Orlando to Miami in three hours, starting in 2014 — the same year Florida HSR was scheduled to begin Tampa-Orlando service. FEC plans to extend service to Tampa and Jacksonville.
Since FEC is a private corporation operating their own trains on their own rails, there’s nothing that FDOT or Governor Scott can do about this.
Florida is getting high-speed rail whether the Republicans like it or not.
Seattle is clearly the hub of the Puget Sound metropolis, despite Bellevue’s recent emergence as a secondary pseudo–urban area. I’ve been giving a lot of thought as to whether the Suncoast should fully embrace its multipolarity, or try to concentrate urbanisation efforts in a handful of centres, or a single corridor. More on that soon.
This is particularly relevant on the Suncoast, where the current plan to serve Tampa International Airport involves a light–rail spur to the airport terminals, without any service pattern being particularly appealing. Perhaps we would be better served by an extension of the airport’s existing people–mover to down Westshore Boulevard, perhaps also serving International Plaza, to the light–rail line.
HART CEO David Armijo has been placed on suspension for two weeks over accusations that he wrongly demoted or fired agency employees who disagreed with his policies and procedures. Mitch Perry from Creative Loafing has the full (and somewhat melodramatic) story. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation.
Bay Area Light Rail update
Screen Two of Pinellas On Track has finally given us a first look at how cross–Bay light rail operations would work. PSTA has initially studied six scenarios, which are overviewed below. I’ll be referring to segments (a section of track that lines can travel on_), and lines (scheduled service on given segments). If this terminology is confusing or inaccurate, please contact me with a correction.
The Scenarios
Scenario A
In Scenario A, PSTA’s Blue Line would start in Downtown St Petersburg, run to the Gateway area, cross Tampa Bay over the HF Bridge, switch to the Tampa Airport spur, then reverse direction and end in Downtown Tampa. PSTA’s Green Line would do the same, but originate in Downtown Clearwater. HART’s Orange Line, as in all scenarios, would originate at Tampa Airport and travel to Downtown Tampa, later being extended with the opening of the Downtown–University segment.
This scenario provides direct travel to Tampa International Airport and Downtown Tampa from both Clearwater and St Petersburg, but involves a lot of operational complexity (switching tracks, reversing direction), excessive redundancy on the Tampa Airport–Downtown Tampa segment, and no direct service from St Petersburg to Clearwater. Direct travel to Tampa Airport from Pinellas County is a positive, though, and should continue to be considered throughout the AA process.
Scenario B
In Scenario B, PSTA’s Blue Line would start in Downtown St Petersburg and travel directly to Downtown Tampa via the Gateway area and HF Bridge. PSTA’s Green Line would travel from Clearwater to the Gateway area.
This scenario strikes a good balance of direct service and transfer requirements, though some may find the necessity of transferring twice to get from Clearwater to Tampa Airport questionable. PSTA graded this scenario highest. Possible enhancements that I think should be considered are an extension of the Blue Line to St Petersburg, and shuttle service between Tampa Airport and Westshore. Regardless of those points, this alternative is rightly ranked highest.
Scenario C
In Scenario C, PSTA’s Blue Line is the same as in scenario B PSTA’s Green Line would travel from Clearwater to Downtown Tampa via the HF Bridge, and without using the Tampa Airport Spur. An additional PSTA Purple Line would travel from St Petersburg to Clearwater.
This scenario has the same excess–redundancy problem as Scenario A, with the ‘bonus’ problem of additional strain on Orange Line trains between Tampa Airport and Westshore. This could be mitigated, however, with the addition of shuttle service between Tampa Airport and Westshore.
Scenario D
Scenario D is the same as Scenario C, minus the Purple Line. This scenario has none of the advantages of Scenario C, but all of the downsides. I don’t see much point in keeping this scenario around.
Scenario E
Scenario E would consist of a Purple Line from St Petersburg to Clearwater via the Gateway Area, a Blue Line from the Gateway Area to Tampa Airport, and a Green Line from the Gateway Area to Downtown Tampa. This scenario is the most straightforward, but would require a transfer for virtually all cross–Bay travel. This scenario probably shouldn’t be moved forward either.
Scenario F
Scenario F would consist of a Purple Line from St Petersburg to Clearwater via the Gateway Area, a Blue Line from St Petersburg to Westshore, and a Green Line from Clearwater to Westshore. This is essentially Scenario C, but with the Blue and Green Lines truncated at Westshore. A hybrid of Scenarios F and E, in which the Green Line ended at Tampa Airport and the Blue Line ended in Downtown Tampa, would warrant further consideration, but as it exists now, this scenario doesn’t make much sense.
Future Operations Screening
As mentioned above, PSTA recommended (rightly, in my opinion) Scenario B as the best alternative for future consideration. I would like to submit two modifications to existing scenarios, listed below, for further consideration by PSTA. Final decisions about operating scenarios will not be made until May or June.
Scenario G
Scenario G is a modification of Scenario C, with the Green Line ending at Tampa Airport instead of Downtown Tampa. Scenario C2 could also be considered a hybrid of Scenarios E and F, with the Purple Line from both and the maximum extent of the Blue and Green Lines in either.
Scenario H
Scenario H would extend the Green Line from the Gateway area to Downtown St Petersburg, and optionally add a Purple Line shuttle between Tampa Airport and Westshore to ensure fast connections between Pinellas County and the Airport, while also relieving pressure on the Orange Line.
Conclusions
Pinellas’ AA process is on track, if you’ll pardon the pun, for a transit referendum in 2012. Other projects that would be included are real BRT in Clearwater and St Petersburg, as feeder lines for light rail, and 15min frequent service on the Suncoast Beach Trolley Hopefully, the referendum will be held in conjunction with a retry of Moving Hillsborough Forward (with a heavier emphasis on rail transit) and a referendum for better bus service and Wesley Chapel light rail in Pasco County.
Now that is smart planning. Just don’t expect to hear about transit agencies being capable of smart planning next time expanded service is up for a vote.
Pinellas on Track is the official website for Pinellas County’s Alternatives Analysis, which will create a project plan for rapid transit in the Clearwater–Pinellas and Cross–Bay corridors. It’s important to stress “Rapid Transit”, because the recommended technology, even though it is most likely to be light rail, isn’t chosen until the last phases.
The project is still in its infancy, though the following parameters have been decided:
- The trunk line will be from Clearwater to St Petersburg via the Carillon/Gateway area.
- A Cross–Bay connection to Tampa will be provided from Carillon/Gateway will be provided via the Howard Frankland Bridge. Interoperation details are currently unclear, but it has been decided that the link will be constructed as part of FDOT’s rebuild of the HF’s eastbound span.
- We’re looking at either local or express service (see below), but not a New York–style metro or Vancouver–style automated system. Yes, that means that earlier plans for a monorail system are dead. And they belong that way.
Local vs express service
One thing that piqued my interest was that commuter rail/express bus service is still in the list of possible technologies. These are usually used for much longer corridors, like the Sarasota–Bradenton–Tampa line on TBARTA’s master plan.
My guess is that a CSX corridor–based commuter service using light, diesel–powered trains (DMUs) is being left on the table as a cheaper option than full–blown, all–day electric light rail. Express buses would then also have to be kept on the table to remain technology–agnostic, which is required by federal law.
Speculation aside, this bears watching. DMU service in other parts of the country has not lived up to its expectations. If WES had been first in Portland, it is not likely that MAX light rail would have ever been built. It would be truly tragic if moderately–ridden commuter service delayed urban transit projects here for decades.
Corridor options
The current phase of the project is focused on trunk lines between Clearwater/St Petersburg and the Gateway area. The interconnections in the cities/junction themselves are highly dependent on the trunk lines, so detailed study won’t come on those until much later on. The overall trade–off seems to be between speedy commuter service, and integrating into the urban fabric.
St Petersburg–Gateway
Main options:
- 4th Street
- I–275
- CSX Corridor/US 19 (via 28th Street)
The remarks in the screen seem to be biased against 4th Street, which is highly unfortunate, since it passes through some of the most densely–built neighbourhoods in St Petersburg. The other two alignments would provide faster service, but at the expense of long–term ridership/development potential.
Clearwater–Gateway
Main options:
- Roosevelt/East Bay Drive/West Bay Drive
- Ulmerton Road
There is no clear winner between these two options, which would both continue on Alternate 19 or the CSX Corridor to downtown Clearwater. On an interesting note, a Roosevelt/US 19/Gulf–to–Bay alignment was eliminated on the first screen. This is a fairly dense corridor, especially compared to some stretches of Ulmerton under consideration. I must admit, though, that I am somewhat biased for it by the fact that it would be much closer to my current employer in Clearwater.
Conclusion
The Pinellas AA is off to a good start, but we still need to keep a close eye on it. Community activism could very well be the difference between building a commuter–focused service and bringing real urban transportation options to Pinellas County.
As far as I can tell, WMNF News, Tampa Bay’s community radio station, was the only local news organisation to cover this meeting. Topics on the agenda included:
- FDOT’s rebuild of the Howard Frankland Bridge span to Tampa
- Transit projects, including cross–Bay light rail or BRT, as part of the bridge rebuild
- PSTA service to Tampa International Airport
- Cooperation on regional projects and integrated service
Shame on every single outlet that didn’t cover this. Analysis to come later.
The cyclist genocide continues. My condolences to his family.
Portland and Minneapolis – consistently ranked the nation’s two best cities for cyclists – offer good examples for how to improve cycling safety. The best two things to have are separated trails and cycle tracks.We already have these in limited quantities – the Pinellas Trail is a great example of both in different places – but they need to be made a top priority for regional transportation. Too many trips that could easily be made on bicycle aren’t, simply because there’s no safe place to ride.
And people keep dying. This is unacceptable.
Florida Transit Projects, Part 3: TBARTA
All this week, we’re running a series of reports on the status of important mass transit projects across the state of Florida. This morning, we continue with a look at projects on TBARTA’s master plan outside of Hillsborough County.
Pinellas County Light Rail/Rapid Buses
PSTA recently began an alternatives analysis for determining the routing of the Clearwater–Gateway–Saint Petersburg light rail line, as well as the connection to Hillsborough County via the Gateway area. A transit sales tax vote is projected for 2012. If it passes, service would begin sometime around 2018 or 2020.
BRT on Central Avenue has been put on indefinite hold due to lack of funding. If a transit sales tax is passed, the project could be operational within two years. Bringing streetcar or light rail service to Central Avenue, however, could take as long as ten years, unless the scope of the alternatives analysis mentioned above is expanded. I’m not sure how likely this is in reality.
Sarasota–Bradenton Rapid Buses
Sarasota County Transit – I refuse to use their ridiculous acronym – is conducting an alternatives analysis study for a BRT line from Sarasota–Bradenton Airport to Southgate Mall via Downtown Sarasota, with roughly half of the line on a dedicated busway. Service is expected to begin in 2013 or 2014.
Polk County
Polk County is holding a referendum to decide whether or not the Winter Haven, Lakeland, and rural bus systems should be combined into a countywide transit system. Funding would also be provided to expand bus service across the county. This is likely a necessary precursor to any future BRT, light rail, or regional rail systems in Polk County.
Other TBARTA Vision projects
TBARTA Regional Rail service – heavy trains running on existing tracks at lower frequencies – does not seem to be under serious discussion right now. The agency is instead continuing to coordinate and advance inter–county projects, such as Cross–Bay light rail, Sarasota BRT extensions to Bradenton and Venice, USF–Wesley Chapel light rail, and regional bus lines on I–75 connecting Pasco, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Sarasota Counties. Most of these projects have just begun planning, so timelines and implementation are very much undetermined.
