| Star-Telegram - Ft. Worth Sun
Mass transit on right track with trolleys By O.K. Carter Star-Telegram Staff Writer Back a few months, when Arlington voters first blackjacked then kicked a mass-transit proposal to death, the election autopsy -- uh, analysis -- was brutal: Voters found the package unimaginative and didn't want to pay the tab. About the only part of mass transit that Arlington's residents fantasized about was rail, and rail is pricey. Still, there's this: If rail is what people want, give them rail or at least a bit of rail action to see how they like it. While we're at it, make it funky rail -- old-fashion trolley cars loaded with new technology. One need only journey cross-country to Portland, Ore., to eyeball such a phenomenon. There, a 5-mile trolley route loops through Portland State University, downtown and a hospital complex. The rails sport modular European-made trams, with each 66-foot car carrying up to 100 passengers. There's no figuring out bus or train schedules. The trams just show up every few minutes, the delays of frequent stops being compensated because traffic lights automatically turn green as they approach. Ho hum, you say? Consider this: The relatively short streetcar system in Portland has triggered $1.5 billion in new construction along its line, boosting property taxes in the area 40 percent. It has been a bonanza of retail, commercial and residential redevelopment. There's evidently something about the permanence of rail as opposed to a bus line that invites investment. The implication of economic development fueled by mass transit is that something like a tax-increment district could be used as a partial funding mechanism. TIDs use increased tax revenues resulting from economic development to pay for amenities like mass transit. Putting mass transit in limited areas would also allow another bit of funding gadgetry to be installed -- the special assessment district. Right about here is where most mass-transit advocates begin moaning about Arlington not having enough population density - people per square mile - to support mass transit. But Portland's density is 3,030 persons per square mile, while Arlington is at 3,454, with future built-out density calculated to be near 4,000. By contrast, the mass- transit-soaked San Francisco area is currently at 3,210 people per square mile. Conclusion: Arlington is dense enough, and it has an even more attractive bit of potential streetcar route than Portland. Cooper Street from Interstate 20 to Interstate 30 is 5.5 miles. It goes through a major university and downtown, as well as a hospital district, as well as the city's prime shopping area. Construction of trolley systems -- really a version of light rail -- avoids a lot of costly and time-consuming construction hassles. Streetcar rails are placed in the right lane of traffic on 8-foot cross-sections. Since an excavation of only about a foot is required, costly disruption of utilities is avoided. In Portland, each block took about three weeks construction time. Construction cost runs about $1 million a mile -- cheap as rail goes -- though the complete system in Portland with trams cost a bit over $50 million. It was all locally funded to avoid state and federal red tape. It has been so successful that Portland is looking to expand the system with six more miles of line, using mostly tax increment and special assessment district funding -- no sales or property taxes. People who don't benefit don't pay. Fair enough. Interesting, yes? And certainly worthy of investigation
by a city like Arlington. Clearly, it's going to take
something both innovative and affordable to generate interest
in mass transit. Why not a trolley? |
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