Top50. Passenger Rail Projects for 2007 THE U.S. AND CANADA S JUNE 2007 METRO MAGAZINE 21

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1 Top50 Passenger Rail Projects for 2007 JUNE 2007 METRO MAGAZINE 21

2 FUNDINGGLITCHE$ Impact Top Rail Projects While some agencies are hitting funding snags, Dallas Area Rapid Transit continues to move along with more than $3 billion worth of projects in development and an 18.6 million annual rail-only ridership. Photo courtesy DART The greatest city in the world is still the top dog for this year s Top Rail Projects survey, with MTA New York City totaling $7.54 billion in project costs. The agency also recently broke ground on its Second Avenue Subway project the city s first new subway line to be built in more than 70 years which will connect the east side of Manhattan. While New Jersey Transit (No. 3) jumped up 25 slots from 2006, there was little movement up top overall, with Santa Clara Valley Transportation (No. 2) in San Jose, Calif., Seattle s Sound Transit (No.4) and the Regional Transportation District (RTD) (No. 5) in Denver rounding out the top five. However, last year s No. 4, N.C.-based Charlotte Area With a decline in projects comes a $1 billion decline in 2007 s overall project purse for a total of $59 billion. MTA New York City Transit holds on to the top spot, while Canada s Greater Vancouver Transportation and Virginia s Hampton Roads Transit make their debuts. By Alex Roman, Associate Editor Transit System (CATS), tumbled 22 slots to No. 26 this year. This year s $59 billion total project purse is a $1 billion decrease compared to both 2005 and 2006, with a couple of notable projects hitting some major roadblocks. Not exactly 50 While this survey is usually known as the Top 50 Rail Projects, completion of some projects and the cancellations of others played a large part in the inability to reach the magic number. One of the most notable project cancellations occurred in Ottawa, Ontario, where OC Transpo, which was listed at No. 24 last year, had its $653 million light rail project terminated by the City Council last December. The council cited the project s inability to meet the necessary federal funding and property acquisition conditions that were set in the project agreement. The agreement was conditional on matching contributions by both the federal and provincial governments. Another noticeable omission is N.C.- based Triangle Transit s (No. 18 in 2006) $809 million project, which was in final design but was ultimately not constructed because of its continued on pg METRO MAGAZINE JUNE 2007 metro-magazine.com

3 Top 50 Passenger Rail Projects for 2007 Total Railcars (Current) # New cars on order Cost of Projects in Millions Light Railcars Heavy Railcars Rail Riders Now (in Millions) Other Railcars Rank Agency City State Locomotives Railcars Rank 06 1 MTA New York City Transit New York NY $7, ,647 6, , Santa Clara Valley Transportation San Jose CA $5, New Jersey Transit Newark NJ $4, Sound Transit Seattle WA $4, Regional Transportation District Denver CO $4, San Francisco Municipal Railway San Francisco CA $3, Dallas Area Rapid Transit Dallas TX $3, The Greater Vancouver Transportation Vancouver BC $2, ~ -TransLink 9 Connecticut Department of Newington CT $2, Transportation 10 MTA Metro-North Railroad New York NY $1, , Los Angeles County Metropolitan Los Angeles CA $1, Transportation 12 San Diego Trolley San Diego CA $1, Valley Metro Rail Phoenix AZ $1, N/A Metro Transit Minneapolis/ St.Paul MN $1, Utah Transit Salt Lake City UT $1, Port Trans-Hudson Corp. Jersey City NJ $1, MTA Long Island Rail Road Jamaica NY $911 N/A 1, , Caltrain San Carlos CA $ Chicago Transit Chicago IL $ ,210 1, Southeastern Pennsylvania Philadelphia PA $ Transportation 21 Societe de Transport de Montreal Montreal PQ $725* * TriMet Portland OR $ Edmonton Transit Edmonton AB $ Massachusetts Bay Transportation Boston MA $519* 40 1, * 27 *Denotes 2006 numbers JUNE 2007 METRO MAGAZINE 23

4 Top 50 Passenger Rail Projects for 2007 Total Railcars (Current) # New cars on order Cost of Projects in Millions Light Railcars Heavy Railcars Rail Riders Now (in Millions) Other Railcars Rank Agency City State Locomotives Railcars Rank North County Transit District Oceanside CA $ Charlotte Area Transit System Charlotte NC $ Calgary Transit Calgary AB $ Port of Allegheny County Pittsburgh PA $ Amtrak Washington DC $ ,135 1, Southern California Regional Rail Los Angeles CA $ Metropolitan Transit Houston TX $ Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Atlanta GA $ Miami-Dade Transit Miami FL $ Hampton Roads Transit Hampton VA $ ~ 35 Sacramento Regional Transit District Sacramento CA $ Mid-Region Council of Governments/ Albuquerque NM $ N/A 37 New Mexico Department of Transportation 37 Northern Indiana Chesterton IN $ Transportation District 38 Alaska Railroad Corp. Anchorage AK $ Capital Metropolitan Transportation Austin TX $ N/A Virginia Railway Express Alexandria VA $ Trinity Railway Express Dallas/Fort Worth TX $ Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Cleveland OH $ Niagara Frontier Transportation Buffalo NY $ Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Washington DC $ Regional Transit New Orleans LA $ N/A ~ 46 Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Tampa FL $ Bay Area Rapid Transit District Oakland CA $ METRO MAGAZINE JUNE 2007 metro-magazine.com

5 Total Project Costs ( in billions) $ $ $60 $60 $ There is movement although slight in this year s project costs with a decrease of $1 billion compared with both 2005 and now well-publicized inability to secure full funding. Additionally, St. Louis-based Metro and Pompano Beach, Fla. s South Florida Regional Transportation completed the projects they had listed last year. Sustainable steps With many agencies taking various sustainability steps to help lessen environmental impact, going green is a hot topic in this year s survey. Denver s RTD has put in place a highly successful recycling program at its administration buildings, as well as a recycling program at all of its stations. In addition, the agency is also beginning work with its local energy provider on an audit to determine areas where energy can be conserved. To mitigate its capital projects environmental footprint, North Carolina s CATS has begun using solar lighting and rain gardens in its park-and-ride lots, and plans to use LEED Certification for the building of all future facilities. Additionally, aside from its Corona rail maintenance shop and car wash facility that was recently launched in Queens, N.Y. ( Setting a Green Standard for Rail Facilities, May 2007, Pg. 38), MTA New York City Transit has recycled up to 85% of demolition waste on certain projects and began a research project to analyze the potential use of green building materials. Also, following a successful program that saw the agency sink 1,200 retired Red Bird subway cars in offshore waters to form artificial reefs in Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, Delaware and New Jersey, the agency is considering the possible sinking of an additional 2,600 cars over the next 10 years. Projects at a glance There are a couple of new projects making it to this year s list, including Virginia s Hampton Roads Transit (No. 34) and Vancouver, B.C. s Greater Vancouver Transportation (TransLink) (No. 8). Hampton s $231.5 million project includes the proposed 7.4-mile extension of Norfolk Light Rail Transit from the Eastern Virginia Medical Center through downtown Norfolk. Eleven station stops will be constructed as part of the project, with the system using a combination of an existing railroad corridor and city streets. Vancouver has a $2.7 billion project in the works, including the 12-mile, 16-station Canada Line light rail system, which is slated to open prior to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The agency is also in the design stage of its 6.3-mile Evergreen Line light rail system that is expected to open parallel with the Canada Line. Other projects of note include Austin, Texas-based Capital Metro s (No. 39) $90 million, 32-mile urban commuter rail project that will stretch from Leander to downtown Austin. The project includes nine stations with parking and circulator bus service that will work in unison with the light rail system. According to Capital Metro officials, the $3 million-per-mile system is one of the most cost-effective commuter rail projects in the country and is being funding by existing sales tax revenues and fares. Meanwhile in Oceanside, Calif., the North County Transit District s (No. 25) Sprinter light rail system is about 80% complete and moving on schedule to begin full operations by December of this year. If you know an agency with plans for the future, but was omitted from this year s survey, please let us know so that we can include it next year. Also, Top 10 Largest Rail Fleets MTA New York City Transit 6,647 Amtrak 2,135 MTA Metro-North Railroad 1,326 Chicago Transit 1,210 MTA Long Island Railroad 1,178 Massachusetts Bay Transportation 1,018 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 950 New Jersey Transit 946 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation 877 Societe de Transporte de Montreal 759 The 10 largest fleets in the listing comprise 82% of the total with 17,046 railcars, the same percentage as last year s survey. special thanks to all of the agencies for taking the time to fill out our surveys and continuing to participate in this annual feature. Railcar Fleet Mix 23% Light 13% Other 8% Heavy 56% Heavy railcars make up the lion s share of the fleet mix with 11,795 a 7% decrease compared to The total fleet mix also decreased by about 3% compared to last year s numbers. JUNE 2007 METRO MAGAZINE 25