Calendar:
(See Below)
Information Items:
- Metropolitan Transit Commission Action on Southeast Corridor
- Distressed Business Corridor revitalization Strategic Plan
- Neighborhood Liaison Program Neighborhoods
- CATS Light Rail Operating Costs in Comparison to Other Cities
Attachments:
- October and November Calendars
- Business Corridor Revitalization Schedule
- Business Corridor Contacts
- Neighborhood Liaison Program Neighborhood & Apartment List
- Map of the 12 Neighborhood Statistical Areas
- City Council Follow-Up Report - 9-29-06
- Environment Committee Summary - 9-18-06
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Calendar Details:
Monday, October 2
2:00 pm - Environment Committee Meeting, Room 280 AGENDA: Floodplain Management Ordinance Information Update; "Cool Cities" Initiative
5:00 pm - City Council Policy Retreat, Room 267
Information Items:
Metropolitan Transit Commission Action on Southeast Corridor
Staff Resource: Danny Rogers, 704-432-3033 - drogers@ci.charlotte.nc.us
At the MTC meeting on Wednesday, September 27, 2006, the MTC adopted the following motion that:
1. BRT be selected as the Locally Preferred Alternative in the SE Corridor; and
2. Implementation of BRT be delayed for at least five years to allow for the future reconsideration of Light Rail (LRT) in the SE Corridor; and
3. That CATS' staff is directed to take the necessary steps in design and engineering with NCDOT on the Independence Highway Project (Independence) so that light rail could be considered in the future.
The summary of the entire meeting will be sent to City Council in next week's Council Manager memo.
Distressed Business Corridor Revitalization Strategic Plan
Staff Resource: Tom Flynn, 704-432-1396 - tflynn@ci.charlotte.nc.us
On July 24, 2006, City Council approved the process for developing a Business Corridor Revitalization Strategic Plan for the City's distressed business corridors. City staff has accomplished several milestones in this process, including: surveying peer cities and compiling information on City corridor investment to date. The City Manager has also appointed the Steering Committee for this plan. A list of committee members is attached along with a project schedule. We are also discussing with the Charlotte Chamber their interest in partnering on this project.
Neighborhood Liaison Program Neighborhoods
Staff Resource: Stephanie Small, 704-336-2929 - ssmall@ci.charlotte.nc.us
At the September workshop, City Council requested a list of the neighborhoods that will be prioritized for the Neighborhood Liaison Program. Neighborhood Development has created a list of 90 neighborhoods for the FY07 work program. Below are the criteria used to select these neighborhoods, description of our work in these neighborhoods and a summary of success measures for the Neighborhood Liaison Program.
Neighborhood Selection Criteria: The following criteria were used to select these neighborhoods:
1. Thirteen declining Neighborhood Statistical Areas (NSA) were identified based on the 2006 Quality of Life Study. One of the NSAs, Thomasboro-Hoskins, was removed from the list because it is currently one of the City's revitalization neighborhoods and is being served by a Neighborhood Action Plan Team.
2. The 12 NSAs contained 152 neighborhoods.
3. Staff collected additional information on the existing neighborhood organizations, service calls from Code Enforcement and Police for each neighborhood.
4. Ninety out of the 152 neighborhoods were given a priority ranking for attention based on available staff resources.
Description of Work: In each prioritized neighborhood, a Neighborhood Services Specialist will work closely with the neighborhood leadership and community police officers to identify issues, solve neighborhood problems and strengthen the neighborhood organization. The primary role of the Neighborhood Services Specialist is to facilitate complex problem solving initiatives and provide organization development services. Neighborhood Development is in the process of hiring the three new neighborhood specialists. However, initial contact with the selected neighborhoods is scheduled to begin in mid October.
Measures of Success: The ultimate measure of the programs success is positive changes in the NSA as represented in the bi-annual Neighborhood Quality of Life study. The Neighborhood Liaison Program's annual output measures include serving 150 neighborhoods annually (only 90 in FY07 due to staff hiring), engaging in 30 complex problem-solving initiatives, and 50% of the neighborhood organization's engaged achieving Effective Neighborhood Organization status. City Council will be provided quarterly reports of the program's achievements.
Attachments include the neighborhood and apartment complex listing and a map of the 12 NSAs.
CATS Light Rail Operating Costs in Comparison to Other Cities
Staff Resource: Ron Tober, 704-336-7245 - rtober@ci.charlotte.nc.us
At last Monday night's Council meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Burgess asked for information in response to a report by a Texas-based organization called Light Rail Now that had been prepared for local citizens in the debate over what transit technology to select for the Southeast (Independence Boulevard) Corridor. The report questioned as being too high the assumptions used by CATS staff and consultants for light rail operating costs. This item provides information in response to this request.
The analysis used by the author of the Light Rail Now report fails to recognize the basic economics of passenger train operations. The problem with the analysis they used is that the cost per car-hour metric which they used can vary considerably depending upon the train consist (number of cars per train). The following example shows how you can have the same number of trains but a wide variation of car-hours:
- 10 trains x 3-car trains x 100 train-hours of service = 3,000 car-hours
- 10 trains x 1-car trains x 100 train hours of service = 1,000 car-hours
The Denver RTD operates mostly 3-car trains in the peak periods and 2-car trains off-peak. The assumed service plan for light rail in the Southeast Corridor had CATS operating 2-car trains in the peak and 1-car trains off-peak. As such, CATS Train Operator costs were spread over fewer car-hours which tends to skew the analysis making CATS costs look high in comparison to other systems.
The largest single cost element of light rail operations is the wage and fringe benefit costs for the Train Operator which remains the same regardless of how many cars the train is made up of. As such, the accepted method of analysis is to look at cost per train-hour when comparing light rail operating costs. A study of seven other US light rail systems* found that the cost per train-hour for these systems ranged from $235 for Denver to $489 for San Jose with an average of $359. The service plans for the light rail options studied in the Southeast Corridor had an average cost of around $330 per train-hour which is below the average for the seven systems studied.
As ridership numbers increase, there are clear efficiencies to running trains versus buses. By adding cars to a train a single Operator can carry more and more people increasing productivity and overall operating efficiency. However, these potential advantages are very much dependent on the operating characteristics of the corridor and the level of ridership demand. In the Southeast Corridor, the LRT and BRT alternatives had similar running times.
The BRT alternatives did have more service in the peaks and mid-day but frequencies were the same in the evenings and on weekends. The 2-car and 1-car train consists of the Southeast LRT options met demand but did not reach the level where the inherent efficiency advantage of light rail kicked in. And finally, light rail does have higher costs associated with the right-of-way (track, overhead wire, train control) versus BRT right-of-way costs. All of these things combined to make light rail operating costs more expensive then BRT operating costs in the case of the Southeast Corridor.
* Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Denver, San Jose, Portland, Dallas and Baltimore.
