TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH TCRP PROGRAM REPORT 138 Sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration Estimating Soft Costs for Major Public Transportation Fixed Guideway Projects Part 1: Guidebook Part 2: Final Report TCRP OVERSIGHT AND PROJECT TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD 2010 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE* SELECTION COMMITTEE* CHAIR OFFICERS Ann August Santee Wateree Regional Transportation Authority CHAIR: Michael R. Morris, Director of Transportation, North Central Texas Council of Governments, Arlington MEMBERS VICE CHAIR: Neil J. Pedersen, Administrator, Maryland State Highway Administration, Baltimore John Bartosiewicz McDonald Transit Associates EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board Michael Blaylock Jacksonville Transportation Authority MEMBERS Linda J. Bohlinger HNTB Corp. J. Barry Barker, Executive Director, Transit Authority of River City, Louisville, KY Raul Bravo Allen D. Biehler, Secretary, Pennsylvania DOT, Harrisburg Raul V. Bravo & Associates Larry L. Brown, Sr., Executive Director, Mississippi DOT, Jackson John B. Catoe, Jr. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Gregory Cook Norfolk, VA Veolia Transportation William A.V. Clark, Professor, Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles Terry Garcia Crews Nicholas J. Garber, Henry L. Kinnier Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, and Director, StarTran Kim R. Green Center for Transportation Studies, University of Virginia, Charlottesville GFI GENFARE Jeffrey W. Hamiel, Executive Director, Metropolitan Airports Commission, Minneapolis, MN Angela Iannuzziello Edward A. (Ned) Helme, President, Center for Clean Air Policy, Washington, DC ENTRA Consultants Randell H. Iwasaki, Director, California DOT, Sacramento John Inglish Utah Transit Authority Adib K. Kanafani, Cahill Professor of Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley Jeanne W. Krieg Susan Martinovich, Director, Nevada DOT, Carson City Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority Debra L. Miller, Secretary, Kansas DOT, Topeka Jonathan H. McDonald Stantec Consulting Pete K. Rahn, Director, Missouri DOT, Jefferson City Gary W. McNeil Sandra Rosenbloom, Professor of Planning, University of Arizona, Tucson GO Transit Tracy L. Rosser, Vice President, Corporate Traffic, Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., Mandeville, LA Michael P. Melaniphy Steven T. Scalzo, Chief Operating Officer, Marine Resources Group, Seattle, WA Motor Coach Industries Frank Otero Henry G. (Gerry) Schwartz, Jr., Chairman (retired), Jacobs/Sverdrup Civil, Inc., St. Louis, MO PACO Technologies Beverly A. Scott, General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Keith Parker Authority, Atlanta, GA VIA Metropolitan Transit David Seltzer, Principal, Mercator Advisors LLC, Philadelphia, PA Peter Rogoff FTA Daniel Sperling, Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy; Director, Institute of Jeffrey Rosenberg Transportation Studies; and Interim Director, Energy Efficiency Center, University of California, Davis Amalgamated Transit Union Douglas W. Stotlar, President and CEO, Con-Way, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI Richard Sarles C. Michael Walton, Ernest H. Cockrell Centennial Chair in Engineering, University of Texas, Austin New Jersey Transit Corporation Michael Scanlon San Mateo County Transit District EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Beverly Scott Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Thad Allen (Adm., U.S. Coast Guard), Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Department of James Stem Homeland Security, Washington, DC United Transportation Union Peter H. Appel, Administrator, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, U.S.DOT Frank Tobey J. Randolph Babbitt, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S.DOT First Transit Matthew O. Tucker Rebecca M. Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute, Smyrna, GA North County Transit District George Bugliarello, President Emeritus and University Professor, Polytechnic Institute of New York Pam Ward University, Brooklyn; Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Engineering, Washington, DC Ottumwa Transit Authority Anne S. Ferro, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Alice Wiggins-Tolbert Parsons Brinckerhoff LeRoy Gishi, Chief, Division of Transportation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO, Association of American Railroads, Washington, DC William W. Millar APTA John C. Horsley, Executive Director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Robert E. Skinner, Jr. Officials, Washington, DC TRB David T. Matsuda, Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, U.S.DOT John C. Horsley Victor M. Mendez, Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.DOT AASHTO Victor Mendez William W. Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association, Washington, DC FHWA Cynthia L. Quarterman, Administrator, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U.S.DOT TDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Louis Sanders Peter M. Rogoff, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, U.S.DOT APTA David L. Strickland, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S.DOT Joseph C. Szabo, Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, U.S.DOT SECRETARY Christopher W. Jenks Polly Trottenberg, Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy, U.S.DOT TRB Robert L. Van Antwerp (Lt. Gen., U.S. Army), Chief of Engineers and Commanding General, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, DC *Membership as of June 2009. *Membership as of February 2010. TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 138 Estimating Soft Costs for Major Public Transportation Fixed Guideway Projects Part 1: Guidebook Part 2: Final Report AECOM Arlington, VA Donald Schneck, LLC Bryn Mawr, PA Ali Touran NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Boston, MA Raul V. Bravo + Associates, Inc. Reston, VA Sharp & Company Rockville, MD Subscriber Categories Construction • Finance • Public Transportation Research sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration in cooperation with the Transit Development Corporation TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD WASHINGTON, D.C. 2010 www.TRB.org TRANSIT COOPERATIVE RESEARCH PROGRAM TCRP REPORT 138 The nation’s growth and the need to meet mobility, environmental, Project G-10 and energy objectives place demands on public transit systems. Current ISSN 1073-4872 systems, some of which are old and in need of upgrading, must expand ISBN 978-0-309-11826-2 service area, increase service frequency, and improve efficiency to serve Library of Congress Control Number 2010923718 these demands. Research is necessary to solve operating problems, to © 2010 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. adapt appropriate new technologies from other industries, and to intro- duce innovations into the transit industry. The Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) serves as one of the principal means by which the transit industry can develop innovative near-term solutions COPYRIGHT INFORMATION to meet demands placed on it. Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their materials and for obtaining The need for TCRP was originally identified in TRB Special Report written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. 213—Research for Public Transit: New Directions, published in 1987 and based on a study sponsored by the Urban Mass Transportation Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to reproduce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the Administration—now the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). A understanding that none of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, report by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), FMCSA, FTA, or Transit Development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, Transportation 2000, also recognized the need for local, problem- method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for solving research. TCRP, modeled after the longstanding and success- educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any reprinted or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission ful National Cooperative Highway Research Program, undertakes from CRP. research and other technical activities in response to the needs of tran- sit service providers. The scope of TCRP includes a variety of transit research fields including planning, service configuration, equipment, NOTICE facilities, operations, human resources, maintenance, policy, and administrative practices. The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the Transit Cooperative Research Program conducted by the Transportation Research Board with the approval of the TCRP was established under FTA sponsorship in July 1992. Pro- Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing posed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, TCRP was autho- Board’s judgment that the project concerned is appropriate with respect to both the rized as part of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act purposes and resources of the National Research Council. of 1991 (ISTEA). On May 13, 1992, a memorandum agreement out- The members of the technical advisory panel selected to monitor this project and