Light rail in the United States: Difference between revisions

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'Light rail' is a term used in the United States to distinguish from 'Heavy Rail' systems that share track with freight trains. Light rail is also distinct from 'Metro' (subway/elevated) systems, which are fully grade separated. Arguably, streetcars (Tram/Trolley) are a sub-set of light rail, but the two are considered distinct in the U.S. Light rail transit systems in the United States

The use of light rail in the United States is low compared to some European countries, but higher than some other nations, such as Canada and Australia. According to the American Public Transportation Authority, of the 20-odd light rail systems in the United States, five of them (Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Portland, OR), achieve more than 25 million passenger boardings per year.

Compared with that of Canada, the United States federal government offers considerably more funding for transportation projects of all types, resulting in smaller portions of light rail construction cost to be borne at the local and state levels.^{[citation needed]} This funding is provided by the Federal Transit Administration though as of 2004^[update] the rules to determine which projects will be funded are biased against the simpler streetcar systems (partly because the vehicles tend to be somewhat slower).^{[original research?]} Some cities in the U.S. (e.g. San Pedro, California) have set about building the less expensive streetcar lines themselves or with only minimal federal support.

Baltimore

The Baltimore Light Rail is a single line reaching from BWI Airport south of Baltimore, through the city and north to a strip mall and office park. With 30 miles (48 km) of track, the line achieves a daily ridership of 24,500.

Major efforts toward the creation of the light rail were championed by then mayor William Donald Schaefer, who wanted a transit link to the new baseball park, Camden Yards, about to be built downtown. In order to have the line completed the month that the Baltimore Orioles started playing in Camden Yards, the system was built entirely without federal money, a rarity in late 20th century U.S. transit projects. Federal funds would later be used to double track the whole system, decreasing headways which had been restricted to 17 minutes.

The light rail line was built entirely at grade, even through downtown's narrow streets. Though the majority of the track's length is grade-separated from acquiring disused railroad rights-of-way, trains run in the streets in some sections downtown. When the system was built, this resulted in vehicles having to wait in traffic lights, though in 2007 a signal preemption system was installed.

The Maryland Transit Administration has drawn up plans for an additional four lines which may be light rail, bus rapid transit, or heavy rail to create a comprehensive city system. As of 2007, only the future of one line is certain. The Red Line, which is in its intermediate planning stages, would be an East-West link via either bus rapid transit or light rail. Whichever mode is selected, officials have insisted that the line be underground through the city center because of Baltimore's narrow streets and dense traffic.

Boston

The oldest and busiest light rail system in the United States is the MBTA Green Line in Boston. With 235,300 daily ridership on its 25.4 miles (40.9 km) of track, the Green Line is a primary transportation route within downtown, and is patronized by students and workers from close-in suburbs like Brighton and Allston.

The subsurface portion of the line was opened in 1897 to alleviate congestion for street level trolley cars, with numerous lines from the north and south converging via several portals to Park Street Station. By 1964, the transformation to today's system was nearly complete with the elimination of streetcars entering at Lechmere and Boylston; lines into the four remaining portals would be designated B, C, D, and E (the A line to Watertown being abandoned in the late 1960s). Three of today's four lines, although having their own separate path in the medians of their respective roads, still have segments without grade-separated rights-of-way, and consequently wait at traffic lights. The D line, which runs on a former Boston and Albany Railroad right-of-way, is the lone exception.

In 2004, the MBTA removed of the Causeway Street Elevated portion of the line, and replaced it with an underground tunnel, as a part of Big Dig environmental remediation, leaving the Lechmere Viaduct as the only remaining elevated part of the line. Other work includes many station overhauls that will improve handicapped accessibility.

Buffalo

Buffalo's light rail line of only 6.6 miles (10.6 km) was to be a starter line in a much larger system. However with the declining population of the area, no expansions were sought. The small line still averages over 20,000 daily riders.

Charlotte

Charlotte's LYNX system consists of a single 9.6-mile (15.4 km) line called the Blue Line. After receiving a positive Record of Decision from the Federal Transit Administration on May 19, 2003, continued preparation and land acquisition would finally result in its groundbreaking in spring 2005. The line is in full operation, at a projected final cost of $462.7 million. This price tag does not include indirect or ancillary costs such as rerouting water and sewer lines to accommodate the line, estimated at an additional $72 million as of April 2006.

The Blue Line's construction is part of a greater comprehensive transit network for the Charlotte metropolitan region. An additional 70.6 miles (113.6 km) of track are planned, though some of these could be constructed as Bus Rapid Transit or streetcar lines.

Cleveland

The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority's Blue and Green Lines are descendents of the former Cleveland Interurban Railroad and Shaker Heights Rapid Transit trolley systems.

Dallas

Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is the operator of the 45-mile (72 km) light rail system that runs in Dallas and three of its suburbs, along with a 34-mile (55 km) commuter rail line that connects to Fort Worth and runs through Irving, a DART member city. The LRT lines began with the opening of the 20-mile (32 km) starter system in 1996. In the first few years after the turn of the century, DART opened several small expansions, culminating in the opening of Victory Station, serving the American Airlines Center in 2004.

DART currently runs two LRT lines. The Red Line begins in southwest Dallas at Westmoreland Station and runs northeast to downtown, then runs north through the suburbs of Richardson and Plano to its terminus at Parker Road Station. The Blue line begins in South Dallas at Ledbetter Station and runs north, joining the Red Line at 8th and Corinth Station on its trek to downtown. It continues north to Mockingbird Station before it breaks away from the Red Line and turns northeast toward Garland, ending its run at Downtown Garland Station.

The system is currently under expansion, as the Green Line is under construction and will run from Pleasant Grove in southeast Dallas to the suburbs Farmers Branch and Carrollton. It is set to open in two phases, first in September 2009, then in December 2010. Other expansions include the Orange Line, to run from downtown, the Las Colinas in Irving and on to DFW Airport. Also, the Blue Line is set to expand east to Rowlett and south to Interstate 20. When the latest expansion round is completed, DART's system will have 93 miles (150 km) of LRT.

Denver

Honolulu

The City and County of Honolulu is currently building a 20-mile rail line to connect Leeward Oahu with downtown Honolulu. A city charter amendment directly related to the rail project was passed with a majority of votes in favor at the 2008 general election.

Houston

The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County, Texas (METRO), opened its METRORail service on January 1, 2004 to very large crowds. The system currently consists of a single double track line of 7.5 miles (12.1 km). The system serves 45,000 passengers daily. Like many other light rail systems in America, METRORail runs in city streets and does not have its own right of way for most of its route. Two-car trains are the maximum on the line due to Downtown Houston's city block size.

Los Angeles

Memorial Park Station in Pasadena on the Gold Line.

The Los Angeles County Metro Rail light rail system comprises Four lines: the Green, Gold, Blue, and the Expo lines. Collectively they have 200,000 daily weekday boardings. The Blue line, in particular is the second-busiest line in the United States with 72,295 boardings. The Blue and Gold Lines run mostly at grade, with some street-running, elevated, and underground stretches in more densely populated areas. The Green Line is entirely grade separated, running in the median of I-105 and then turning southward along an elevated route. The Blue Line opened first, in 1990. The Green Line began service in 1995, the Gold Line entered service in 2003 and Expo Line began service in 2012.. The Metro currently has two extensions under construction for the Gold Line and the Expo Line and a new Crenshaw Line expected to open in 2015 connecting the lines to a LAX People Mover by the Airport.

Minneapolis

The Twin Cities have one completed LRT Line, the Hiawatha Line. This line runs from downtown Minneapolis, next to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, near the University of Minnesota campus, to the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, then to the Mall of America. This line opened in 2004. One line is currently under construction: the Central Corridor, which will run from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul along University Avenue. One line is in planning: the Southwest Corridor, which will run from Eden Prairie to downtown Minneapolis.

The Northstar Line, a commuter rail route connecting downtown Minneapolis to the far northwestern suburbs, connects with the Hiawatha line at Target Field.

New Jersey

In New Jersey, New Jersey Transit provides light rail service along three lines in different parts of the state.

Jersey City

In Jersey City, New Jersey, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) services the eastern and southern parts of the city and other areas of the Gold Coast to North Bergen, New Jersey, extending south to Bayonne on one branch. Liberty Historic Railway is trying to jump start the connection to the NJ Transit light rail line to the Central Railroad of New Jersey Jersey City Terminal.^[1]

Newark

Like San Francisco, Newark never fully abandoned its old streetcar system, due to the fact that part of it had a dedicated, underground right-of-way in an old canal bed. Beginning in the 1940s, a system that once extended far into Newark's suburbs was pared down to just the underground route, "Streetcar #7" which was rebilled the Newark City Subway. After decades of cutbacks, the line was finally expanded northward to Belleville in the early 2000s. A second branch running through downtown to Newark–Broad St. station was opened in the mid-2000s, and the system was rebranded again as Newark Light Rail.

Trenton to Camden via Burlington City

The River Line is a diesel light rail line in southern New Jersey, running along, except at its ends, what was previously the Bordentown Secondary, from Trenton to Camden, serving communities along the Delaware River between thee cities. This line is one of only two diesel light rail lines in North America, and the only one in the United States.

Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia began light rail service on August 19, 2011. The system is called The Tide. A proposal to extend the line into Virginia Beach is under consideration.

Philadelphia

Philadelphia has a light rail system operated by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which also operates other transit modes. The Norristown High-Speed Line (NHSL) is officially considered light rail, and serves 69th Street Terminal in Upper Darby just outside of Philadelphia to the Norristown Transportation Center, located in Norristown, a far-off suburb of Philadelphia. Other systems consist of the Media-Sharon Hill Lines (MSH), which also begins at 69th Street Terminal, and the SEPTA Subway-Surface Trolley Lines which run between Philadelphia Center City and the nearby western suburbs. The NHSL, and MSH lines were once owned by the Philadelphia and Western Railroad and Philadelphia Suburban Transportation Company. The Subway-Surface Trolley Lines share stations with SEPTA's Market-Frankford Line between 30th Street and 13th Street.

Phoenix

Phoenix is served by the METRO Light Rail system with a 20-mile starter segment connecting Phoenix with the cities of Tempe, and Mesa. A part of the Valley Metro public transit system, the initial segment of the system was completed in December 2008, after construction began in March 2005.

Commuter rail service had been absent in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area since the decommissioning of the Phoenix Street Railway in 1948. In 1989, the ValTrans elevated rail proposal,^[2] was turned down by voters in a referendum due to cost and feasibility concerns. Other subsequent initiatives during the 1990s failed over similar reasons.

METRO was created by the Transit 2000 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which involved a 0.4 percent sales tax and was approved by voters in Phoenix in 2000. Transit 2000 aimed at improving the local bus service and the formation of bus rapid transit and light rail, among other things, which was seen as a more affordable approach. It used the route placing and color designations from the 1989 plan.

Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh light rail lines are vestigial from the city's streetcar days which lasted well into the 1960s. In the 1960s and 1970s, Pittsburgh began replacing most of its remaining streetcar lines with buses, though streetcar lines that used the Mount Washington Transit Tunnel remained. In the late 1970s, it was decided to transition the remaining streetcar lines to light rail, and the new light rail iteration of Pittsburgh's system debuted on April 15, 1984. Thus, along with San Francisco, Philadelphia and Cleveland, Pittsburgh is one of the few American cities continuing to operate streetcars/light rail in an uninterrupted evolution from the streetcar era of the early 20th Century.

Pittsburgh's light rail network, commonly known as The T, is a 25-mile (40 km) light rail system in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; it functions as a subway in downtown Pittsburgh and largely as an at-grade light rail service in the suburbs. The system is owned and operated by the Port Authority of Allegheny County (PAT). It is the successor system to the far more extensive streetcar network formerly operated by Pittsburgh Railways.

The current lines, which run south from the downtown into the South Hills area, were formerly operated by PCC streetcars. Beginning in the 1980s PAT reconstructed the lines along the existing right-of-way and ordered new Siemens trams. PCCs continued to operate in tandem with the new light rail vehicles until 1999, when the last five were retired from service. PAT also constructed a new subway line in the downtown, ending decades of street-running in the Golden Triangle. Current expansion plans include an extension from the downtown subway under the Allegheny River to connect with PNC Park and Heinz Field; the North Shore Connector is slated to open by 2011.

Portland, Oregon

The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) system serves the Portland metropolitan area. It has 52.4 miles (84.3 km) between four lines—the Blue, Red, Yellow and Green—and serves about 130,000 daily.^[3] Like most modern light rail systems, MAX runs in reserved lanes along city streets on some sections, but has a completely separate right-of-way on other sections. The only mixed-traffic street running on the system is along the Portland Transit Mall, in downtown, and light rail trains only share lanes with buses there, not any private vehicles. The length of MAX trains is limited to two cars by the relatively small 200-foot (61 m) blocks in downtown Portland.

The MAX system was born out of funds left over from the canceled Mount Hood Freeway, with the Gresham/eastside line (now part of the Blue Line) opening in 1986. The Hillsboro/westside line (now also part of the Blue Line) opened in 1998, more than doubling the system's size, followed in 2001 by the Red Line connection to Portland International Airport and in 2004 by the Yellow Line, which connects downtown to the Portland Expo Center via Interstate Avenue. Route colors were adopted in 2000.^[4] The Green Line is a 6.5-mile (10.5 km) extension that opened in September 2009 and connects a new transit center at Clackamas Town Center to the Gateway Transit Center, from where it follows previously existing MAX lines to downtown. Another major addition in 2009 was a new, second alignment through downtown, along the transit mall; it is used by both the Yellow and Green lines. Construction has begun on the planned Orange Line from the Green Line's downtown terminus at Portland State University to the southeast suburb of Milwaukie and will include a the new Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge across the Willamette River.

Sacramento

RT operates a 37.42-mile (60.22 km) light rail system, with two lines the Blue and Gold, 45 stations, and 76 vehicles (Siemens AG Duewag U2A vehicles and more modern CAF Light Rail Vehicles (LRV)).^[5] There are 76 vehicles in the entire fleet. Lines on the system operate from 4:30 am to 1:00 am daily, with service every 15 minutes in the day and every 30 minutes at night. The light rail system, with 49,800 daily riders, is the tenth busiest in the United States.

Salt Lake City

The Utah Transit Authority (UTA) runs the 35.5-mile (57.1 km) light rail system known as TRAX in the Salt Lake Valley. The system, which opened in 1999, serves approximately 60,600 people every day and contains 69 vehicles.^[6] The system has three lines, coded by the colors blue, red, and green. The Blue Line begins in Draper and runs north to end in Downtown Salt Lake City at the Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub. The Red Line begins at the Daybreak Community in South Jordan, Utah and runs northeast to end at the University of Utah Medical Center. The Green Line begins in West Valley City, Utah and runs northeast to pass through Downtown Salt Lake City before heading west to end a the Salt Lake City International Airport. All three lines have several common stations in south central Salt Lake City.

San Diego

The San Diego Trolley currently comprises three lines, the Blue, Orange and Green, collectively running on 51.1 miles (82.2 km) of track and achieving a ridership of 107,000. During the time that the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (MTDB) was drawing up options for a transit system, Hurricane Kathleen made landfall, damaging many of the tracks operated by the freight carrier, San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway, and cutting them off from the greater Southern Pacific Railroad, and South Pacific petitioned for abandonment. The auspicious timing of the incident led the MTDB to buy and repair the tracks, opening a 13.5-mile (21.7 km) light rail segment on 1981, while also reestablishing freight service on the same line (the Blue Line runs on shared-use track). The system has been expanded incrementally ever since. There are currently plans for an 11-mile (18 km) extension to the University City community, connecting the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) campus and University Towne Centre shopping center to the rest of the system.

San Francisco

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) light rail lines are vestigial from its streetcar days, and it is one of few American cities to continuously operate light rail from the streetcar era. As a result, the present-day system has above ground portions running in mixed traffic, stopping at traffic lights as streetcars, while buried sections have their own right-of-way like a subway. Though in other United States cities in 1950s, the trend was to replace streetcars with bus service, five heavily used lines traveled through tunnels or otherwise had private right-of-ways, making bus replacement not viable. About this time, plans for a subway, the Muni Metro, were drawn up, opening in 1980. Similar to Boston's Green Line, five separate lines above ground converge to one subway route, though in the former, the underground line was constructed first and surface routes later.

In response to the dot com boom, the system became strained and Muni ordered newer, larger vehicles, which turned out to have their own noise and braking problems. In 1998, a four station extension of the trunk line was built, and in 2007 light rail service began on a new line going south from downtown, achieving limited success. Plans are underway for a three station underground light rail line, expected to serve 78,000 daily riders by 2030. Due to underground routing, the cost for the 1.7-mile (2.7 km) line is estimated at $1.5 billion.

San Jose

San Jose's light rail network, owned and maintained by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, consists of 42.2 miles (67.9 km) of track across three different lines.

The Alum Rock – Santa Teresa line serves the eastern, northern, downtown, and southern areas of San Jose. The Mountain View – Winchester line operates between Mountain View and the Winchester neighborhood of San Jose. Both of these lines share the same tracks and stations on First Street between Tasman Drive in northern San Jose and the San Jose Convention Center in downtown. A third line, the Ohlone-Chynoweth – Almaden line, is a three-stop spur that connects the Almaden Valley area to the Alum Rock – Santa Teresa Line.

St. Louis

St. Louis light rail consists of two lines (red and blue) running through the city center with 73.3 kilometers (45.5 mi) of track. There are terminals across the Mississippi River in Southern Illinois (Metro East), at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, and in the southwestern part of the metro area. The first part of the system opened in 1993. The second line of the system, the "I-44/Shrewsbury" Line entered service in 2006. All track is in independent right of way at grade, elevated or in subway tunnels. In the downtown area, the system uses abandoned railway tunnels built in the 19th century, which have an ancient appearance with rough-hewn rock walls. Since it opened expansion has continued, if slowly. Ridership, at more than 16 million yearly, has always exceeded expectations. There are two current lines in the system called the Red Line and Blue Line.

Seattle–Tacoma

The Seattle–Tacoma Metropolitan area Sound Transit light rail system consists of two lines. The first is Tacoma Link and the second is Central Link and covers approximately 16 miles from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to downtown Seattle. New lines to the north, south, and east were approved by voters in November 2008.

External links

A movie of Armour's electric trolley, circa 1897 from Library of Congress
Table of Light Rail Transit Agencies in the United States
Commuter Rail, Light Rail & Rail Transit News
Light Rail Central photos & news
American Public Transit Association
Federal Transit Administration (U.S.)
Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the U.S. National Research Council

References

^ http://www.lhry.org/
^ Arizona Rail Passenger Association » Phx. Transit Elections
^ "June 2012 Monthly Performance Report" (PDF). TriMet. p. 1. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
^ Stewart, Bill (September 21, 2000). "Local colors roll out: Tri-Met designates the Blue, Red and Yellow lines". The Oregonian.
^ "Sacramento Regional Transit Light Rail FACT SHEET" (pdf). Retrieved 2007-01-23.
^ Utah Transit Authority – About UTA^{[dead link]}

[1] ttp://www.lhry.org/

[2] Arizona Rail Passenger Association » Phx. Transit Elections

[MPR-June2012-3] "June 2012 Monthly Performance Report" (PDF). TriMet. p. 1. Retrieved September 4, 2012.

[4] Stewart, Bill (September 21, 2000). "Local colors roll out: Tri-Met designates the Blue, Red and Yellow lines". The Oregonian.

[5] "Sacramento Regional Transit Light Rail FACT SHEET" (pdf). Retrieved 2007-01-23.

[SLC-6] Utah Transit Authority – About UTA^{[dead link]}

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@@ Line 131: / Line 131: @@
 ==Salt Lake City==
-{{main|UTA TRAX}}
+{{main|TRAX (light rail}}
-The [[Utah Transit Authority]] (UTA) runs the {{convert|35.5|mi|km|adj=on}} light rail system known as [[UTA TRAX|TRAX]] in the [[Salt Lake Valley]]. The system, which opened in 1999, serves approximately 58,300 people every day and contains 69 vehicles.<ref name="SLC">[http://www.utabus.com/aboutUTA/ Utah Transit Authority&nbsp;– About UTA]</ref> The system has three lines, coded by the colors red, green, and blue. The red line begins at the [[Daybreak Community]] in [[South Jordan, Utah]] and ends at the [[University of Utah]]. The blue line begins in [[Sandy, Utah|Sandy]] and ends in [[Downtown Salt Lake City|Downtown]] at the [[Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub]]. The green line extends from the blue line in [[South Salt Lake, Utah]] and ends in [[West Valley City, Utah]] at the [[Maverik Center]]. UTA is currently extending the blue line from Sandy to [[Draper, Utah]] as well as a new line that takes passengers from [[Salt Lake City International Airport]] into downtown. Those lines are expected to be completed by late 2012.
+The [[Utah Transit Authority]] (UTA) runs the {{convert|35.5|mi|km|adj=on}} light rail system known as [[TRAX (light rail)|TRAX]] in the [[Salt Lake Valley]]. The system, which opened in 1999, serves approximately 60,600 people every day and contains 69 vehicles.<ref name="SLC">[http://www.utabus.com/aboutUTA/ Utah Transit Authority&nbsp;– About UTA]{{deadlink|August 2013}}</ref> The system has three lines, coded by the colors blue, red, and green. The [[Blue Line (TRAX)|Blue Line]] begins in [[Draper, Utah|Draper]] and runs north to end in [[Downtown Salt Lake City]] at the [[Salt Lake City Intermodal Hub]]. The [[Red Line (TRAX)|Red Line]] begins at the [[Daybreak Community]] in [[South Jordan, Utah]] and runs northeast to end at the [[University of Utah Hospital|University of Utah Medical Center]]. The [[Green Line (TRAX)|Green Line]] begins in [[West Valley City, Utah]] and runs northeast to pass through Downtown Salt Lake City before heading west to end a the [[Salt Lake City International Airport]].  All three lines have several common stations in south central Salt Lake City.
 ==San Diego==

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