 |
Re: Santa Cruz and Commuter Rail?
Author: Z-Train
Date: 01-15-2012 - 15:02
DCMcGill Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you thought the NWP was a fleecing of society,
> this would beat that hands down. Most Santa
> Cruzians either work in Santa Cruz County or San
> Jose. The drive to San Jose is about 30 minutes.
> The county bus already runs over the hill on
> regular intervals and is relatively cheap and
> fast. By train, it would probably be 1 1/2, maybe
> 2 hours.
>
> So unless they re-establish the line between Los
> Gatos and Santa Cruz (which will never happen as
> there is a lake in the way now and too many
> homes), it would not be cost effective or
> beneficial. But then, with that being said, it is
> almost justification for federal dollars. Oops,
> didn't want to get political here...
As a transit planner who has spent many hours on transit studies and putting together submittals required to federal funding of a transit project, I find your comments to have no relationship to reality.
For New Starts projects, the Federal Transit Administration's cost-effectiveness criteria require that a new transit project provide travel time savings benefits over existing options. If, as you indicate, bus service involves much shorter travel times, there is no way that the project would qualify for Federal Transit Administration funds.
For commuter rail to be successful, it needs to serve a central business district at which many of a region's jobs are located. This would be the case for New York, Philadelphia, Chicago or San Francisco, but I suspect this is not the case for Santa Cruz with relatively small employment base in its urban core.
In comparison with other major transit modes (bus, light rail), commuter rail is the most expensive mode in terms of cost/rider except for water-based transit such as ferries. I would guess that the relatively few people who would ride the line would result in costs per rider which are much higher than the bus service.
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you thought the NWP was a fleecing of society,
> this would beat that hands down. Most Santa
> Cruzians either work in Santa Cruz County or San
> Jose. The drive to San Jose is about 30 minutes.
> The county bus already runs over the hill on
> regular intervals and is relatively cheap and
> fast. By train, it would probably be 1 1/2, maybe
> 2 hours.
>
> So unless they re-establish the line between Los
> Gatos and Santa Cruz (which will never happen as
> there is a lake in the way now and too many
> homes), it would not be cost effective or
> beneficial. But then, with that being said, it is
> almost justification for federal dollars. Oops,
> didn't want to get political here...
As a transit planner who has spent many hours on transit studies and putting together submittals required to federal funding of a transit project, I find your comments to have no relationship to reality.
For New Starts projects, the Federal Transit Administration's cost-effectiveness criteria require that a new transit project provide travel time savings benefits over existing options. If, as you indicate, bus service involves much shorter travel times, there is no way that the project would qualify for Federal Transit Administration funds.
For commuter rail to be successful, it needs to serve a central business district at which many of a region's jobs are located. This would be the case for New York, Philadelphia, Chicago or San Francisco, but I suspect this is not the case for Santa Cruz with relatively small employment base in its urban core.
In comparison with other major transit modes (bus, light rail), commuter rail is the most expensive mode in terms of cost/rider except for water-based transit such as ferries. I would guess that the relatively few people who would ride the line would result in costs per rider which are much higher than the bus service.
