Will Light Rail Be Enough?

Will Light Rail be Enough?

Will Light Rail Be Enough?

With traffic congestion what it is today, many cities are looking for solutions to remove single-occupancy vehicles from the roadways and still get people where they need to go. Seattle, Washington is no different. According to Sound Transit's website, Light Rail was approved via voters and meant to provide transportation to a minimum of 75,000 passengers daily in King County, run 24 hours a day, and remove traffic congestion from the Puget Sound region. What once was a 21-mile Light Rail idea approved for $1 Million in 1996, is now a 14-mile Light Rail system for $2.4 Billion, and for just the first of many phases on this project running by summer 2009. By 2020, Sound Transit expects the system to be carrying more than 42,500 daily passengers (Sound Transit, 2009). By the time the entire Light Rail system is finally built in Puget Sound, it will not support the traffic volume that is needed for the day. This project has great potential, but it has been poorly managed, has become too costly, and will not resolve our traffic problems in the near future.

Light Rail History

According to TrainWeb, LLC, Light Rail or Light Rail Transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than street-running tram systems. The term is typically used to refer to rail systems with rapid transit-style features that usually use electric rail cars operating mostly in private rights-of-way separated from other traffic but sometimes, if necessary, mixed with other traffic in city streets (TrainWeb, LLC, 1998). Modern Light Rail technology is highly flexible in how it can be used, and whether any given system is considered a true rapid transit system or not depends on its implementation.

On the Light Rail Transit Authority website, they define many benefits of Light Rail systems including: no emissions at street level, many times safer than car travel, speed, avoids traffic congestion through segregation and priority, smooth and comfortable ride (no violent movements vertically, laterally, or backwards/forwards), compatible with pedestrian right-of-ways, high capacity transportation, more affordable mass transit, it's reliable during snow or icy conditions, the versatility because it can run at high speeds on segregated and narrow passageways, it's adaptable with steep gradients and tight curves, and capable of going underground, aboveground or on the surface, whichever makes best sense (Light Rail Transit Authority, 2009). Some of these benefits are not apparent upon implementation of a new Light Rail system, though they do become more evident as years pass. For example, BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit system, officially began construction in June 1964. It observed many obstacles over its development mostly stemming from funding concerns. According to the San Francisco BART District website, on September 11, 1972, the BART system began to operate as a revenue service (San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, 2009). The success of the BART system today outweighs the troubles incurred during development; commuters who today rely on this mode of transportation would agree that the cost was worth it. One such benefit to the community is that the Federal tax code allows the use of tax-free dollars to pay for transit commuting and parking costs through employer-sponsored programs. So providing pre-tax commuter benefits to employees can save payroll taxes for employers. These incentives help support the success of the BART system today.

Boston's Light Rail Transit system also has been beneficial to their community. It has proven that the cost to run the light rail one mile is $0.51 compared to the $0.71 it costs a bus to go the same distance (LightRailNow.Org, 2007). Boston still runs trolley services to compliment the Light Rail system and runs 24/7 for all citizens to utilize. They have developed specialized routes for the ones most travelled and added cars to accommodate the ridership needed for those heavy transit times.

Per LightRailNow.Org, Salt Lake City's new TRAX LRT, which opened in December 1999, has grown dramatically in popularity ever since inception. Riders have flocked onto the trains, total bus and rail ridership has surged 23% and vigorous expansion of the rail system is under way. TRAX's original line runs 15.0 miles from Delta Center in downtown Salt Lake City to the southern suburb of Sandy. Light Rail transit trains travel up to 55 mph, making the run in 38 minutes, and serving all 16 stations - at an average speed of about 24 mph (LightRailNow.org, 2007). The success of the initial line stimulated community enthusiasm for further extensions.

All transit service involves a tradeoff between speed and frequency of stops. Services that stop frequently have lower overall speed, and are therefore less attractive for longer trips. Heavy rail, light rail, monorail, and Bus Rapid Transit are all forms of rapid transit -- which generally signifies high speed and widely-spaced stops. Light Rails are a form of local transit, which makes strategic stops in central corridors throughout a city or region.

Sound Transit Light Rail

The analyses and planning stages of the Sound Transit Light Rail program has been poorly managed. It has taken too many years to gather information and provide a strategy to make this program functional. Per Harkness who studied the aspects of the Sound Transit Light Rail planning process, the alternatives analysis and environmental impact study justified the choice for rail over bus in Seattle. One major concern is that the final environmental impact study (FEIS) done for this project was completed in 1993; however, the Light Rail system was not operational until July 2009. Within 16 years, many different factors can affect the success of a project of this magnitude, including alternative transit systems support, right-of-ways, real estate purchases and permits. The one thing the FEIS did not include was the impacts to traffic congestion and this was the primary reason for developing a new transit system in the Puget Sound region.

Sound Transit is still struggling with locations to build the rails to incorporate outlying cities, and has received continual opposition on their strategies during elections. Per William Middleton, a "dean" of authors on electrical traction, "As of April 2006, only 30% of the design process has been achieved by Puget Sound Transit Consultants (PSTC) including facilities, project management, project control and engineering support"