Portland Streetcar - reconnectingamerica.org · Portland Streetcar Loop: 4,537 Projected No Streetcar Loop: 1,105 Projected Difference in households# 3,432 High Density Environment

Portland StreetcarPortland StreetcarSmall Starts Project Development PhaseSmall Starts Project Development Phase

And the And the ““Trip not takenTrip not taken””

2040 Growth Concept

• Tight urban growth boundary• Focused growth in centers • Provide high capacity connections between

centers • Streetcar as a circulator of trips, shaper of

land use and an economic development tool• Streetcar has many trips (projected 10,600

rides most of which are short)

Project Development Application

Project Development Application

• TriMet • Metro• City of Portland • Portland Streetcar Inc• URS• Leon Skiles

Initial application Dec 2006Feb 9, 2007 submittal • Land Use - Medium Rating • Economic Development - Medium Rating• Finance - Medium Rating • Cost effectiveness - pass/fail test

Incomplete, but making progress» Asserted constants

Project currently in PEConstruction Grant Agreement application – Dec 2007

Project Evaluation

Overall ProjectRating

Local Financial Commitment

Project Justification

Other Factors –economic development

Land UseCost effectiveness

Cost effectiveness rating

• Transit System User Benefit (TSUB) borrowed from New Starts

• Measures change in transit travel time benefit divided by change in annualized operating andcapital costs

• Difficult to pass with a Streetcar project due to shorter trip length = less travel time to save • This is also an issue for our New Starts

projects due to our compact region

Trip not taken

• The idea that attracting households to areas with good transit service reduces Vehicle Miles Traveled and results in user benefits.

• Hovee study of existing streetcar indicates attractiveness of households to locate near streetcar

• Eastside is expected to attract 3,500 new households that would not be there withoutstreetcar investment

20051995

Survey says…

Transportation Mode Share by Transit and Land Use Characteristics Mode Share

Land Use Type Percent Auto

Percent Walk

Percent Transit

Percent Bike

Percent Other

Vehicle Miles per Capita

Auto Ownership per

Household Good Transit/Mixed Use

58.1% 27.0% 11.5% 1.9% 1.5% 9.80 0.93

Good Transit Only 74.4% 15.2% 7.9% 1.4% 1.1% 12.38 1.50

Remainder of Multnomah County

81.5% 9.7% 3.5% 1.6% 3.7% 17.34 1.74

Remainder of Region 87.3% 6.1% 1.2% 0.8% 4.6% 21.79 1.93

Source: Metro Travel Survey

VMT Savings

Projected VMT reduced by household location due to Streetcar Loop Households

Portland Streetcar Loop: 4,537 Projected No Streetcar Loop: 1,105 Projected Difference in households# 3,432 High Density Environment Suburban EnvironmentNo. of Households 3,432 3,432Total Persons * 7,550 7,550Avg. Vehicle Miles/Day 9.8 21.79Number of Days 313 313Vehicle Miles/Year 23,159,000 51,493,000

Vehicle Miles Savings/Year 28,334,000 Units/Acre 120 12Acres Used 29 286Land Saved 257 *Based on an average regional household size of 2.2 # Based on Hovee Study

Travel Time SavedWith Streetcar - Households located in EastsideHouseholds attracted to Streetcar 3,500$ Average trips per household (from model) 7.96$ Average trip time in Streetcar area (from model) 8.94$ Total time (minutes) 249,068$

No Streetcar - Households throughout the regionHouseholds attracted to Streetcar 3,500$ Average trips per household (from model) 7.96$ Average trip time in Streetcar area (from model) 11.12$ Total time (minutes) 309,803$

difference (minutes) 60,735$ User Benefit Hours 1,012

Real benefits – not captured by TSUB

• Does not reflect that transit investments can change land use and travel patterns resulting real VMT reductions and infrastructure costs

• FTA’s travel forecasting methods require identical land use for all alternatives• Level playing field for comparison• Does not reflect auto travel benefit

FTA•Good partners with the Portland region•Recognize that they have many clients and critics•Like many agencies, varied opinions on how to disperse funds•We would like to see the Small and New Starts grow•Examination of additional measures for streetcar effectiveness

From the north end of the Lloyd District (approximately Broadway) with Rose Garden and Oregon Convention Center mid-photo and the Central Eastside District in the background.

Figure 14-1A Looking South onto the Project Area

Dave [email protected] Metro-region.org