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Bus rapid transit set for debut in bay area

Sleek buses running at peak times on dedicated lanes are seen as one solution to moving commuters quickly in a congested transportation system.

By JEAN HELLER
Published December 26, 2005

	Bus Rapid Transit: Modern buses in dedicated traffic lanes. Drivers could hold traffic lights on green for up to 10 seconds to pass through intersections. Tickets would be sold at an off-bus site to speed up the boarding process, or paid with swipe cards.
	Light Rail: A system of rail cars, likely with overhead power lines. Most light rail requires construction of a new track system. The trains make frequent stops and generally serve one city and nearby suburbs.
	High-Speed Rail: Bullet trains that can run at speeds more than 300 mph between distant cities, generally with only one or two stops in each destination area.
	Commuter Rail: Heavier cars running on existing track, making less-frequent stops and serving multiple cities, multiple counties and, in places, multiple states.

It is one of the abiding memories of Rob Martin's youth in the Washington, D.C. area: riding in his mother's car as she drove from her job on Capitol Hill to their home in Rockville, Md., with traffic so backed up the 25-mile trip took two hours.

Martin makes the same trip himself now. But using the region's Metrorail commuter system, it is a 16.5-mile trip that takes 45 minutes and costs about the same as a gallon of regular unleaded gas.

So when Martin was in the Tampa Bay area recently, trying to get from north Tampa to southern Pinellas County on Interstate 275 during the evening rush, it took him back.

"I felt like I was sitting in my mother's car 30 years ago, stuck on the Beltway, listening to the guy on the radio tell everybody it was hopeless," Martin said. "You guys have got to find a better way."

Most urban planners, traffic managers and commuters here would agree.

But what exactly should be built? And how would it be paid for?

Orlando seemed to get its answer in November, when Gov. Jeb Bush announced that the area would get $574-million in state dollars to widen Interstate 4 and help build a commuter rail system. Millions more in federal funds are in the pipeline.

Some wondered when the Tampa Bay region would get its turn.

It's coming.

It's not rail, at least not yet. But some people think it's better and a necessary first step to new rail systems.

It's called "bus rapid transit."

The vehicles will be new and sleek. Some likely will be articulated, like a human joint, two cars joined by an accordian-like connection that enables them to turn corners efficiently.

They will run in dedicated bus lanes. Drivers will have computers on board that can hold a green light for up to 10 seconds to avoid nearly all stops that don't involve boarding and dropping passengers. Loading is faster because tickets are bought in advance. Or fares can be deducted from prepaid swipe cards, a sort of SunPass for people.

Perhaps most important is the frequency of service. The best BRT systems run during peak hours at "look-left frequency." When a rider appears at a stop, he looks left and can see a bus coming.

Pinellas County will get its first BRT route in three years, running from Tampa Bay through downtown St. Petersburg to the beaches. A BRT route along Ulmerton Road is scheduled for 2009 and a north-south route along McMullen-Booth Road will follow a year later.

"It really is going to happen," said Karl Nurse, a member of the board of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority. "We let the first contract for engineering and design six weeks ago. It's for real."

At this point, BRT is better for Pinellas County than any rail option, Nurse said, "because it is considerably cheaper and you can creep into it at various times as the need and opportunity arise."

Although there is no firm timetable, Hillsborough County has targeted seven corridors for BRT. The first will be Hillsborough and Florida Avenues, according to HARTline spokesman Ed Crawford.

"Our board members have been clear that they want to see bus rapid transit," Crawford said.

But not everyone is high on bus rapid transit.

Former Hillsborough Commissioner Ed Turanchik, a strong rail proponent, says buses can't solve highway congestion.

"Any bus solution uses the same roads that cars use," Turanchik said. "If you're going to get people out of their cars, you've got to give them a rail alternative."

Hillsborough County had a rail opportunity and let it slip away.

In February, the Federal Transit Administration ended HARTline's flirtation with light rail. After three straight applications for federal funding, the FTA found too many logistical problems and a serious lack of local financial support. The agency told HARTline it would not be considered again. That project is now off the table for the foreseeable future.

"It's a lack of local leadership," Turanchik said. "We keep electing public officials who either don't support rapid transit or only give it lip service."

Others call light rail "the gift that keeps on taking."

"You get federal money to help build the system, but it has high operating costs, which are largely local," said Steve Polzin, director of public transportation research at the Center for Urban Transportation Research at the University of South Florida.

Polzin, a former member of the HARTline board, would rather see the region concentrate in the short term on BRT.

"Bus rapid transit has a higher payoff sooner for the community and the commuter," Polzin said. "I don't think Tampa should be playing "keeping up with the Joneses' on rail. Each community has to look at what makes sense there, and then let it play out."

He argues that Orlando is better suited for a rail system given its much larger service sector, tourist base and more clearly defined destinations.

The state money announced by Bush last month would include commuter rail in the Orlando area, not light rail. There is a substantial difference. Commuter rail equipment is heavier, and the trains run on existing track and cover much larger areas.

The costs of commuter rail can be half the price of light rail, largely because the infrastructure and rights-of-way already exist.

Given the size of the greater Tampa Bay area, some suggest that commuter rail covering Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and perhaps Hernando, Polk and Manatee counties makes more sense than light rail serving a single metropolitan area.

"But you don't build a train and hope the buses will follow," Polzin said. "It's got to be the other way around."

Shortly after the governor announced the funding for the Orlando area, U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, said federal lawmakers were considering $11-million specifically for the commuter rail project.

Still, there is no guarantee that this plan will succeed in Orlando, either.

"What are the odds this time? I wouldn't hazard a guess," said Jim Harrison, director of growth management for Orange County. "It's going to involve a very complex set of negotiations, financing options and political decisions."

Commuter rail would run on existing freight tracks, which means diverting the freight trains around Orlando. Already at least one city, Edgewood, has announced it will oppose such a move on the grounds that diverted freight trains would add to the city's traffic congestion.

Commuter rail is an idea "that's not quite cooked yet," Harrison said.

"Is it the only solution for the region? Is it the best solution?" he said. "I don't know. But at the moment, it's the only solution on the table."

Officials at Tampa International Airport are among those hoping for public mass transit improvements regionally. They are so committed to it, they are designing it into future airport construction.

"In Washington, D.C., 20 to 22 percent of all the people coming and going from (Reagan) National Airport use the Metro," said TIA executive director Louis Miller. "If this community could find a way to develop a fully integrated transportation system, airport congestion and overcrowded parking would be things of the past."

Tampa's trolley carries people around downtown, but it does little to ease commuting congestion. HARTline officials say they need to step up.

"We don't know what the right answer is for Hillsborough or the region," Crawford said. "I'm not sure there is one right answer. Eventually, we're going to have to do it all. Right now we have to get away from where we've been since World War II, which is to build more and more roads.

"We've done that, and we're still gridlocked."

[Last modified December 26, 2005, 09:51:16]