12th National Light Rail Conference “Sustaining the Metropolis: LRT & Streetcars for Super Cities”
Welcome to Salt Lake City’s Expanding Light Rail System
12th National Light Rail Conference “Sustaining the Metropolis: LRT & Streetcars for Super Cities”
Status of North American Light Rail Projects – 2012
John Schumann Senior Transportation Consultant LTK, Portland, Oregon
1972 - 8 US + 1 Canada 2012 - 38 Metro Regions: 34 US + 4 Canada “New Age” Light Rail
Low Floor, Low Platform (Portland, Houston) High Floor, High Platform (Los Angeles) Norfolk: The Tide (Opened 2011)
7.4 miles, 11 stations 9 LRVs (as option on Charlotte procurement) 4,300 weekday rides
. Extensions planned . Va Beach r-o-w purchased; 2012 referendum Seattle: Central Link (2009)
. 14.5 miles . 65 LFLRVs . 28,000 Rides/Day
LRT in Sound Transit’s regional program: Central Link, Seattle-SEA (15.6 mi), 2009 University Link, (3.5 mi), 2015 Further LRT Lines North-East-South Central Phoenix East Valley LRT (2008)
. 19.6 miles . 50 LFLRVs . 41,300+ rides
. Mesa Extensions Building & Planned . 3.1-mi Northwest extension to open 2016 . Future lines for full 57-mi system by 2025 Charlotte: Lynx South Line (2007)
9.6 miles 20 LRVs 15,500 rides
. Northeast Extension, 11 miles, by 2016 . More LRT, streetcar, commuter rail planned Hiawatha (2004) 12.3 miles 27 LRVs Next: Central to St Paul 32,400 Rides 39% New to Transit
. Openings: Central – 2014, Southwest – 2018 . Future: Bottineau LRT? Minneapolis & St. Paul streetcars? Houston (2004) – Building More Lines
. Open 2004: 7.5 mi, 18 LRVs, 37,400 rides/day . Downtown-TX Med Center-Reliant Park . Adding 40 miles, 5 branches . Construction over 60% complete on 3 lines . Buying 19 Siemens & 39 CAF LFLRVs Hudson-Bergen (2000)
15.1 miles 57 LRVs 45,000 rides
. North to Englewood? Tenafly? Closter? . South to Staten Island? Salt Lake (1999) – From a Line to a System
35.7 miles 146 LRVs (77 “LF” S-70) 55,700 weekday rides
Extensions Open: S. Jordan-10 mi & W. Valley-5 mi Soon: Airport-6 mi, Draper-4 mi, Sugar House-2 mi 77 Low Floor LRVs – Transitioning to Level Boarding Dallas (1996) – Doubling Again
System doubled after 1996 opening SE, NW & West extensions doubling again Stcars: City Place Extension; New Oak Cliff
Entire Fleet Stretched
77.4 miles 163 LRVs 74,200 weekday rides Denver (1994) – Continuing to Grow
34.7 miles 172 LRVs 69,300 rides
. West LRT: 12 mi, 2013 . I-225 LRT Extension: 10.5 mi, 2016 . FasTracks: 119 mi LRT/Commuter Rail St. Louis (1993)
45.5 miles 87 LRVs 54,800+ rides
8.0 mi, $678 million, Forest Park-Clayton- Shrewsbury, 22 LRVs, opened 2006 Baltimore (1992)
29 miles 53 LRVs 28,500 rides
. Finished double tracking, 2006 . Planning for Red Line LRT & city streetcars LA (1990) – Growth Continues
70.2 miles, Blue-Green-Gold-Aqua 172 LRVs 182,500 weekday rides
50 P2550 LRVs
Extensions: Expo Phase 1, 9.6 mi, 2012; Phase 2, 6.7 mi, 2015 Montclair, 11.5 mi, 2014 Central Connector, 1.9 mi, 2019 San Jose (1987) – Preparing for NFL Football
42.2 miles 100 LRVs 32,600 rides/weekday
Completed extensions: Tasman E/Capitol & Vasona Began Limited Express Service Sacramento (1987) – More LRT Coming
38.7 miles 76 LRVs (+21) 47,500 rides
Peter Ehrlich Photo
DNA, 1.1 mi open 2012, plan 12 mi to airport South, 4.3 mi to Cosumnes Rvr Col, 2015 Contract awarded to renovate 21 ex-VTA cars Portland (1986) – More MAX
52.3 miles 127 LRVs (+18 Type 5) 132,800 weekday rides
2015 – Milwaukie MAX, 7.3 mi; streetcars San Diego (1981) Renews & Restructures
52.5 miles Old Town Trolley-Coaster Transfers 152 LRVs 94,300 rides
Green Line extended to CBD Blue Line Infrastructure Renovation Mid-Coast, 10.7 mi, in design for 2018 Calgary (1981) – Adding New Lines
27.7 miles 160 LRVs 280,000 weekday rides
. West, 5.2 miles, opens 2013 . Plan extensions Southeast & North, LFLRVs Edmonton (1978) Extensions South & North
13.1 miles 70 LRVs 94,000 weekday rides
. 5-mi South Line, 2010 . 2.8-mile Churchill to NAIT, opens 2014 Buffalo (1985) & Cleveland
15.4 miles Buffalo 48 LRVs 15,100 weekday rides
Cleveland/Shaker Hts System Modernization Projects, e.g., rebuilt Buckeye-Woodhill Station
6.4 miles 27 LRVs 20,300 weekday rides
Brian Weinberg Photo “Legacy” Light Rail & Streetcar Systems Boston Rebuilds, Renews, Re-Equips Green Line Network
25.6 miles 216 LRVs 248,900 weekday rides
Planned: Lechmere-Medford Extension Newark
Penn Sta-Broad St Sta, 1.0 mi, 2006
6.3 miles 16 LRVs 17,000 weekday rides Philadelphia Runs & Renews
42.5 miles 141 LRV + 18 PCC II 105,000 rides ADA-Compliant PCC II Pittsburgh – Opens North Shore Connector
25.0 miles 83 LRVs 28,500 rides
Valerie Harvey Photo
. North Shore Connector opened March 2012 SF Muni: Third Street Done, Onward to Chinatown
30.7 miles 151 LRVs + 34 Stcars 158,500 rides/day
Third Street Phase 1, opened 2007 Central Subway, Phase 2, 1.6 mi, 2017 E-Embarcadero – New Waterfront Service Toronto – Big City/Big System
48.9 miles 248 LRVs >50million rides/year
. Procuring 204 LFLRVs . Metrolinx: .Add new LRT lines, LFLRVs New Orleans Restoring System
14.2 miles 66 streetcars 21,100 rides
Extensions: NOUPT, 0.8 mi. 2013; French Quarter, 2.5 mi, 2014 Streetcars – Modern & Vintage Memphis Main Street Trolley (1993)
7.0 miles 20 streetcars 5,300+ rides
Matt Pirmann Photo
Future extension? Airport, ~ 9 miles Kenosha PCCs (2000)
0.9 mile 8 PCC cars 200-300 rides/day
Under Study: Extension through downtown TECO Trolley, Tampa - Ybor City (2002)
. 2.3 miles Will Pinellas County . 10 replicas, 1 S.T. LRT be next? . 600 rides/day Little Rock River Rail (2004)
. River Rail, 3.4 mi . 5 Replica Birneys . 400 Rides/day . Links Downtown Little Rock, No. Little Rock, Alltel Arena, Clinton Library Portland Streetcar (2001) – Opens Eastside (2012)
7.3 miles 11 Streetcars (+5/6) 12,000 weekday rides
2012 – Eastside Streetcar, 3.3 mi 2015 – Streetcars join Milwaukie MAX on new Willamette River bridge crossing Tacoma & Seattle Streetcars
Tacoma Link (2003) . 1.6 miles . 3 vehicles . 2,000+ rides/day . City Study Future Lines
Seattle SLU (2007) . 1.3 miles . 3 vehicles (+6 1st Hill) . 2,500+ rides/day . First Hill, 2.5 mi, 2014 New Streetcars Under Construction & Planned
. Atlanta Streetcar . 2.6 mi, 4 cars, due 2013 . Cincinnati Streetcar . 3.7 mi, 5 cars, due 2013 . Tucson Streetcar . 3.8 mi, 7 cars, due 2013 . Washington, DC Streetcar . 2.7 mi, 5 cars, due 2014 . Dallas (Oak Cliff) . 1.6 mi, 2 cars, due 2014 . “In the Pipeline” Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Northern Virginia, Oklahoma City, Providence, San Antonio, Santa Ana & others
“Light” Diesel Multiple Units Call them “Honorary Light Rail”? Ottawa (2001) O-Train Rebuilds for Growth
5.0 miles 3 “light” DMUs 12,000 weekday rides Rebuild/re-equip for more frequent service
7.7-Mile LRT, 2013 Construction Start South Jersey RiverLine (2004)
34 miles 20 “light” DMUs 9,200 Weekday Rides
. DMU/Freight - day/night time separation . Camden-Trenton, Opened 2004 North San Diego Sprinter (2008)
. 22 miles . 12 “light” DMUs . 7,900 rides Austin MetroRail - “Light” DMU (2010)
. 32 miles, 6 “light” DMUs . 1,700 weekday rides
. Elgin DMU Line? . CBD-Capitol-UT Streetcars? Denton County A-Train (2011)
. 21 miles, 11 “light” DMUs . 1,400 weekday rides What Does All This Show?
. After 40 years, Light Rail is thriving . Permutations serve various niches: . Electric LRT linking cities and suburbs . Electric Streetcars as urban circulators . Light DMU’s for longer, lower-cost start-up lines . A place for every mode, and every mode in its place
LRT – Streetcars – Light DMUs: Roles for all in Super Cities
Thank you & enjoy the conference! End