Comparison of Passenger Rail and Multi-Modal Transportation Corridor in Santa Cruz County.

1.
Passenger Rail vs. Transportation Corridor without Rail
The recently published Passenger Rail Feasibility Study Draft Report considers the viability of passenger rail for
Santa Cruz County. This is an important regional project that merits close scrutiny to ensure the publicly-owned
transportation corridor right-of-way is being put to its highest and best use to serve the community. Here is an
alternative vision of using the corridor as a multi-modal transportation corridor without rail.
ATTRIBUTE PASSENGER RAIL1
TRANSPORTATION
CORRIDOR
WITHOUT RAIL
GOAL 12
: Provide a convenient, competitive
and accessible travel option
Rail ridership max forecast/Ride Your Bike To Work 5,500 per day3
7,000 per day4
Probable ridership/probable bicyclist trips 2,700 per day5
3,500 per day6
“Last mile” (e.g. stations too far from home, business)
7
+20-30 minutes8
No issue
Ticket cost $5.00 roundtrip Free
Probable timeframe to complete ~20 years9
~8 years10
GOAL 2: Enhance communities and the
environment, support economic vitality
Ease traffic congestion: projected number of cars
removed from Highway 111
TBD TBD
Diesel locomotives12
, 60 trains p/day13
: train horns at
40 grade crossings14
and increased freight usage15
Increased noise, pollution,
traffic
None
2,400 grade crossings p/day (60 trains x 40 grade
crossings)
Yes No
Parking accommodations Not budgeted, will impact
costs, local neighborhoods
Limited
Public safety: High costs to implement adequate
safety measures along the railway
Yes No
Impact to residential property values along railway Detrimental Improved16
Eco-tourism, enhanced economic development Few examples Many examples17
Recreational asset / healthy lifestyle Limited Excellent
Takes advantage of new technologies Limited18
Robust19
GOAL 3: Develop a rail system that is cost
effective and financially feasible
Capital Costs $176M20
$68M21
Annual Operating & Maintenance (30 yrs) $420M22
($14M per year) $10M23
($320K per year)
Unbudgeted costs24
$ Tens of Millions Minimal
Funding risks25
Many Limited
Santa Cruz has the money to build it No26
Yes27

2.
1
Sources:
Statistics
and
costs
(including
both
capital
and
O&M
costs)
in
this
column
include
Passenger
Rail
according
to
Scenario
G1
in
Passenger
Rail
Feasibility
Study
(PRFS),
May
2015
2
Goals
stated
here
are
from
the
PRFS
3
See
Scenario
G
and
G1
in
PRFS
p.98
4
Source:
“State
of
Cycling”
Santa
Cruz
County
2015
data
of
7,000
participants
in
last
3
years
Bike
to
Work/School
Days
5
Based
on
analysis
of
comparable
rail
project
–
San
Diego
County’s
SPRINTER
–
actual
ridership
is
7,800
vs.
initial
feasibility
forecasted
ridership
of
16,000;
Sources:
http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/articlefiles/North_County_SPRINTER.pdf
and
http://www.gonctd.com/wp-­‐content/uploads/2013/08/012313-­‐SPRINTERFactSheet.pdf.
It
is
also
worth
noting
that
North
San
Diego
County
has
almost
4x
the
population
of
Santa
Cruz
County
(U.S.
Census
Bureau).
6
Data
from
other
cities
shows
that
when
a
safe
alternative
for
bikes
is
provided,
usage
spikes.
In
Minneapolis,
MN
bicyclists
increased
81%
on
protected
bike
lanes.
Source
http://www.planetizen.com/node/73269.
Bicycling
is
a
popular
workstyle
in
Santa
Cruz
which
as
the
2nd
highest
rate
of
bike-­‐to-­‐work
trips
in
the
state;
RTC
2014
bike
ridership
count
for
Santa
Cruz
County
was
2,503
(one-­‐time
annual
count).
7
Most
mass
transit
fails
due
to
what
urban
planners
call
the
first-­‐
and
last-­‐mile
problem.
You'd
like
to
commute
on
public
transit,
but
it's
unlikely
that
you
live
or
work
close
enough
to
a
station
to
walk.
So
even
if
public
transit
is
available,
commuters
often
stay
in
their
cars
because
the
alternative-­‐the
hassle
of
driving,
then
riding,
then
getting
to
your
final
destination-­‐is
inconvenient,
or
too
time
consuming.
Source:
http://magazine.good.is/articles/convenience-­‐is-­‐
king
8
http://media.metro.net/projects_studies/sustainability/images/path_design_guidelines_draft
_november_2013.pdf
9
Proposition
116
funds
used
to
buy
the
current
rail
ROW
were
granted
in
1990.
22
years
later
(2012)
the
rail
ROW
was
purchased
from
Union
Pacific
and
now
3
years
later
(2015)
we
have
the
first
Passenger
Rail
Feasibility
Study.
With
very
little
of
the
$176M
capital
cost
needed
to
build
the
passenger
rail
budgeted
or
readily
available,
many
years
of
design
and
engineering
work
ahead,
plus
environmental
review,
many
regulatory
issues
(PUC,
STB,
Coastal
Commission,
etc.),
potential
lawsuits,
24
bridges
in
need
of
repair,
and
an
RTC
with
no
experience
building
or
operating
a
passenger
rail
service,
one
quickly
gets
to
the
20
year
estimate
noted
here.
As
an
example,
San
Diego
did
their
Feasibility
Study
for
the
SPRINTER
passenger
rail
project
in
1990
and
the
first
train
ran
in
2008.
10
Since
the
Monterey
Bay
Sanctuary
Scenic
Trail
Master
Plan
was
published
in
November
2013
–
less
than
2
years
ago
–
already
approximately
8
miles
or
25%
of
the
trail
is
funded
with
construction
moving
forward
on
several
segments.
11
It
is
incumbent
on
the
Santa
Cruz
County
RTC
to
survey
actual
commuters
on
Hwy
1
to
understand
who
they
are
and
what
their
needs
are,
and
whether
passenger
rail
or
bike
would

3.
be
viable
alternatives
for
them
(e.g.
contractors,
landscapers,
and
others
who
depend
on
their
truck
to
carry
equipment
are
not
likely
to
take
the
train
or
bike).
12
See
pg.
26
and
pg.
94
of
PRFS
13
See
pg.
98
of
PRFS
14
Under
the
Train
Horn
Rule
(49
CFR
Part
222),
locomotive
engineers
must
begin
to
sound
train
horns
at
least
15
seconds,
and
no
more
than
20
seconds,
in
advance
of
all
40
public
grade
crossings
(p.79
of
PRFS).
Source:
https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0104
15
Statement
by
Iowa
Pacific,
the
current
rail
operator,
that
they
are
“actively
looking
for
new
freight
customers”.
Source:
6/4/15
RTC
meeting
16
Source:
Analysis
of
Economic
and
Social
Impact
of
Trail
Development,
Johnson
City,
TN
Rail
Trail
Report,
Chapter
6:
“Dedicated
multi-­‐use
trails
provide
communities
with
a
valuable
amenity
that
translates
into
increased
housing
values.
According
to
the
National
Association
of
Homebuilders,
trails
are
consistently
ranked
one
of
the
most
important
community
amenities
by
prospective
homebuyers,
above
golf
courses,
parks,
security,
and
others.”
See
www.nahb.com.
Another
study
of
over
90,000
U.S.
home
sales
found
that
improved
walking
conditions
correlated
with
higher
housing
prices
in
13
of
the
15
housing
markets
studied,
controlling
for
other
factors
that
influence
housing
value.
The
results
showed
that
houses
in
walkable
neighborhoods
have
property
values
$4,000
to
$34,000
higher
than
houses
in
areas
with
average
walkability.
Source:
Cortright,
J.
(2009).
Walking
the
Walk:
How
walkability
raises
housing
values
in
U.S.
cities.
17
Source:
www.railstotrails.org,
“From
Trail
Towns
to
Trail-­‐Oriented
Development
(TrOD):
Trails
and
Economic
Development”
18
The
train
is
essentially
19th
century
technology
dressed
up
with
more
modern
(but
still
noisy
and
polluting)
diesel
engines.
There
are
40
grade
crossings
which
will
need
to
accommodate
60
trains
per
day
(see
p.ix
of
PRFS),
which
will
further
stall
already
badly
clogged
auxiliary
roads.
19
A
multi-­‐modal
transportation
corridor
can
take
advantage
of
new
and
emerging
technologies:
electric
bicycles,
new
battery
technologies,
solar
powered
bike
paths,
electric
powered
jitneys,
etc.
These
technologies
in
combination
with
new
emerging
transportation
technologies
(digitized
smart
buses,
electronic
carpooling,
transportation
services
like
Uber
and
Lyft,
and
even
electric
and
clean
gas
driverless
cars
where
passengers
can
spend
time
on
non-­‐
driving
activities)
could
optimize
Highway
1
and
auxiliary
roads
and
reduce
traffic
congestion.
See
http://cleantechnica.com/2015/05/29/dutch-­‐solar-­‐bike-­‐path-­‐pleases-­‐many/
20
Scenario
G1
capital
&
construction
costs
$176M
(see
p.
x
of
PRFS).
It
should
be
noted
that
rail
transit
projects
typically
cost
about
40
to
50
percent
more
than
projected,
with
some
projects
costing
double
the
original
projections
and
very
few
costing
less
than
20
percent
more
than
the
projections.
Source:
Dept
of
Transportation
reports
summarized
on
http://ti.org/antiplanner/?p=10036
21
Source:
Monterey
Bay
Sanctuary
Scenic
Trail
(MBSST)
according
to
the
MBSST
Network
Master
Plan,
February
2014;
estimates
are
based
on
total
costs
minus
rail
infrastructure
not
needed
for
a
trail
only
implementation.
22
Source:
p.x
of
PRFS
for
Scenario
G1

4.
23
Source:
p.
7-­‐16
of
MBSST
Master
Plan
“The
estimated
annual
cost
for
maintenance
of
the
MBSST
Network
as
described
in
Table
7.1
will
be
approximately
$6,000-­‐$10,000
per
mile
per
year.”
Max:
$320,000
per
year
24
Costs
for
auto
parking
infrastructure,
to
acquire
adjacent
properties/easements
along
railway
to
allow
for
width
accommodation
in
narrow
areas,
and
to
implement
“Quiet
Zones”
are
not
included
in
the
Study
or
the
above
costs.
Nor
is
inflation.
25
Sources
of
funding
for
capital
and
O&M
costs
are
tenuous,
may
be
unreliable
(e.g.
state
and
federal
grants).
See
p.xi
of
PRFS.
Rail
project
implementation
predicated
on
successful
passage
of
1/2
cent
County-­‐wide
sales
tax
measure
in
November
2016.
However,
of
approximately
$15M
-­‐
$17M
per
year
to
be
generated
IF
the
1/2
cent
sales
tax
measure
is
passed,
current
projections
show
$86M
over
30
years
being
available
for
rail
subsidies,
which
is
approximately
$3M
per
year,
well
short
of
the
needed
subsidy
of
$12M
per
year
(which
is
the
$14M
annual
O&M
cost
minus
15%
in
revenues,
aka
“farebox
recovery
rate”
expected
from
ticket
sales).
For
more
on
farebox
recovery
rates
see
pgs
111-­‐112
of
PRFS.
26
Most
capital
costs
are
projected
to
be
sourced
from
federal
and
state
grants.
Only
25%
of
the
annual
Operating
and
Maintenance
costs
(at
best)
are
funded,
and
that
is
ONLY
IF
the
1/2
cent
sales
tax
is
passed
in
2016.
If
more
of
those
funds
are
used
to
subsidize
rail,
it
will
crowd
out
funds
expected
to
be
available
for
road
maintenance,
pedestrian
improvements,
buses,
bike
paths,
senior
transportation
and
other
public
transportation
priorities.
27
Approximately
8
miles
of
the
32
mile
trail
already
have
funds
available
or
committed,
and
are
on
a
timeline
to
be
built
in
the
next
2
-­‐
3
years.
There
are
also
public,
non-­‐profit
and
private
donors
that
have
indicated
interest
in
the
project.
The
amount
to
be
raised
is
manageable
given
the
funding
already
sourced
and
the
indications
of
interest
from
multiple
parties
and
sectors.
28
When
combining
the
current
estimated
capital
costs
with
the
30
years
of
operation
and
maintenance
costs,
this
is
the
percentage
that
a
transportation
corridor
without
rail
would
cost
vs.
implementing
passenger
rail.