The Skyway's future is in question: What's next?
The much-maligned Skyway is in need of critical repair, presenting the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) with a new dilemma on its hands.
A. Overhaul: Spend $70.2 million to keep the existing vehicles operating for another 20 years.
B. New Vehicles: Spend $85.1 million to buy new vehicles that will last 25-40 years.
C. Decommission: Spend up to $78.5 million to demolish it and payback $38.1 million obligation.
D. Repurpose: Spend up to $67.8 million to convert to "high line" and payback $38.1 million obligation.
Lucky for us, there's nothing new under the sun. Here's a brief look at the decisions made by six North American cities, when faced with the question of what to do with their aging fixed transit systems.
1. Harbour Island People Mover - Tampa, FL
Option selected: Demolition and replacement with TECO Line Streetcar System
The Harbour Island People Mover. Photo courtesy of Railway Systems Consultants, Ltd, West Sussex, UK
The Harbour Island People Mover began operation on June 27, 1985. Privately owned but operated by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), the 2,500 feet Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) system connected Downtown Tampa and Harbour Island.
By 1989, its ridership had declined to an average of 1,200 riders each weekday. Losing money operating it, the Beneficial Corporation attempted to sell it to HART for $1 in the mid-1990s. HART declined and an agreement was worked out that allowed Beneficial to pay the city $5 million in order to shut down and dismantle the people mover.
With no people mover, the plan called for Harbour Island to be served by trolleybuses and for most of the settlement money to be put in an endowment to be used for the operating costs of the subsequently built TECO Line Streetcar system. The Harbour Island People Mover's last day of operation was January 16, 1999.
A few years later, the 2.7 mile TECO Line Streetcar System opened on October 19, 2002 at a cost of $13.7 million per mile, including eight heritage streetcars. Connecting Downtown Tampa with the Channel District and Ybor City, the streetcar has resulted in billions of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in Tampa's urban core.
2. Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Streetcar System - Toronto, ON
Option selected: New vehicles with additional capacity
A TTC CLRV in 2007.
The TTC Streetcar system is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. It's also one of the oldest continuously operated streetcar systems, dating back to 1861.
During the 1970s and 80s, the TCC acquired a fleet of Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicles (ALRV) to replace their aging President's Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars. The first PCCs were constructed by the St. Louis Car Company in 1936.
The new Flexity Outlook low-floor streetcars began to enter service on August 31, 2014. Car 4400 is seen on route 510 Spadina in September. Photo courtesy of Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada.
In 2009, with its aging fleet of CLRVs and ALRVs nearing the end of their service life, the TTC announced it would replace their streetcar vehicles with Bombardier's Flexity Outlook. A benefit of going with new vehicles was an increase in vehicle capacity. The old CLRV and ALRVs have a seated capacity of 42-46 and a crush load capacity of 132. The TTC's new vehicles seat 70 and can accommodate another 181 standing, for a total capacity of 251.
3. Metromover - Miami, FL
Option selected: New vehicles
Jacksonville's Skyway and Miami's Metromover are 2 of 3 downtown people movers operating in the United States. Metromover opened to great fanfare on April 17, 1986, utilizing C-100 automated people mover vehicles first developed by Westinghouse Transportation Systems.
In 1992, an additional 17 C-100 vehicles were acquired for Metromover operations. In 1994, it was expanded to the Omni and Brickell districts, north and south of Miami's historic downtown core. Serving a rapidly growing downtown district, after becoming free fare in 2002, ridership doubled from 4.7 million to nearly 9 million in 2005.
By the late 2000s, most C-100s, which were popular vehicles at airports, had been retired. Faced with an aging fleet, Metromover began replacing its C-100 vehicles with Bombardier Innovia APM 100 vehicles in 2008. The new vehicles offer riders a more aerodynamic design, include an onboard CCTV system, and have a capacity of 105 (22 seating, 83 standing).
Armed with supportive land use policies, today the 21-station Metromover is 4.4 miles in length with a daily ridership of 35,300 and is considered to be a catalyst for downtown development.
4. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Blue and Green Lines - Cleveland, OH
Option selected: Modification of early 20th century streetcar lines to LRT
A three-car train of 1200-type cars stops at Drexmore station in 1956 as a PCC car approaches. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexmore_(RTA_Rapid_Transit_station)
Averaging 12,400 weekday riders in 2012, the RTA's Blue and Green Lines are major components of Cleveland's rapid transit rail system.
Both lines are direct, continuously operating descendents of the Cleveland Interurban Railroad and Shaker Heights Rapid Transit.
The developers of Shaker Heights founded the Cleveland Interurban Railroad (CIRR) in 1911 to tie the suburb to Downtown Cleveland. In 1915, the CIRR developed a grade-separated rail corridor to reduce travel times for streetcar commuters.
In 1944, the City of Shaker Heights acquired the streetcar lines, operating them as Shaker Heights Rapid Transit. While the city lacked the finances to extend the system, it did invest in a fleet of PCC cars beginning in 1947. In order to gain access to federal money, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) was organized. Under the RTA, the former aging Shaker Heights streetcar lines became the Green and Blue Lines.
With access to federal money, the RTA selected to retrofit the Blue and Green streetcar lines by reconstructing the track infrastructure and replacing its PCC streetcar fleet with LRT vehicles.
5. The T - Pittsburgh, PA
Option selected: Modification of late 19th century streetcar lines to LRT (at-grade and subway)
The Pittsburgh Steeler's Terrible Trolley. Photo courtesy of https://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/PghTrolley.html
Operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, The T is a 26.2-mile subway and light rail system running between Downtown Pittsburgh and suburbs south of the city. Like Cleveland's Blue and Green Lines, its routes are vestigial from the country's early 20th century streetcar era.
Much of what makes of The T was once owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Railways Company and dates back to 1903. At its height, it was the country's third largest fleet, with 666 PCC cars and 68 streetcar routes.
In downtown, there is no fare to ride The T light rail system.
In 1964, the streetcar system was purchased by PAT, which converted most of its routes to buses. At the time, PAT planned to dismantle the entire streetcar system in favor or bus rapid transit and an AGT system called Skybus.
Community opposition resulted in PAT retaining the remaining electric streetcar system and upgrading it into modern LRT. As a part of the conversion, a 1.1-mile subway for the LRT system was constructed to eliminate the original streetcar's slow, street-running loop through downtown. In 2012, a subway extension of the LRT line was completed, connecting Downtown Pittsburgh with North Shore. North Shore is the home of several major venues, such as PNC Park, Heinz Field, the Carnegie Science Center, and the Community College of Allegheny County.
6. Newark City Subway - Newark, NJ
Option selected: Modification of early 20th century streetcar subway into LRT
Photo courtesy of https://www.hopetunnel.org/subway/newark/010823/ncs06penn2.jpg
New Jersey Transit's Newark City Subway opened in 1935. At the time, it was operated by the Public Service Coordinated Transport as its No. 7 line. In 1954, when Minneapolis' Twin City Rapid Transit (TCRT) shut down its streetcar system in favor of buses, 30 PCC streetcars were acquired from TCRT and relocated to Newark.
Photo courtesy of SYSTRA Services at https://www.systraconsulting.com/expert-services/operations-analysis/capacity-improvements.html?systra-project=nj-transit-newark-city-subway-operations-simulation-and-resignaling-project-19
When it came time to decide what to do with its aging fleet of PCC streetcars, New Jersey Transit replaced them with new light rail cars built by Japan-based Kinki Sharyo. In 2002, the Newark City Subway was extended to the suburbs of Belleville and Bloomfield, along track owned by Norfolk Southern (NS). This corridor operates at-grade and is has an operation agreement for NS to operate during all off-peak hours. Today, Newark's LRT system is 6.2-miles in length.
Back in Jacksonville
On August 28, 2015, Metro Jacksonville forum members were presented with a poll to provide their opinions on what path the JTA should take. The poll closed on September 11, 2015. The results are provided below:
A. 0% - Overhaul: Spend $70.2 million to keep the existing vehicles operating for another 20 years.
B. 71.4% - New Vehicles: Spend $85.1 million to buy new vehicles that will last 25-40 years.
C. 5.7% - Decommission: Spend up to $78.5 million to demolish it and payback $38.1 million obligation.
D. 20% - Repurpose: Spend up to $67.8 million to convert to "high line" and payback $38.1 million obligation.
So what's the lesson for Jacksonville and JTA? Use this as an opportunity to be creative and think outside of the box!
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com
A. Overhaul: Spend $70.2 million to keep the existing vehicles operating for another 20 years.
B. New Vehicles: Spend $85.1 million to buy new vehicles that will last 25-40 years.
C. Decommission: Spend up to $78.5 million to demolish it and payback $38.1 million obligation.
D. Repurpose: Spend up to $67.8 million to convert to "high line" and payback $38.1 million obligation.
Lucky for us, there's nothing new under the sun. Here's a brief look at the decisions made by six North American cities, when faced with the question of what to do with their aging fixed transit systems.
1. Harbour Island People Mover - Tampa, FL
Option selected: Demolition and replacement with TECO Line Streetcar System
The Harbour Island People Mover. Photo courtesy of Railway Systems Consultants, Ltd, West Sussex, UK
The Harbour Island People Mover began operation on June 27, 1985. Privately owned but operated by the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority (HART), the 2,500 feet Automated Guideway Transit (AGT) system connected Downtown Tampa and Harbour Island.
By 1989, its ridership had declined to an average of 1,200 riders each weekday. Losing money operating it, the Beneficial Corporation attempted to sell it to HART for $1 in the mid-1990s. HART declined and an agreement was worked out that allowed Beneficial to pay the city $5 million in order to shut down and dismantle the people mover.
With no people mover, the plan called for Harbour Island to be served by trolleybuses and for most of the settlement money to be put in an endowment to be used for the operating costs of the subsequently built TECO Line Streetcar system. The Harbour Island People Mover's last day of operation was January 16, 1999.
A few years later, the 2.7 mile TECO Line Streetcar System opened on October 19, 2002 at a cost of $13.7 million per mile, including eight heritage streetcars. Connecting Downtown Tampa with the Channel District and Ybor City, the streetcar has resulted in billions of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in Tampa's urban core.
2. Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) Streetcar System - Toronto, ON
Option selected: New vehicles with additional capacity
A TTC CLRV in 2007.
The TTC Streetcar system is the largest such system in the Americas in terms of ridership, number of cars, and track length. It's also one of the oldest continuously operated streetcar systems, dating back to 1861.
During the 1970s and 80s, the TCC acquired a fleet of Canadian Light Rail Vehicles (CLRV) and Articulated Light Rail Vehicles (ALRV) to replace their aging President's Conference Committee (PCC) streetcars. The first PCCs were constructed by the St. Louis Car Company in 1936.
The new Flexity Outlook low-floor streetcars began to enter service on August 31, 2014. Car 4400 is seen on route 510 Spadina in September. Photo courtesy of Robert Taylor from Stirling, ON, Canada.
In 2009, with its aging fleet of CLRVs and ALRVs nearing the end of their service life, the TTC announced it would replace their streetcar vehicles with Bombardier's Flexity Outlook. A benefit of going with new vehicles was an increase in vehicle capacity. The old CLRV and ALRVs have a seated capacity of 42-46 and a crush load capacity of 132. The TTC's new vehicles seat 70 and can accommodate another 181 standing, for a total capacity of 251.
3. Metromover - Miami, FL
Option selected: New vehicles
Jacksonville's Skyway and Miami's Metromover are 2 of 3 downtown people movers operating in the United States. Metromover opened to great fanfare on April 17, 1986, utilizing C-100 automated people mover vehicles first developed by Westinghouse Transportation Systems.
In 1992, an additional 17 C-100 vehicles were acquired for Metromover operations. In 1994, it was expanded to the Omni and Brickell districts, north and south of Miami's historic downtown core. Serving a rapidly growing downtown district, after becoming free fare in 2002, ridership doubled from 4.7 million to nearly 9 million in 2005.
By the late 2000s, most C-100s, which were popular vehicles at airports, had been retired. Faced with an aging fleet, Metromover began replacing its C-100 vehicles with Bombardier Innovia APM 100 vehicles in 2008. The new vehicles offer riders a more aerodynamic design, include an onboard CCTV system, and have a capacity of 105 (22 seating, 83 standing).
Armed with supportive land use policies, today the 21-station Metromover is 4.4 miles in length with a daily ridership of 35,300 and is considered to be a catalyst for downtown development.
4. Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) Blue and Green Lines - Cleveland, OH
Option selected: Modification of early 20th century streetcar lines to LRT
A three-car train of 1200-type cars stops at Drexmore station in 1956 as a PCC car approaches. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexmore_(RTA_Rapid_Transit_station)
Averaging 12,400 weekday riders in 2012, the RTA's Blue and Green Lines are major components of Cleveland's rapid transit rail system.
Both lines are direct, continuously operating descendents of the Cleveland Interurban Railroad and Shaker Heights Rapid Transit.
The developers of Shaker Heights founded the Cleveland Interurban Railroad (CIRR) in 1911 to tie the suburb to Downtown Cleveland. In 1915, the CIRR developed a grade-separated rail corridor to reduce travel times for streetcar commuters.
In 1944, the City of Shaker Heights acquired the streetcar lines, operating them as Shaker Heights Rapid Transit. While the city lacked the finances to extend the system, it did invest in a fleet of PCC cars beginning in 1947. In order to gain access to federal money, the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA) was organized. Under the RTA, the former aging Shaker Heights streetcar lines became the Green and Blue Lines.
With access to federal money, the RTA selected to retrofit the Blue and Green streetcar lines by reconstructing the track infrastructure and replacing its PCC streetcar fleet with LRT vehicles.
5. The T - Pittsburgh, PA
Option selected: Modification of late 19th century streetcar lines to LRT (at-grade and subway)
The Pittsburgh Steeler's Terrible Trolley. Photo courtesy of https://www.brooklineconnection.com/history/Facts/PghTrolley.html
Operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, The T is a 26.2-mile subway and light rail system running between Downtown Pittsburgh and suburbs south of the city. Like Cleveland's Blue and Green Lines, its routes are vestigial from the country's early 20th century streetcar era.
Much of what makes of The T was once owned and operated by the Pittsburgh Railways Company and dates back to 1903. At its height, it was the country's third largest fleet, with 666 PCC cars and 68 streetcar routes.
In downtown, there is no fare to ride The T light rail system.
In 1964, the streetcar system was purchased by PAT, which converted most of its routes to buses. At the time, PAT planned to dismantle the entire streetcar system in favor or bus rapid transit and an AGT system called Skybus.
Community opposition resulted in PAT retaining the remaining electric streetcar system and upgrading it into modern LRT. As a part of the conversion, a 1.1-mile subway for the LRT system was constructed to eliminate the original streetcar's slow, street-running loop through downtown. In 2012, a subway extension of the LRT line was completed, connecting Downtown Pittsburgh with North Shore. North Shore is the home of several major venues, such as PNC Park, Heinz Field, the Carnegie Science Center, and the Community College of Allegheny County.
6. Newark City Subway - Newark, NJ
Option selected: Modification of early 20th century streetcar subway into LRT
Photo courtesy of https://www.hopetunnel.org/subway/newark/010823/ncs06penn2.jpg
New Jersey Transit's Newark City Subway opened in 1935. At the time, it was operated by the Public Service Coordinated Transport as its No. 7 line. In 1954, when Minneapolis' Twin City Rapid Transit (TCRT) shut down its streetcar system in favor of buses, 30 PCC streetcars were acquired from TCRT and relocated to Newark.
Photo courtesy of SYSTRA Services at https://www.systraconsulting.com/expert-services/operations-analysis/capacity-improvements.html?systra-project=nj-transit-newark-city-subway-operations-simulation-and-resignaling-project-19
When it came time to decide what to do with its aging fleet of PCC streetcars, New Jersey Transit replaced them with new light rail cars built by Japan-based Kinki Sharyo. In 2002, the Newark City Subway was extended to the suburbs of Belleville and Bloomfield, along track owned by Norfolk Southern (NS). This corridor operates at-grade and is has an operation agreement for NS to operate during all off-peak hours. Today, Newark's LRT system is 6.2-miles in length.
Back in Jacksonville
On August 28, 2015, Metro Jacksonville forum members were presented with a poll to provide their opinions on what path the JTA should take. The poll closed on September 11, 2015. The results are provided below:
A. 0% - Overhaul: Spend $70.2 million to keep the existing vehicles operating for another 20 years.
B. 71.4% - New Vehicles: Spend $85.1 million to buy new vehicles that will last 25-40 years.
C. 5.7% - Decommission: Spend up to $78.5 million to demolish it and payback $38.1 million obligation.
D. 20% - Repurpose: Spend up to $67.8 million to convert to "high line" and payback $38.1 million obligation.
So what's the lesson for Jacksonville and JTA? Use this as an opportunity to be creative and think outside of the box!
Article by Ennis Davis, AICP. Contact Ennis at edavis@moderncities.com