PSRC Funding Application
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
PSRC Funding Application Competition Regional FTA Application Main Competition Status submitted Submitted: March 17th, 2017 3:16 PM Prepopulated with screening form? Yes Project Information 1. Project Title Sounder Vehicle Procurement 2. Transportation 2040 ID Exempt 3. Sponsoring Agency Sound Transit 4. Cosponsors NA 5. Does the sponsoring agency have "Certification Acceptance" status from WSDOT? N/A 6. If not, which agency will serve as your CA sponsor? N/A 7. Is your agency a designated recipient for FTA funds? Yes 8. Designated recipient concurrence NA Contact Information 1. Contact name Lisa Wolterink 2. Contact phone 206-689-3359 3. Contact email [email protected] Project Description 1. Project Scope This project will purchase 1 commuter rail locomotive and 3 passenger cars to increase capacity and support Sounder south line ridership growth, reduce overcrowding and improve service reliability. The new locomotive will be either Tier 3 or Tier 4 EPA standard, which significantly reduces air pollution. A major purpose of Sounder commuter rail is to connect centers, consistent with regional plans. The Sounder south line serves both Pierce and King Counties and a total of 10 centers. • Regional Growth Centers served by Sounder: Auburn, Kent, Lakewood, Puyallup Downtown, Seattle CBD, Tacoma Downtown and Tukwila. Sounder Connector services also connect to Puyallup South Hill Center, ensuring customers are able to access Sounder commuter rail from nearby P&R lots as parking at the Sounder stations is often full by the early morning hours. • Manufacturing and Industrial Centers served by Sounder: Kent, North Tukwila, Port of • Manufacturing and Industrial Centers served by Sounder: Kent, North Tukwila, Port of Tacoma and Sumner-Pacific. Sounder south line ridership continues strong growth. The additional vehicles in this request will help provide additional capacity to accommodate ridership growth. • In January 2017, Sounder ridership was up 32,000, or 9.7%, compared to January 2016. Similarly, average weekday boardings on Sounder were up 2.5% compared to same period last year, reaching an all-time high of 17,000 average weekday boardings. • In September 2017, two Sounder round trips will begin on the busy south line (the additional trips were approved under ST2). The two new trips will bring the total number of weekday trains to 13 on the south line (ie 13 round trips or 26 one-way train trips). • In 2022, the commuter rail system is projected to carry over 5.6 million passengers, growth of over 45 percent since 2015. On a typical weekday, Sounder is expected to surpass 21,000 boardings. Projected Growth in Ridership (Boardings) and Service for Sounder Commuter Rail • 2014 Annual Riders: 3.4 million • 2016 Annual Riders: 4.2 million • 2040 Annual Riders: 8-11 million • 2040 Annual Passenger Miles: 190-255 million Source: ST3 modeling For north line and south line annual boardings through 2016, refer to Table 1 in the Appendix. SUMMARY OF BENEFITS OF ADDING 3 PASSENGER CARS AND 1 LOCOMOTIVE • The 3 new passenger cars will increase ridership by an estimated 207,480 per year. • Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) will be reduced by 9,658,194 per year. • A Sounder south line rider can reduce travel times by an average of 22 minutes per day (44 minutes per day) as compared to driving or riding the bus in congested times. • Annually, this project can save nearly 76,323 hours of travel time, worth $1,026,544 in economic benefit (assuming the value of time is $13.45 per hr). • Sounder south line connects regional growth centers and MICs with populations totaling 65,927 (31,954 households) and 295,542 jobs. • Sounder will operate commuter rail service approximately every 20 minutes by fall of 2017. • The span of service is currently 4:41a.m.to 6:20 p.m. • Sounder supports Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and redevelopment plans in cities near the stations. Many cities have TOD zoning around the stations. • A Tier 3 locomotive will reduce fine particulate matter by 60%, oxides of nitrogen by 26%, and hydrocarbons by 55% as compared to a Tier 0 engine. Tier 4 engines are even cleaner. • The 3 additional passenger cars will provide a total of 12 additional bike spaces (4 spaces per car). • This request will be used for equipment purchase. The project is a NEPA catagorical exclusion (CE). Funds can be obligated immediately and the project completed by the end of 2019. Sound Transit local funds will be used to provide the matching funds and pay for additional Sounder service. Additional Vehicles are Needed for Growth and Additional Capacity for Passengers Over the last five years, total Sounder ridership has grown over 70% with 75% of the growth occurring on the south-line and 57% on the north line. In 2016, Sound Transit added additional trips to the south line (late morning/early afternoon trips). Significant growth in Sounder ridership has largely been absorbed by existing available capacity on-board trains. On most of the Sounder trips, trains are essentially full, with most or all seats occupied. Some Sounder south line trips are so busy that passengers have to stand. The purchase of one locomotive and three more cab cars would be used to accommodate capacity concerns. Additional Vehicles are Needed for Reliability Sounder is generally a reliable mode of travel, however, the fleet is heavily used. With high ridership growth and service increases, strains are being put on the fleet. Sounder is experiencing some constraints that affect the reliability of service. • In 2016, Sounder fleet availability was constrained with the additional vehicles in service in combination with the various vehicle campaigns and programs in place (PTC, truck and HVAC replacements, overhauls and preventative maintenance cycles). There were 8 cancelled and 37 delayed trips due to mechanical issues, repairs and vehicle maintenance. • In 2016, the fleet experienced 27 major mechanical failures, many of which had residual impacts on additional trains in service. • The current spare ratio for cars is 4%; for locos the spare ratio is 8%. • In 2016, the Percentage of Scheduled Trips Operated was 98.7%. This is lower than the performance target of 99.5% or better. • In 2016, On-Time Performance was at 92.8%. This is lower than the performance target of 95% or better. • If Sounder ever encountered an unfortunate accident, it would be many months with a locomotive and/or passenger car out of service until repairs are made. • The additional vehicles in this request will help mitigate risk of compromising service quality resulting from mechanical failures, repairs and vehicle maintenance. The additional vehicles help with improving Sounder reliability. Additional locomotive requested is proposed to be Tier 3 EPA-certified or Tier 4 Additional locomotive requested is proposed to be Tier 3 EPA-certified or Tier 4 Sound Transit has the option of buying either a used locomotive or a new locomotive. (Locomotives have a long useful life and there is a market for used locomotives.) Used locomotives can be anywhere from Tier 0 to Tier 3 standard. If Sound Transit bought a used locomotive, it would include a cleaner, Tier 3 engine instead of Tier 0. Tier 3 locomotives are more fuel-efficient and have better emission control technology. If Sound Transit bought a new locomotive, it would be Tier 4 – even cleaner. For comparison: • A Tier 3 locomotive will reduce particulate matter (PM) by 60%, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by 26%, and hydrocarbons by 55% as compared to a Tier 0 engine. Tier 3 engines save 1% on fuel. • A Tier 4 locomotive reduces 85% of PM and NOx emissions and saves 8% more fuel as compared to Tier 0. • Tier 4 reduces PM by 70% and NOx by 76% from the prior Tier 3 regulations. • Tier 4 compliant engines significantly reduce emissions PM and NOx to near zero levels. • Relative to previous emissions standards, Tier 4 compliant engines reduce emissions by just over 86 percent for much larger applications like locomotives. This project provides an immediate mobility improvements and measurable fuel savings, air pollution reductions, and health benefits to the community on a very short timeframe. In 2015 alone, Sound Transit reduced the particulate emissions that cause respiratory disease by 21% for Sounder locomotives. The vehicles in this grant request help prepare for ST3 Sounder South Service and Capital Improvements ST3 includes Sounder improvements allowing Sound Transit to run longer trains and carry more riders. In addition, track and signal upgrades and other related infrastructure will provide additional capacity. • Sounder south currently operates 7-car trains. ST3 will increase south line ridership by increasing capacity with extended platforms that could serve trains up to 10 cars in length and approximately 40% more passengers at Lakewood, Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent and Tukwila. • In addition to expanding train capacity, ST3 provides the potential to run additional trips during the day. • Two stations will be added to the south line, one at Tillicum to serve Joint Base Lewis- McChord and a second at DuPont. 2. Project Justification, Need, or Purpose The additional Sounder vehicles would be put into service on the region’s most congested corridor, serving the region’s densest downtowns and urban centers, adding critical capacity where it is most needed to support the region’s economy and preserve its quality of life. Sounder Provides Fast and Reliable Service along the Congested I-5 and SR 167 Corridors. Transportation system reliability has continued to decline in the Puget Sound region for several decades, both for car drivers and for transit riders whose travel times also suffer from worsening congestion in HOV lanes. This is primarily related to increases in the severity of traffic congestion and the greater likelihood of congestion occurring at any time of day or on any day of the week.