Draft comments re: FEIS CCLRT
As an engineer who loves rail lines, my input is that the FEIS for CCLRT oozes competence, but lacks the vision that BART planners had in 1960.
The FEIS indicates that CCLRT will attract 1600 extra riders per day, about one half of one percent of those going past on I-94. Twin Cities percent transit miles will remain at two percent. Transit use in other cities, such as Oakland, California (as driveable as Saint Paul) will remain more than three times higher than transit use in the Twin Cities.
The Hiawatha line included park and rides and indeed, those using park and rides accounted for more than thirty percent of ridership. No park and rides are provided next to the CCLRT. (New bus routes are unlikely to draw a critical mass of ridership as the buses will be too infrequent to be useful if Hiawatha is predictive. Satellite lots rely on buses.)
Practical issues that could potentially impact ridership, such as those raised by Councilman Melvin Carter are not carefully studied, “All I want is a ticket booth and a toilet at each station.”
Benefits and costs of putting the line underground do not appear to be extensively studied. An underground line, given that the roadway is going to be destroyed and rebuilt anyway, may not be as incrementally expensive as forecast. Engineers can not know what they may find underground, so they conservatively guess costs will be high. What if costs of above ground mitigation are actually as high? The FEIS includes no calculation of how much more valuable a below grade line would be. What is the benefit if the rail line is twice as fast? (The FEIS indicates that the rail line will be “faster than current buses.” )
Design should be customer focused. Given the change in presidential administrations, cost myopia may be unfounded.
Based on neighborhood meetings, there is no mandate for CCLRT immediately adjacent to the proposed Snelling Avenue station. I suggest a non-binding vote at the ballot box in November to validate LRT planning and place the responsibility for this LRT investment where it belongs.
My favorite quote about this line, “This is not Paris.”
The FEIS indicates that CCLRT will attract 1600 extra riders per day, about one half of one percent of those going past on I-94. Twin Cities percent transit miles will remain at two percent. Transit use in other cities, such as Oakland, California (as driveable as Saint Paul) will remain more than three times higher than transit use in the Twin Cities.
The Hiawatha line included park and rides and indeed, those using park and rides accounted for more than thirty percent of ridership. No park and rides are provided next to the CCLRT. (New bus routes are unlikely to draw a critical mass of ridership as the buses will be too infrequent to be useful if Hiawatha is predictive. Satellite lots rely on buses.)
Practical issues that could potentially impact ridership, such as those raised by Councilman Melvin Carter are not carefully studied, “All I want is a ticket booth and a toilet at each station.”
Benefits and costs of putting the line underground do not appear to be extensively studied. An underground line, given that the roadway is going to be destroyed and rebuilt anyway, may not be as incrementally expensive as forecast. Engineers can not know what they may find underground, so they conservatively guess costs will be high. What if costs of above ground mitigation are actually as high? The FEIS includes no calculation of how much more valuable a below grade line would be. What is the benefit if the rail line is twice as fast? (The FEIS indicates that the rail line will be “faster than current buses.” )
Design should be customer focused. Given the change in presidential administrations, cost myopia may be unfounded.
Based on neighborhood meetings, there is no mandate for CCLRT immediately adjacent to the proposed Snelling Avenue station. I suggest a non-binding vote at the ballot box in November to validate LRT planning and place the responsibility for this LRT investment where it belongs.
My favorite quote about this line, “This is not Paris.”
Labels: central corridor, D13, light rail
posted by David Rasmussen at 12:19 PM
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