A Tide Light Rail Train Leaves the MacArthur Square Station in Downtown Norfolk
Source: Steve Earley The Virginian-Pilot, 21 June 2011
On August 19th, Hampton Roads Transit (HRT) will open a 7.4-mile (11.9-km) light rail line through downtown Norfolk, Virginia. The line, called the Tide, will run west-east from the Eastern Virginia Medical Center at Colley and Brambleton Avenues through downtown and then along an abandoned Norfolk Southern Railroad right-of-way parallel to I-264 to the eastern terminus at the Norfolk/Virginia Beach city line at Newtown Road. The Tide will have 11 stations and semi-exclusive in-street guideway (cross-traffic allowed) with signal prioritization at most downtown intersections. It will run through the central business district and past trip generators including Norfolk State University, Tidewater Community College (Norfolk Campus), Harbor Park minor league baseball stadium, City Hall, MacArthur Center and Sentara Norfolk General Hospital. Norfolk will be the smallest city in the country, population 243,000, with a light rail line. In 2013, a transit hub will be completed at Harbor Park that will allow connections between light rail and new passenger rail service, and riders will be able to get from Norfolk to Richmond, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Northeast corridor.
Trains will run 6 am to 11 pm Monday to Thursday, until midnight Friday and Saturday, and 11am to 9pm on Sunday. The travel time will be less than a half hour one way, and headways will be 10 minutes during peak hours, and 15 to 30 minutes off-peak. Fares will be $1.50 per trip and $3.50 for a day pass.
Source: HamptonRoads.com
Average weekday ridership is projected to be 2,900 at opening and 7,200 in 2030.Free parking will be available at three stations, but the city passed an ordinance in October 2005 that will limit the availability of parking downtown; and that was a key assumption in HRT’s travel forecasts for the project. [1]
HRT purchased nine Siemens S70 vehicles, 93.6 ft by 8.7 ft (28.5 m by 2.6 m), with capacity of 160-180 passengers. The vehicles cost $3 million each and were purchased through a contract Charlotte, N.C. had for its system. The cars are wired for positive train control, but HRT decided not to use it to reduce the budget by $10 million. [2] The vehicle maintenance facility is near the Norfolk State University football stadium.
Cost Overruns and Delays
The initial start date for the line was 1 January 2010, but it was delayed because of budget and management problems at HRT. It was initially rescheduled for May 2011, but was delayed until August because of safety issues including concerns about the crossing gates and power spikes from electric wires near the light rail power lines, and delays in delivery of some safety equipment. [3]
The final project cost is $338 million, which is $106 million above the original estimate. In 2007, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) awarded a New Starts Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) of $128 million to the project, which is 55% of the original estimate. Other funding came from the 5307 Urban Area Formula Surface Transportation Program (STP), $71 million from the state, and $71 million from the city. Operating costs will be $6 to $9 million annually for the first five years for the Tide and feeder buses, and HRT authorized the issuance of bonds to cover those costs. [4]
HRT was responsible for constructing the line and is the designated agency for receiving federal funds, but the city of Norfolk provided the local funding. Three top officials at HRT, including the former President and CEO, Michael Townes, were asked to resign because of the cost overruns and incomplete reporting of them. An investigation by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) Inspector General completed in December 2010 found that HRT withheld information about the cost overruns from city, state and federal officials. In addition, the investigation found that HRT failed to seek competitive bids in 16 of 24 contracts and did not follow standard procedures for most of the contracts that were competitively bid, and that Mr. Townes may have violated procurement procedures by recommending against one firm for the Virginia Beach study and increasing contract limits without board approval. The investigation also found that there may have been embezzlement of an estimated $189,000 from bus fares as a result of poor management oversight. The report produced 31 recommendations, which the new HRT CEO, Philip Shucet, pledged to respond to within 90 days. The FTA is conducting a separate review of HRT's financial management oversight and consultant selection process over the past two years. [5]
The primary sources of the cost overruns were flaws in the early cost estimates and significant increases in the costs of utility relocations, traction power substations, safety systems, design of stations and other facilities, and real estate purchases. The delays led to further increases because material costs went up 10% to 15% from the time that the project was bid. Soft costs, professional services and administration, increased 101% from the initial budget and as a result were almost twice as much as the standard for this type of project. [6]
Another source of the cost increases was $10 million in changes to the line required by the former President of Norfolk State University (NSU), Carolyn Meyers. The university required that the station be moved across the street from the university, which cost almost $7 million; and they required changes to the design of the maintenance building on the campus, which cost about $3 million. In exchange, NSU allowed HRT to take some of its land for a park-and-ride lot and other easements. Initially, the university asked the city to purchase the president's house because the yard would be visible to passengers on the line; but they settled for $15,000 to landscape the backyard and an option for a retractable fence. These revisions delayed the project and so contributed to the other cost overruns. [7]
Shucet implemented some changes to reduce costs including consolidating the two biggest construction contracts, saving $7.5 million; ending the practice of open-ended task orders with no defined costs; implementing double work shifts downtown; and adding incentives and penalties in construction contracts. [8]
The final cost is about 46% more than the original estimate, a total of about $46 million per route mile, which is well within the range of costs for other light rail projects. Unfortunately, the prior mismanagement at HRT and the cost overruns have resulted in reduced public support for the light rail line and its potential expansion.
Stayed tuned for another post on future extensions of the line and TOD.
References
1. HRT Website, The Tide, accessed 2 June 2011, and FTA, Norfolk LRT, FFGA, Nov. 2007.
2. HRT Website, The Tide, accessed 2 June 2011, 13NEWS / WVEC.com.
3. WAVY T.V., 5 Jan. 2011.
4. FTA, Norfolk LRT, FFGA, Nov. 2007; The Virginian-Pilot, 21 June 2011 and HRT Meeting Minutes, 27 Jan. 2011.
5. The Virginian-Pilot, 14 19 and 23 Dec. 2010 and 5 April 2011; and WAVY T.V., 5 Jan. 2011.
6. The Virginian-Pilot, 10 Feb. 2010; and Memo from HRT President & CEO Philip A. Shucet to the Transportation District Commission of Hampton Roads Re: Cost to Complete, 18 Feb. 2010.
7. WVEC Television, 29 Oct. 2010; and The Virginian-Pilot, 13 Nov. 2010.
8. The Virginian-Pilot, 10 Feb. 2010.
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