Regional Commuter and Intercity Passenger Rail in Arizona

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1 AzTA s 31st Annual Transit Conference Regional Commuter and Intercity Passenger Rail in Arizona Speakers: Lonnie Blaydes of LE Blaydes Consulting, Marc Pearsall of MAG; and Carlos Lopez of ADOT April 9, :00 p.m. ~ Ventana room.

2 Lonnie Blaydes Principal L.E. Blaydes Consulting Trinity Railway Express and North Texas Passenger Rail 2

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4 TRE launched on December 30, 1996, shortly after the inaugural service of Dallas' DART light rail system Named after the Trinity River, which flows between Fort Worth and Dallas, TX. 34 miles 8,300 daily trips Operation: 47 trains, 19 on Saturdays; additional trains for special events TRE shares half of the corridor with the BNSF Railway and Dallas, Garland & Northwestern Railroad freight railroads. DART owns 250 miles of freight rail corridors. 4

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6 1983 Railtran (Cities of Fort Worth / Dallas) purchases corridor from bankrupt Rock Island Railroad. The Trinity Railway Express track/ project is jointly owned by FWTA and DART Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) 1- cent sales tax and Trinity Metro (formerly Fort Worth Transportation Authority) 1/2 cent sales tax, each funds 50% stake in the project. Contractor Herzog Transit Services operates the line. December 30, 1996 DART opened the first segment of the TRE along a 10-mile line linking downtown's Union Station and the South Irving Transit Center. December 15, 1997 The TRE line debuts an expanded schedule featuring midday and evening service. The new schedule allows DART to offer 50 trips each weekday on the Trinity Railway Express, up from the 30 currently provided. 6

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8 December 5, 1998 The TRE adds Saturday service to its schedule. September 16-18, 2000 TRE extends west to West Irving, CentrePort, Hurst/Bell and Richland Hills. For the first time, there was rail service available between downtown Dallas and DFW Airport. On December 3, 2001, the TRE extended to its current terminus at Intermodal Transit Center and T & P Stations in downtown Fort Worth, a distance of 35 miles Peak ridership (pre-recession; etc) September 14, 2009 With the opening of the DART Rail Green Line's first phase between Victory and MLK, Jr. stations; Trinity Railway Express begins regularly scheduled service to Victory Station. 8

9 Amtrak rerouted to share TRE mainline between Dallas and Ft. Worth TRE also shares half of the corridor with two freight railroads 9

10 Trinity Railway Express Ridership by Fiscal Year mile system opens Dec 30, , , ,486 (service to Tarrant County, Sept 2000) million (service to Fort Worth, Dec 2001) [completing full TRE 34 mile system] million million (peak ridership) million million 10

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12 Future Service Thank you 12

13 Carlos Lopez Project Manager Multimodal Planning Division Arizona Department of Transportation 13

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24 RAIL TO RAIL CONNECTIVITY > ADOT PASSENGER RAIL STUDY 24

25 Marc Pearsall Transit Planner III ~ Rail Transportation Division Maricopa Association of Governments 25

26 MAG REGION (CONCEPTUAL) COMMUTER RAIL SYSTEM AND LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM 2017, All Rights Reserved. 26

27 MAG Commuter Rail System Study 2010 Multimodal RTP approved by voters in November Commuter rail study funds allocated to MAG in RTP. Commuter rail Strategic Plan completed in Commuter rail System Studies Project completed in 2010 to evaluate passenger rail service on existing BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad freight corridors and possible extensions. Prioritized implementation through: Ridership Potential Operating Strategies Capital and Operating Costs Governance and Operating Agency System study recommends corridor ranking, ADOT coordination, further studies, and immediate next steps. 27

28 NEW MAG STUDY REGIONAL COMMUTER RAIL SYSTEM STUDY UPDATE KEY ELEMENTS - REVISED FINANCIAL, MODELING +TECHNICAL DATA - GOVERNANCE - INDEMNITY / LIABILITY

29 Peak Period, Peak Direction Service. What is Commuter Rail? Implement service in under-utilized, existing partner freight railroad corridors where light rail technology cannot be built. Traditionally carries fewer daily riders than light rail, but for longer distances. Similar market and characteristics with Bus Rapid Transit / Express. Can share railroad right of way (row) and track with freight railroads and may operate concurrently (does not require exclusive right-of-way). Typically longer station spacing (every 3-10 miles on average) than light rail (1-2 miles) with emphasis on park-and-rides and traditional city central business districts (CBDs). Locomotive technology (diesel or clean Tier 4/green hybrid Genset). Passenger coaches (push-pull). Engines and cars meet federally mandated structural requirements for rolling stock crash resistance. Larger, heavier profile than light rail vehicles. Higher max. speed (79mph), but slower acceleration/deceleration than light rail. Average speed approx. 43mph. Lower capital cost per mile($25-$35m) due to existing right of way use/ reuse. Light rail traditionally ($80M - $110M). 29

30 SUBURBAN URBAN HIGH CAPACITY RAIL TRANSIT MODES CAPITAL COST COMPARISON SYSTEM (Example) Mode Type Cost per mile (2017 avg.) Speed Range (avg.) LRT (Light Rail Transit at grade) Elevated LRT (Light Rail Transit) HRT / Elevated HRT (ART) (Heavy Rail Transit / + Automated RT) $ million 35-60mph $ million 50-60mph $ million 50-60mph Monorail (Elevated Transit) $ million 50-60mph Subway (Subterranean/Underground Rail Transit) CRT (Commuter Rail Transit) IRT (Intercity Rail Service)(limited stops) HSR (High Speed Rail) (limited stops) HrSR (Higher Speed Rail) Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) (limited stops) $ million 50-60mph $20-40 million 50-79mph (CRT) 79-90mph (Intercity) $ million mph (HSR) mph (HrSR) $ million mph Sources: APTA / FTA / FRA

31 PEER REGIONS ~ COMMUTER RAIL SYSTEMS SOUNDER-Seattle CALTRAIN-San Francisco ALTAMONT COMMUTER EXPRESS San Jose METROLINK Los Angeles COASTER San Diego FRONT RUNNER Salt Lake City-Ogden RAILRUNNER Albuquerque-Santa Fe TRINITY RAILWAY EXPRESS Dallas-Ft. Worth NORTHSTAR Minneapolis- Big Lake WES Portland CapMetroRail Austin A-TRAIN Denton 31

32 USA - COMMUTER RAIL SYSTEMS Seattle Marin-Sonoma San Francisco San Jose Portland Salt Lake City Denver Minneapolis Chicago Detroit Burlington Springfield Boston Scranton New York City Newark Philadelphia Baltimore Washington DC Los Angeles San Diego Oceanside Phoenix Anchorage/Mat-Su Santa Fe Albuquerque Ft Worth Austin Nashville Denton Dallas Houston Charlotte Atlanta Orlando Miami Heritage Systems (Pre-1985) New Systems (Since 1985) Opened in 2017 Proposed, planned or in design 32

33 Benefits of regional commuter rail service in the MAG Region Connects 18 community centers/urban cores and two airports. Regional commuter rail provides service to existing communities of distributed growth (aka dense sprawl). Interurban style rail / regional rail provides a new lifeline to these types of communities. Links affordable housing and the transit dependent with jobs, access and entertainment and higher speeds. Extension of higher capacity transit services where light rail cant go due to cost/distance/row. 33

34 COMMUTER RAIL IMPLEMENTATION NEXT STEPS 1. Regional Sustainable Transportation and Land Use Integration Study (STLUIS) Concurrent Efforts (Recommended TOD implementation steps for communities - completed in Summer 2013) 2. Continued coordination with ADOT and railroads (ADOT Passenger Rail Study to be completed in fall 2016) 3. Determine liability/indemnification statutes (ADOT, AzTA, MAG and State Legislature 2016 > 2020) 4. Valley Metro Grand Avenue Transit Feasibility Study (2015 > 2017) (Study and confirm which bus modes are the most suitable options for corridor) MAG Regional Commuter Rail System Study Update (spring (fall 2017) 2018) 6. MAG Regional Transit Framework Study Update (summer 2018) 7. Identify local-regional funding (2022+>) (2020+>) 8. Develop and and implement regional governance plan plan 9. Railroad agreements (inc. (inc. Indemnity/Liability) (BNSF/UPRR) 10. FTA FTA process: EA, EA, Design, PE PE and and construction 11. Testing / Operations / Operations begin begin 3-55 years after funding funding identified (industry avg.) avg.) 34 15

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36 REGIONAL COMMUTER RAIL SYSTEM AND LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM 21,000 daily trips 110-mile CRT system Cap Cost Per Mile - $26M Annual O&M - $32-40M 2017, All Rights Reserved. 36

37 THANK YOU & QUESTIONS? Marc Pearsall Transit Planner III ~ Rail (MAG) / mpearsall@azmag.gov Carlos Lopez Project Manager / CLopez@azdot.gov 37