Orphan Road

Andrew has the must-read rebuttal to Sims. Money graf:

For an example of how rail can more more people more cheaply, we need only look to Washington DC. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the operator of DC Metro, spends almost exactly the same amount of money as King Country Metro does, $560 million to $580 million. Except for that $560 million DC metro moves almost a million people a day on rail (three times what KC metro moves per day with its buses) and the WMATA agency provides buses that carry another 120,000! It’s only possible because of the investment put in place years ago, and residents there can reap the benefit of a reliable, traffic-separated transit system that’s relatively cheap.

And DC's population density is roughly the same as Seattle's, so it's not like they've achieved this amazing transit ridership simply by crushing everyone into Manhattan-style apartments.

Largest percentage increase of any rail system in America.

But, you know... it's hard to get people out of their cars.

Wouldn't you know it, with gas prices on the up, Clark County residents are driving less frequently into downtown Portland:

Traffic across the Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 bridges, which has gradually ticked upward for most of the past decade, nudged down a fraction in February and dropped 3.3 percent in March, according to preliminary figures from the Oregon Department of Transportation. No figures are out yet for April or May, but those who watch the bridges each day say drives are getting easier.

“My morning commute hasn’t really felt different, but coming home traffic has been lighter,” said Vancouver Heights resident Amanda Brown, 26, who works in downtown Portland and crosses the I-5 bridge each day.

...

More people are taking the bus as well. C-Tran gave 532,026 rides in March, up 36,500 from the same month a year earlier.

“There seems to be an increase in the number of people taking the train,” said northeast Vancouver resident Marjorie Johnson, 65, who daily drives across the I-205 bridge then takes the Max light rail to work near Portland’s Lloyd Center. “I see new faces every day. We fill the train.”

ODOT and WADOT are currently working on a replacement for the current bridge. The most controversial aspect has been whether or not to leave room for putting light rail on it. Given the current situation, light rail ought to move from "controversial" to "no-brainer."

Some very encouraging findings (.pdf) from a survey of DC-area residents on expanding Metro to Dulles Airport. 93% of Northern Virginians support it. And check out some of the details:

You can't get that kind of consensus in Seattle on the weather, let alone a transit project.

(via)

Normally, I wouldn't even waste the time responding to this piece from Michael Ennis at the right-wing Washington Policy Center, but he uses a line of spurious reasoning that, like the infamous whack-a-mole, needs to be smacked down everywhere it appears:

In Switzerland, for example, light rail is successful, not because of the amount of service or infrastructure, but because the country has certain demographic and economic characteristics that induce demand.

In other words, there is an existing market with a customer base, and Swiss policy makers responded with proportional infrastructure investments. As a result, mode share, ridership and fare box recovery are high.

Here in Washington, transit resources are distributed in just the opposite way.

Under the "build it, and they will come" theory, many policy makers think that increasing the supply of transit will somehow create more public demand. This approach is failing because Washington cities do not possess the underlying demographic or economic characteristics that create enough voluntary consumers for light rail.

Despite years of spending increases, the share of commuters using public transit in Seattle actually fell to 6.8 percent in 2000 from 7.5 percent in 1980.

Since "If you built it, they will come" is the subject of a whole series of posts here at OR, we should define what "it" really is. "It" doesn't refer to simply dropping drains into the middle of nowhere and hoping for the best. No, "it" involves a whole ethos of transit-oriented development, from land use planning to economic develoment strategies to zoning to, yes, transit.

Given a lack of transit development between 1980 and today, is it really any surprise that job centers and housing centers have spread further out? Of course not. But now that we've got the Growth Management Act in place, and the PSRC doing regional planning, we're focused on reversing that trend. And despite the protestations of dead-end highway builders like Ennis, this is going to be a good thing for the region and the planet.

PS: We've been building roads for the last 100 years, and congestion keeps getting worse. Which leads me to conclude that if we build exclusively roads for 100 more, congestion will get even worse. Why some folks don't get this baffles me.

Norfolk, VA edition:

Developers of three projects – Wachovia Center, Belmont at Freemason apartments and a Residence Inn – said the city’s starter light rail influenced their business decisions. Having modern transit within a short walking distance delivers a steady stream of potential customers and provides an alternative to driving for residents and workers, they said.

Wachovia Center is a 22-story tower and apartment building that will include office, retail and residential space on Monticello Avenue.

“The fact that there will be a light rail stop right out the front door of our project was a key part of why we selected that site,” said Thomas G. Johnson III, vice president of sales and development for Nusbaum Realty, the project developer.

I have to admit, this shocks me, and makes me very happy:

Over the past year, Metro has conducted random fare inspections on MetroRail and found that 99 percent of its patrons are paying the full fare. In other words, only 1 percent of rail riders violate Metro's fare rules.

This rather remarkable stat-istic was further validated June 27 when Metro police "blitzed" the rail line with 20 officers inspecting fares over a 20 hour period. Roughly 25,000 riders were checked. Of that number, only 282 had to be issued fines up to $200 or given a warning for failure to pay.

I know that Europe relies heavily on the honor system, but this is the first I've heard of a U.S. transit system using it so successfully. If it can work in Texas...

Oh yeah, and if you build it...

On an average weekday, the 7.5 mile Red Line carries between 40,000 and 50,000 area residents and visitors. This outstanding usage was not projected until the year 2020. For special events, like the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, single-day ridership has exceeded 64,000. These numbers add up to the indisputable fact that Houston's rail line is easy to use and has earned the distinction of being the most successful light-rail line ever built in the United States.

Phoenix, AZ edition:

Buyers also say they like being in the Central Corridor because it provides convenient access to much of the Valley, particularly now that the city is investing in light-rail."The folks that are living in cities that have light rail . . . have seen what that has done in their cities and they totally (in) believe it," said Christopher Toci, executive director of capital markets group with Cushman & Wakefield of Arizona Inc.

Mass transit is in part what drove real estate investment firm Crown West Realty LLC to buy Phoenix Corporate Tower at 3003 N. Central Ave. for $69 million last month.

Vice President Bob Olshan said his company plans to put retail space on the first floor because he thinks it would be well supported by the new light rail system.

"We think retail on this side of the street will draw from neighboring buildings as well as this building as light rail comes in and it makes it harder to cross Central," said Olshan, whose building is across the street form the Park Central office and retail center.