The Case for Transit (Part 1)

The Case for Transit (Part 1) Presentation to the Members of Citizens for Regional Transit 17 April 2013 By Doug Funke, President, CRTC

Topics What we had and lost What other cities are doing to get it back The State of transit in Buffalo Why extend Buffalo s light rail? Why do it now? How to do it? CRT objectives

Topics What we had and lost What other cities are doing to get it back The State of transit in Buffalo Why extend Buffalo s light rail? Why do it now? How to do it? CRT objectives

Shelton Square

Buffalo s Trolley Network

It All Ended in the 1950s

Topics What we had and lost What other cities are doing to get it back The State of transit in Buffalo Why extend Buffalo s light rail? Why do it now? How to do it? CRT objectives

Cities Across the US Are Building and Expanding Their Metro Rail Systems Rail to the Airport Trolleys Atlanta, GA Baltimore-Washington, MD Boston, MA Chicago, IL (O Hare) Cleveland, OH Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX Denver, CO (planned-2015) Miami, FL Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN Newark, NJ New York City, NY (Kennedy) Oakland, CA Philadelphia, PA Phoenix, AZ Portland, OR Salt Lake City, UT San Francisco, CA Seattle-Tacoma, WA St. Louis, MO Washington, DC (Reagan) Washington, DC (Dulles) (planned- 2018) Source: More US airports add rail service to downtown. USA Today. Updated 6/5/09. http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-05-25- rail-lines-airport-city-center_n.htm Astoria, OR 2 Atlanta, GA (planned) 1 Charlotte, NC (in Const.) 1,2 Cincinnati, OH 1 Dallas, TX (planned) 1 Galveston, TX 2 Kenosha, WS 1,2 Little Rock, AK 2 Lowell, MA 2 Memphis, TN 1,2 New Orleans, LA 1 Philadelphia, PA 1 Portland, OR 2 San Francisco, CA 1 San Diego, CA 2 San Pedro, CA 2 Savannah, GA 1,2 Seattle, WA 1,2 Tacoma, WA 2 Tampa, FL 2 Tucson, AZ 1 Washington, DC (planned) 1 Source 1: Streetcars, trolleys making a comeback in the US. 4/25/12. FoxNews.com. http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/25/street-cars-trolleysmaking-comeback-in-us/ Source 2: Golen & Smith-Heimer. Relationships between Streetcars and the Build Environment. Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP). TCPR Synthesis 86. Transportation Research Board, 2010. (www.trb.org) 8

Tempe, AZ Some Examples: Tempe, AZ Positively transformed neighborhoods Provided $4B boost to the economy Trolley circulator under consideration based on LRT success I m a Republican, and I didn t vote for Proposition 400. The light rail was a very expensive form of transportation. But the fact that it cleared up a blighted area and brought immense economic development is something that made me very interested The light rail exceeded what it set out to do. There is value in these systems beyond just transporting people. - Onnie Shekerjan, Tempe Councilwoman and Committee on Technology Chairperson Tempe feeling many positive, unexpected benefits from light rail. http://www.mnn.com/greentech/transportation/stories/tempe-feeling-many-positive-unexpected-benefits-from-light-rail

Some Examples: Portland, OR Portland, OR Total rail cost so far $512M Real estate investment stimulated $3.8B $76M per in property taxes generated LightRailNow! Light Rail Progress. http://www.lightrailnow.org/myths/m_por_2 006-01a.htm

Some Examples: Cleveland, OH Cleveland Euclid Corridor Transportation BRT $220M BRT investment 6.8 miles dedicated ROW Transformed communities along the route (attracted$5.8b investment) Healthline Drives Growth in Cleveland by Jason Helendrung. Urbanland. July 13, 2012. http://urbanland.uli.org/articles/2012/july/h ellendrunghealthline

Topics What we had and lost What other cities are doing to get it back The State of transit in Buffalo Why extend Buffalo s light rail? Why do it now? How to do it? CRT objectives

The State of Transit in Buffalo Largely a bus-based system Difficult to serve remote areas (result of sprawl) Bus stops provide marginal service Light rail system provides Central core of system Readily expandable (existing rights-of-way) a valuable resource ($2B asset!) Deferred maintenance catching up

Buffalo Transit Facts Buffalo LRT Carries 23,200 daily riders 4 th highest boarding's per mile in US! Out-performs metro bus: Earns $571,333 per mile compared to $14,143 for bus Maintenance costs $17M / year vs. $63M for bus $23,200 daily riders vs. 63,700 for bus Has a control, and maintenance center for 46 miles of track Is powered by green electricity (hydro) 14

Topics What we had and lost What other cities are doing to get it back The State of transit in Buffalo Why extend Buffalo s light rail? Why do it now? How to do it? CRT objectives

Why Extend the Light Rail? Economic development Near-term needs of the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus Current needs of Metro Buffalo residents The environment Changing demographics We can t afford to make room for more parking 16

Real Estate Tip: Buy Near Transit City Planner Tip: Build More Transit Lisi, Tom. Real Estate Tip: Buy Near Transit. TransportationNation. 25 March 2013. People are voting with their feet Consumers are looking for, and choosing. Neighborhoods that they re able to find more walkable features, that have lower transportation costs, and really just looking at communities in a smart way. - Sara Aiskerchen National Association of Realtors

Near-Term Needs of the Buffalo-Niagara BNMC will have 17,000 employees by 2016 The BNMC footprint cannot expand enough to accommodate parking spaces for 17,000 employees Parking will be available only for Patients and visitors Some employees Success of the BNMC will depend on efficient use of transit by employees Medical Campus 18

We can t afford to make room for more parking We can t turn areas near the BNMC into a parking lot like we did for our harbor! Transit with park and rides can provide efficient transportation and freeup land for productive revenue and job- generating uses Courtesy of Mark Paradowski from the Preservation-Ready Sites 19

Current Needs of Buffalo Residents One third of Buffalo residents depend on transit because of the prohibitive cost of car ownership (http://www.bikesatwork.com/blog/carfree-census-database-is-gone based on US 2000 census data, reported in Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_u.s._cities_with_most_households_without_a_car) Car ownership costs between $5,000 and $9,000 per year per car includes depreciation, fuel, interest on financing, insurance, sales tax, and average maintenance and repair costs (ConsumerReports.org) Transit costs between $500 to $900 per person (full fare) NFTA.com (http://metro.nfta.com/routes/fares.aspx) 20

The Environment More cars = more health problems Global warming is real! Transit produces far less pollution per person than private automobiles Source: USDOT. http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/publictransportationsroleinrespo ndingtoclimatechange.pdf Source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies. http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/glo balwarming/page2.php 21

Changing Demographics Largest groups demanding TOD Millenials (1980-2000) Boomers (1947-1965) Largest growing demographic is Latinos Decrease in teens getting drivers licenses California Montreal, Canada

Millennials Not As Car-Focused Goldmark, Alex. Study Confirms Fewer Young People Getting Driver s Licenses. TransportationNation. 20 July 2012. http://transportationnation.org/2012/07/20/percentage-ofyoung-persons-with-a-drivers-license-continues-to-drop/ Sivak, Michael and Schoettle, Brandon. Update: Percentage of Young Person s with a Driver s License Continues to Drop. Traffic Injury Prevention. Vol 13 (4). 20 July 2012.

Use of Transit at Record Levels In 2012, U.S. public transportation ridership grew at a record level as Americans took 10.5 billion trips. This is the second highest ridership since 1957, and it shows that there is a growing demand for public transportation, said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy. Amtrak use at record levels: Total Amtrak boardings up 55.1% between 1997 and 2012 Amtrak more than doubled the growth in domestic aviation (20%) over this period The NFTA Transportation Reporter, 11 March 2013 The Brookings Institution report: A New Alignment: Strengthening America s Commitment to Passenger Rail. Reported in: NARP News. Vol. 47 (3). April 2013.

COD vs. TOD 20 th Century Vision Car-Oriented Development (COD) 21 st Century Vision Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Courtesy of Mark Paradowski from the Preservation-Ready Sites

The Math Is Simple Capacity (full) = 137 / car = 548 (4 car train) Typical (rush hour) = 100 / car = 300 (3 car train) Trains per hour = 6 Passengers per hour = 300 x 6 = 1,800 (typical) Passengers per hour = 548 x 6 = 3,288 (capacity) (6,576 Passengers over 2 hour rush hour ) Capacity (full) = 6 people Average per car = 2 people (optimistic) Number of cars for 1,800 people (typical) = 1,800 / 2 = 900 parking spaces per hour = (1,800 parking spaces over 2 hour rush hour ) Number of cars for 3,288 people (capacity) = 3,288 / 2 = 1,644 parking spaces per hour = (3,288 parking spaces over 2 hour rush hour )