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Liberty State Park Transit Needs Study

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Liberty State Park Transit Needs Study Liberty State Park Transit Needs Study An eighteen month, $220,000 study of the needs for a visitor circulator or transit system for the Park concluded at the end of May 2013. The results will be posted to our website. A second, more detailed study will be required to determine the type of vehicle / system recommended and preliminary design. Liberty Historic Railway Supports a Heritage Trolley Rail Shuttle Solution for the Transportation Needs of Liberty State Park Primary Corridor - Zapp Drive. The following are our reasons encompassed in supporting statements; LHRy IS ON BOARD Agreement with study findings First, Liberty Historic Railway (LHRy) congratulates North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, Jersey City Division of Planning and Sam Schwartz Engineering for the excellent job they have done on this study. We support the findings of the study, although we have quibbles with some of the assumptions. The study’s focus on the primary and most viable corridor, Audrey Zapp Drive, which accounts for 89% of intrapark ridership, is sound. Also, LHRy fully supports the definition of the Heritage Trolley Rail Shuttle (HTRS) alternative. GOALS Sustainable Parks Goals LHRy strongly believes that the specific goals of the NJ DEP Division of Parks (DEP Parks) for future usage of Liberty State Park (LSP) should guide this study rather than any unwritten assumed objectives. For example, the goals of Governor Christie’s Sustainable Parks Plan are to enhance and expand park programs, facilities, amenities, and offerings to generate more visitors (e.g.: to encourage more tourism) and revenues that can make our parks more financially self-sustaining, while maintaining their environmental integrity and increasing their popularity. The mission statement of LSP is consistent with these overarching goals and includes: “...to provide public access to New York Harbor.” A (HTRS) would enhance the goals and missions of both DEP Parks and LSP as well as being a desirable way of conveying potential patrons without automobiles between the Hudson Bergen Light Rail System (HBLRS) and the Central RR of NJ Terminal; Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island Ferries; Liberty House & Maritime Parc Restaurants; Liberty Landing Marina; the Empty Sky 9/11 Memorial; and the Water Taxi to NYC. Liberty State Park Circulation Master Plan Update (prepared by Vollmer Associates, Oct. 2002) is also consistent with blending these overarching goals. Those goals state: ● “The goal of DEP Parks is to retain current Park acreage without increasing the road system or paving new parking lots” (p. 1) ● “In order to preserve the Park setting, alternative modes of travel to the Park must be promoted” (p. 3) ● “Encourage transit over vehicular usage for internal Park movements” (p. 12) ● “Discourage extensive traffic growth on internal Park roads and do not widen any Park roads” (p. 12) ● “Provide sustainable shuttle service to accommodate Park visitors and reduce vehicular traffic” (p. 12) The Reality Identified transportation gaps (most especially between the HBLRS station and the CRR of NJ Terminal ferry docks) impede Park access and the non-driving public’s mobility, specifically those on foot and riders of public transit. These transportation deficiencies build pressure for more cherished green space to be converted to undesirable and impervious parking lots that inefficiently gobble up a great deal of valuable green space. Past major events at LSP have created gridlock conditions on Park roadways and overflow parking destroying grass lawns. Therefore we believe, as the Park serves various needs, the focus should be the movement of people in, out, and around the Park as opposed to increasing road traffic. A single track HTRS can provide the needed safety valve for future growth in Park visitation and reduce pressure for the expansion of parking lots and roads. Another land-conserving feature of the HTRS is that it will utilize double ended trolley cars. Thus there will be no requirement for turning space. A bus requires a significant paved roadway for turning. BENEFITS Functional Benefits The HTRS at LSP would benefit the rapidly growing population of residents living near the Park, and other visitors, more than any other plan and provide better service than any other alternatives. (Recent reports indicate that robust residential development within walking distance of the edge of LSP has resumed - per Jersey City Economic Development Corporation.) LSP also attracts a significant number of tourists and travelers from throughout the U. S. and the World. Many of these visitors arrive via the HBLRS and are confronted with a walk of over one mile to reach the ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island via the CRR of NJ Terminal. To access these points they must either walk or try to find a taxi. As a result there is currently a mission deficiency at LSP in the failure to “provide access to the harbor’s resources” for visitors without their own automobiles, which the HTRS can address. To assist in this purpose, each trolley vehicle will be fully compliant with the current ADA accessibility requirements. Historic Rail Corridor The historic rail corridor between the Central RR of NJ Terminal and Liberty Science Center / HBLRS had continuous rail passenger service for over 100 years. The HTRS would be a restoration of one single track of that exact historic rail transit route, providing a realistic and viable connection for LSP with its heritage. It would also reinforce the following portion of the mission statement of LSP: “provide an appreciation and understanding of its ...related transportation, and immigration history, and provide the opportunity to enjoy outdoor recreation activities.” POSITIVE FACTORS Trolley Convenience The HTRS will be more convenient than a bus shuttle. It will be able to deliver its passengers directly to the Central RR Terminal Concourse, much closer than a bus or by automobile. Shorter, Faster & Smoother The point to point, nearly straight line, HTRS route would be significantly shorter than a bus route which would need to cross the HBLRS twice and encounter three traffic lights. A bus alternative would need to follow a meandering route south on Phillip Drive; west on Jersey City Blvd.; north and west on Wilson Street (past the Light Rail Station); and return east on Johnston Avenue/Zapp Drive. The HTRS will not cross the Light Rail line at all. This will mean the HTRS would provide more frequent, safer, and direct service than a bus alternative. In addition, the trolley will actually be much faster for riders: at the same 15 mph operating speed as a shuttle bus, its travel distance (and time) will be much shorter. These efficiencies will allow fewer trolleys to carry more visitors, faster, more comfortably, safer, and with greater frequency. In comparison, the bus ride over the historic Belgian block paving of Audrey Zapp Drive would be uncomfortably bumpy. Traffic Signals Not Needed LHRy respectfully disagrees with the finding of the Circulation Study, to wit, the need for traffic lights or grade crossing protection at trolley track crossings of roads. The low speed HTRS would stop at any road or driveway crossing and not proceed until safe to do so. This would further reduce the capital cost estimates of the HTRS. Expensive traffic lights or other signaling will not be required, and we believe this will be validated by detailed traffic engineering in a next study phase. Trolley Is Superior An advantage of the HTRS, especially to strangers to LSP, is that its route will be virtually a straight line, so the vehicle will be visible to prospective riders in the Park 90% of the operating time. This will entice potential riders to ride the trolley. Whereas, a shuttle bus, out of sight for most of its larger loop travel distance, will not encourage waiting riders (out of sight, out of mind). In addition, the trolley will be more reliable, because it will be able to bypass the traffic jams which snare and catch buses on busy, gridlocked traffic days. Ridership We also respectfully disagree with the “conservative” Circulation Study finding that only a 10% “novelty premium” should be projected for the HTRS ridership over a bus. Research of Transit Engineer Edson Tennyson, documented in an article published in the Transportation Research Record, that a rail solution would increase ridership by between 34 and 43% over a bus. Many communities have found that there is a special appeal of a unique HTRS which will attract the ridership of the public and make it more economically viable than a shuttle bus. (Reference: Heritage Trolleys are used instead of buses in Dallas, TX; Kenosha, WI; Little Rock, AR; Lowell, MA; Memphis, TN; New Orleans, LA; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; San Francisco, CA; and many other cities.) In comparison shuttle bus operation within LSP has failed in four recent years to generate sufficient funding or enough additional patronage to be economically viable. (Reference: Sam Schwartz Engineering research for the LSP Circulator Study.) Funding Opportunities The cost of the implementation of the HTRS will be significantly reduced by the rail and track materials already on hand and available for donation. This would reduce the overall project cost by $2,700,000, from a cost estimate calculated if such a donation were not available. In addition, about 800 feet, or about 15%, of the track needed for the HTRS is already in place at the east end of the proposed route. Also, several suitable trolley cars are available to be donated for the service. LHRy is aggressively working on funding & grant opportunities / possibilities for a HTRS and has pledged to increase its funding for implementation / construction up to $500,000. POSITIVE ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS No visual Impact The HTRS, as defined in the Definition of Alternatives phase of this study, will not create visual pollution as the trolleys will be battery powered, as opposed to the usual installation of overhead power supply wires and supporting poles.
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