposal process to purchase 204 new low-floor streetcars for Canada's largest city, prolonging the political turmoil surrounding the effort to re-equip the streetcar system.

 

TTC rejected a bid from U.K.-based Tram Power Ltd. on the basis its bid was not commercially compliant. A second bid, submitted by Montreal-based Bombardier Inc.'s transportation division, failed "a technical evaluation that required a pass/fail on key criteria related to negotiating the tight turning radii on the TTC's existing streetcar rail system," TTC said in a statement.

 

TTC added, "A Fairness Monitor was retained to oversee the procurement process and concurs that the TTC has followed the process as set out in the RFP and also concurs with the cancellation of the RFP."

 

The agency said it still hopes to proceed with an equipment order, valued at C$1.25 billion, and during the next month plans to "contact known and proven streetcar manufacturers to identify and discuss the issues that led the companies to a decision either not to bid, or to submit a bid that is not compliant." It expects to have new cars delivered on schedule, with test cars arriving in 2010 and revenue service begining in 2011 or 2012.

 

Among the potential carbuilders are Bombardier, Paris-based Alstom Transport, with manufacturing facilities in Hornell, N.Y., and Siemens Transportation, which has manufacturing facilities in Sacramento, Calif. Both companies had declined to pursue TTC's original RFP. Alstom cited deadline constraints, while Siemens suggested that the RFP was unfairly weighted to favor Bombardier.

 

Transit observers say other, smaller manufacturers are unlikely to compete successfully, given the size of the TTC order.

 

Bombardier spokesman David Slack said the company remained interested in winning TTC's business. "We were a bit surprised about the outcome—no question about that," he said. "We have great experience building light rail vehicles for Toronto and we're the No. 1 supplier of light rail vehicles in the world."

 

_____________________

 

July 18, 2008

Marin, Sonoma counties to vote again on 'SMART' rail

 

Residents of California's Marin and Sonoma counties, north of San Francisco, will vote this fall on a sales tax proposal to fund passenger rail service between Coversdale and Larkspur, roughly 70 miles apart.

 

A quarter-cent sales tax to fund the $541 million project was approved July 16 by the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) District's board of directors; the project also would include include a parallel bike and pedestrian path. The tax would be enacted in 2009 and expire in 2029 unless renewed.

 

The board's decision follows a survey of 1,205 people, conducted in May by Godbe Research of San Mateo, that found 77% of respondents favoring SMART rail service.

 

An earlier vote in 2006 generated support for the project, but not a super-majority as required. Then, 65.3% of Marin and Sonoma voters supported SMART, but the total fell short of the 66.6% mandated for passage.

 

"The time has never been better for SMART," said train spokesman Chris Coursey. "People are) looking for not only higher gas-mileage cars, but ways to get out of their cars entirely."

 

_____________________

 

July 18, 2008

 

Sound Transit’s $2 billion light rail tunnel

 

The Federal Transit Administration has ordered Sound Transit to increase its budget by $142 million for a three-mile tunnel to $1.95 billion. FTA, reiterating its support for the tunnel, will contribute $63 million of the $142 million increase. The tunnel will run from downtown Seattle to the University of Washington.

 

The FTA cited seven other projects with cost increases or overruns, rising commodity prices and a limited number of tunneling firms as reasons for the increase.

ohio? bueller?

 

 

 

CATS may get $18 million for light rail

The transit system had asked for $10 million but could receive more from Congress.

By Steve Harrison

[email protected]

 

The Charlotte Area Transit System could receive $18 million from Congress to help for a light rail extension – $8 million more than the transit agency requested.

 

If ultimately approved, the money would help pay for a $30 million engineering and design contract that's laying the groundwork for extending the Lynx Blue Line from uptown to the University City area.

 

The ability to get extra money is a sign that the success of the city's light-rail line has been recognized in Washington, Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory said. It also suggests that gas at $4 a gallon is changing congressional views on the merits of rapid transit projects, possibly making it easier to receive federal matching funds.

 

The 11.5-mile extension is at the beginning of a long and complicated process.

 

Engineering work began earlier this year, and CATS expects to assess whether the project is still viable next spring.

 

By the summer of 2010, CATS expects to have much of the final design ready, and then will wait to see if the Federal Transit Administration will help pay for construction.

 

The FTA paid for half the construction of the $462.7 million Lynx, which opened in November.

 

The extension is expected to cost at least $800 million. It would be extremely difficult to build without federal and state assistance.

 

The federal money would free up cash now slated for the engineering study to help pay for rising fuel costs for its buses, or could be used it for capital projects.

 

CATS also is considering building a commuter rail line to the Lake Norman area and a streetcar through central Charlotte.

 

McCrory, a Republican who is running for governor, has championed the city's transit plans.

 

He credited Republican Sens. Elizabeth Dole and Richard Burr for helping get the money from the Senate Appropriations Committee for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.

 

Railcar Deal Missing Key Component: The Tracks

 

By LINDSAY PETERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 20, 2008

Updated: 12:15 am

 

Florida plans to spend $45 million to buy commuter railcars from a company whose investors ousted its president recently amid production problems at its manufacturing plant.

 

The company, Colorado Railcar Manufacturing of Fort Lupton, Colo., is a year late completing an order for South Florida's Tri-Rail commuter system. Nevertheless, Florida officials say they plan to order 10 more vehicles to start up the state's commuter rail project in the Orlando area - with an option to get 14 more later.

 

The Orlando commuter system doesn't exist yet. The project stumbled this spring when state lawmakers rejected a key component of the state's agreement to buy railroad tracks from CSX Transportation. But state Department of Transportation officials said they are working on getting the deal through next year and plan to go ahead with the railcar purchase.

 

 

Find this article at:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/20/na-railcar-deal-missing-key-component-the-tracks

 

Downeaster sets new passenger record

 

By John Richardson Portland Press Herald Staff Reporter

July 21, 2008 11:14 AM

 

Amtrak Downeaster set a new ridership record in the fiscal year that ended June 30, according to the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority.

 

The number of passenger trips on the rail service between Portland and Boston increased 28 percent from the previous year, totaling 441,769 riders in fiscal 2008.

 

Ticket revenues grew 33 percent to $6.1 million, according to the authority.

 

More at:

 

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story_pf.php?id=200572&ac=PHnws

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08204/898525-155.stm

 

Midnight train to Cleveland? C'mon, get rail!

 

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

By Brian O'Neill, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

 

The recent boom in passenger and freight traffic, spurred as so many things are by the soaring price of diesel fuel and gasoline, makes me happy. I love trains.

 

My boyhood home was across the street from a Long Island Rail Road line. When cousins visited from out of state, they could never figure out how the O'Neills could sleep through the trains either roaring or rattling past, but they were lullabies to us.

 

More at link above:

great read. hopefully we get some action on this.

 

mike lamb, what a douche. i loved this one:

 

"We're better situated than they are,'' Lamb says. "Cleveland can't go north; they've got the lake in the way. I hate to see Cleveland ahead of us on anything.''

 

i esp laughed aloud at the "can't go north" part. are people in landlocked cities really that dense about water? ha. not to mention the eventual cleveland-canada ferry service could be a lot cheaper than rail. lamb would really grit his teeth on that if he had a clue about those plans too. aw heck let him stay in the dark and think what he wants to think if he's going to badmouth the cleve to amtrak like that.  :whip:

 

 

I had contemplated editing that quotation out of the post so that it wouldn't distract from the message of the column.

actually there are two. the generally silly one i quoted above and the much worse one where he apparently badmouthed cleveland to amtrak officials ("a terrible option" & who knows what else he said?). very, very not cool. otherwise, i think the message came through so i wouldn't bother cutting him out. especially when you consider the 5 of us who read this thread!  :laugh: