Recommendations for Implementing Bus Rapid Transit in Pittsburgh’s Oakland-Uptown-Downtown Transit Corridor Systems Synthesis Project Final Report Spring Semester, January - May 2011 May 6, 2011 Prepared for: Port Authority of Allegheny County Prepared by: Shenshen Cao Yang Hu Wenjuan Jiang Paul Karam Cristina Melo Carlos Patino Timothy Seidel Yunyue Wu Project Team Advisor Christopher Paul, PhD, RAND Team Leaders Paul Karam Timothy Seidel Board Relations Yunyue Wu Project Team Shenshen Cao Yang Hu Wenjuan Jiang Cristina Melo Carlos Patino i Advisory Board Port Authority of Allegheny County Steve Bland, CEO Wendy Stern, Assistant General Manager David Wohlwill, Manager of Extended Range Planning Center for Economic Development at Heinz College Greg Lagana, Director of Projects Members at Large Lucinda Beattie, V.P. Transportation, Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership Scott Bricker, Bike Pittsburgh Andrew Dash, Senior Planner, Department of City Planning Richard Feder, Consultant, Trans Associates Court Gould, Sustainable Pittsburgh Tom Halloran, Director, Community & Legislative Relations Center, Urban Redevelopment Authority Lynn Heckman, Assistant Director-Transportation Initiatives, Allegheny County Economic Development Christopher Hendrickson, Civil Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University Tom Klevan, Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission Darryl C. Phillips, Lead Traffic Engineer, Parsons Brinckerhoff Mavis Rainey, Executive Director, Oakland Transportation Management Association Patrick Roberts, Principal Transportation Planner, Department of City Planning Chris Sandvig, Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group Rick Stafford, Traffic 21, Carnegie Mellon University Wanda Wilson, Oakland Planning and Development Corporation iii Table of Contents Table of Figures ............................................................................................................................. xi Index of Tables ............................................................................................................................. xiii Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... xv List of Acronyms.......................................................................................................................... xxi 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 2. Issue Identification and Prioritization ..................................................................................... 2 2.1. Issues Identified................................................................................................................ 2 2.2. Ranking Criteria ............................................................................................................... 4 2.3. Prioritization Matrix ......................................................................................................... 4 2.4. Analysis and Results ........................................................................................................ 5 2.4.1. Averaging .................................................................................................................. 5 2.4.2. Frequencies of Highest Rated Issues ........................................................................ 5 2.5. Issues for Further Analysis ............................................................................................... 6 3. Cases Reviewed ...................................................................................................................... 7 3.1. Albany, New York ............................................................................................................ 7 3.2. Boston, Massachusetts ..................................................................................................... 7 3.3. Cleveland, Ohio ................................................................................................................ 7 3.4. Eugene, Oregon ................................................................................................................ 8 3.5. Kansas City, Kansas ......................................................................................................... 8 3.6. Honolulu, Hawaii ............................................................................................................. 8 3.7. Los Angeles, California .................................................................................................... 8 3.8. Oakland, California .......................................................................................................... 9 3.9. Ottawa, Ontario ................................................................................................................ 9 3.10. Orlando, Florida............................................................................................................ 9 4. Financing Alternatives ...........................................................................................................11 4.1. Introduction .....................................................................................................................11 4.2. Funding Alternatives ...................................................................................................... 14 4.2.1. Federal Funding Sources......................................................................................... 14 4.2.2. Private Funding Sources ......................................................................................... 16 4.3. Case Studies ................................................................................................................... 17 4.3.1. Eugene, Oregon....................................................................................................... 17 4.3.2. Cleveland, Ohio ...................................................................................................... 19 v 4.3.3. Kansas City, Kansas ................................................................................................ 22 4.3.4. Albany, New York ................................................................................................... 23 4.4. Findings and Recommendations .................................................................................... 25 5. Investment Opportunities and Economic Development along the BRT Corridor ................ 27 5.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 27 5.2. Case Studies ................................................................................................................... 27 5.2.1. Overview ................................................................................................................. 27 5.2.2. Cleveland, Ohio ...................................................................................................... 28 5.2.3. Boston, Massachusetts ............................................................................................ 30 5.2.4. Ottawa, Ontario ....................................................................................................... 32 5.3. Transit Revitalization Investment Districts (TRID) ....................................................... 33 5.3.1. Overview of TRID .................................................................................................. 33 5.3.2. South Hills Transit Revitalization Investment District Planning Study.................. 34 5.4. Potential Investment Resources ..................................................................................... 34 5.4.1. Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (URA) .......................................... 34 5.5. Potential Investment Strategies by Neighborhood ......................................................... 39 5.5.1. Oakland ................................................................................................................... 39 5.5.2. Uptown .................................................................................................................... 41 5.5.3. Downtown ............................................................................................................... 44 5.5.4. Other Potential Investments Groups ....................................................................... 46 6. Stop Selection ....................................................................................................................... 47 6.1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 47 6.2. Literature Review ........................................................................................................... 47 6.2.1. Corridor Selection Criteria from Bus Rapid Transit Planning Guide ..................... 47 6.2.2. Stop Selection Criteria from Recommended Practices for BRT Services Design .. 48 6.3. Stop Selection Process ................................................................................................... 50 6.3.1. Selecting Fifth Avenue over Forbes Avenue ........................................................... 50 6.3.2. Proposed BRT Route ............................................................................................... 50 6.3.3. Main Criteria Evaluated to Select Stops ................................................................