NC APA Presentation

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Streetcars and the American Transit
Renaissance Metroplan Orlando November 14,
2007 Charlie Hales Senior Vice President, HDR
Engineering
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The three traditional reasons to support transit

• Poor people need it

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The three traditional reasons to support transit

• Poor people need it
• Some middle-class people will use it to avoid a
  hellish commute

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The three traditional reasons to support transit

• Poor people need it
• Some middle-class people will use it to avoid a
  hellish commute
• If enough of 2 happens, there will be more room
  on the highway for me!

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250 Units in a Region
Poor Transit/ Suburban

• Good Transit/
• Mixed Use

1,988,338
894,250
Vehicle Miles Per Year
Savings per year 1,094,088 VMT
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Acres Land
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The Three Megatrends that compel us to think
bigger

• Near-consensus about Global Warming
• Dawning implications of Peak Oil
• Returning to city life, seeking livable
  communities

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Megatrend 1

• Consciousness Dawns near unanimity on the
  reality of climate change

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1000 Years of Global CO2 and Temperature Change
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1000 Years of Global CO2 and Temperature Change
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Megatrend 2

• Powering Down the end of abundant, cheap oil

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Cant We Just Find Some More?

• Peak discovery typically precedes peak production
  by 25 to 30 years
• World oil discovery peaked in the mid-1970s and
  has been declining ever since

• M. King Hubbert

Source Powerdown, Richard Heinberg
Source Post Carbon Institute
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The full picture
Sources U.S. Dept. of Energy, BP, Exxon/Mobil
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Ethanol to the rescue?

• Even if all of the 300 million acres (500,000
  square miles) of currently harvested U.S.
  (nongrazing) cropland produced ethanol, it
  wouldnt supply all of the gasoline and diesel
  fuel we now burn for transportation, and it would
  supply only about half of the needs for the year
  2025.
• --The False Hope of Biofuels For Energy and
  Environmental Reasons, Ethanol Will Never Replace
  Gasoline (James Jordan and James Powell,
  Washington Post, July 2, 2006)

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Megatrend 3

• Who knew that the Flight to Suburbia was a round
  trip?
• the centripetal force of the urban
  lifestyleand the competition for its constituents

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Returning to the cities
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People are expressing their preferencesvoting
with their feet
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A different American Dream than the one their
parents had
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But not just the young
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What they want
71 of older households want to live within
walking distance of transit. AARP
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Seeking better-designed communities
served by, and organized around transit
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Fostering a lively street life
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Portland Office of Transportation One-hour
Pedestrian Count - 2000
Transit impact Powells Books
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NW 12th Ave
NW 11th Ave
NW 10th Ave
2000
NW DAVIS ST
2 PEDESTRIANS per HOUR
NW COUCH ST
1 BUS STOP
3 PEDESTRIANS per HOUR
W BURNSIDE
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Portland Office of Transportation One-hour
Pedestrian Count - 2005
Transit impact Powells Books
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NW 12th Ave
NW 11th Ave
NW 10th Ave
2005
NW DAVIS ST
783 PEDESTRIANS per HOUR
2 BUS STOPS, 2 STREETCAR STOPS
NW COUCH ST
933 PEDESTRIANS per HOUR
W BURNSIDE
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Mobility Toolbox
Prepared by Sharad Mulchand, Planning Manager,
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority
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Light Rail
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American Transit Renaissance Light Rail Systems
in the United States
Light Rail Systemsin Operation
Light Rail Systemsin Design or Construction
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Bus Rapid Transit
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American Transit Renaissance Bus Rapid Transit
Systems in the United States
Bus Rapid TransitSystems in Operation
Bus Rapid Transit Systemsin Design or
Construction
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Commuter Rail
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American Transit Renaissance Commuter Rail
Transit Systems in the United States
Commuter RailSystems in Operation
Commuter Rail Systemsin Design or Construction
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Streetcars
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American Transit Renaissance Streetcar Systems
in the United States
Streetcar Systemsin Operation
Streetcar Systemsin Planning, Design or
Construction
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Transformational infrastructure, supporting
urban livability of Success Story Cities
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The Portland Prototype
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Policy Basis

• First Class Passenger The Pedestrian
• Link Destinations For Visitors and Locals
• Support Retail and Active Uses Downtown
• Attract New Riders To The Regional System
• Serve Short TripsMake Transit Practical
• Improve Air QualityQuiet, Clean and Modern
• Encourage DevelopmentThe Place to Be

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Four significant economic effects

• Expanding the customer base and customer access
  for existing businesses
• Improving the market value of existing properties
• Catalyzing truly urban Transit-Oriented new
  developmentgreater intensity, less parking
• Expanding the area which can support this
  walkable urbanism

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Pearl DistrictBefore
And After
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Pearl DistrictBefore
And After
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Focusing, catalyzing, and intensifying
redevelopment
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• Source Portland Streetcar, Inc/ E.D. Hovee
  Company

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Portland Streetcar Results

• 2.39 billion in private investment
• 9,000 riders per day
• 7,248 new housing units
• This housing in high density reduces by 59
  million the annual vehicle miles traveled in the
  region

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The South Waterfront
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Case study Tampa
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Case study Tampa
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Case study Little Rock
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Case study Little Rock
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Case study Little Rock
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Case study Little Rock
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Case study Kenosha
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Case study Kenosha
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Case study Kenosha
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Case study Kenosha
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Case study Seattle
Streetcar Route
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Case study Sacramento
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Case study Sacramento
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Preferred Initial Alignment
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Case study Sacramento
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Case study Sacramento
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Case study Tucson
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Tucson
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Three reasons to follow their examples

• Sustainable growth capital and talent are
  mobile some places will attract them and prosper
  in the post-oil era
• Livability sustainable communities are more fun
  to live in, and are positioned to stay that way
• Transit advancement once the first few miles
  are in the ground, more follow

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Reasons for streetcar projects

• Local circulation among existing destinations
• Amenity for tourists
• Catalyst for TOD
• Transit linkage connection to regional system
• technology, funding and land use all affect the
  choice of mode, route and project type

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A fifty-year full circle
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A fifty-year full circle