Thinking Outside the Car

1
Thinking Outside the Car

• Public transits role
• in a balanced transportation system
• in Northern Virginia

Christopher Zimmerman, Chairman Northern Virginia
Transportation Commission September 5, 2002
2
Overview

1. Public Transit and Ridesharing resources
2. Transit and HOV performance
3. NVTCs role in forging better connections between
   transit systems and other modes
4. How the commonwealth can help NVTC as it works
   for a better balanced transportation system

3
Public Transit and Ridesharing Resources
4
Interconnected Transit Systems
System Fleet size in Virginia
Metrorail 272
Metrobus 341
VRE 82
Fairfax Connector 175
DASH 49
CUE 12
ART 4
Loudoun Express and local 11/37
PRTC OmniRide 62
PRTC OmniLink 16
5
Excellent HOV Facilities

• I-95/I-395
• I-66
• VA 267
• Route 1 (Alexandria)

6
Transit and HOV Performance
7
Northern Virginias FY 2001 Average Weekday
Transit Ridership
System Weekday Riders
Metrorail 147,375
Metrobus 73,206
Fairfax Connector 22,537
Virginia Railway Express 10,556
Alexandria DASH 9,172
City of Fairfax CUE 3,423
PRTC OmniRide 3,234
PRTC OmniLink 1,849
Loudoun Express 730
Arlington ART 588
Loudoun County Transportation Association 450
Total 273,120
8
Transit / HOV Mode Shares (by corridor)

• Measures transit performance where investments
  have been made.
• During peak hours, transit carries one-third of
  all commuters in the I-95/I-395/Route 1 corridor
  and two-thirds in the I-66 corridor.
• In no major Northern Virginia commuting
  corridors, during peak hours, do single occupant
  vehicles have a higher share than transit and
  ridesharing.

9
Transit/HOV Time Savings

• The Texas Transportation Institute reports the
  travel time indices for the I-66/I-95/I-395 HOV
  lanes are twice as good as the indices for the
  parallel conventional lanes.
• These times savings are important because the
  average peak hour commuter in our region
  experiences 84 hours of delay a year (third worst
  in the nation) at a cost of about 1,600.

10
Northern Virginia Travel Times by Mode I-95
Corridor Dumfries to Washington, D.C. (30 miles)
VDOT reports average VRE and HOV commuter travel
times in the I-95 corridor are much better than
travel by auto in the conventional lanes.
11
Transit Fuel Savings

• Using a conservative methodology, transit uses
  only half the fuel per passenger-mile traveled,
  compared to autos.
• In the Washington metropolitan region, transit
  saves 47.8 million gallons annually.

12
Transit Air Quality Benefits

• Transit in the Washington Metropolitan region
  saves
• 3,040 metric tons of volatile organic compounds
• 31,892 metric tons of carbon monoxide
• 1,533 metric tons of oxides of nitrogen
• 520,868 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

13
Putting things into perspective

• To put these emission reductions into
  perspective, the region must reduce its NOx
  emissions in 2005 by about 1100 annual tons to
  meet the federal standards.
• Transit investments are prominently listed on the
  regions list of proposed mitigating measures.

14
Transit Investments Pay Off

• A NVTC study determined the rate of return on the
  commonwealths investments in Metrorail is over
  19 percent annually, measured in tax revenues
  from induced economic activity.

15
Other Measures

• Safety
• Transit beats autos in safety.
• Comfort
• Lifestyle benefits.
• Reliability
• Transit adheres to regular schedules and is
  generally less susceptible to massive delays due
  to traffic accidents and incidents.

16
NVTCs role in forging better connections between
transit systems and other modes
17
NVTC

• Serves six local jurisdictions, covering 1,000
  square miles with a population of 1.5 million.
• Appoints Virginias WMATA board members .
• Co-owns Virginia Railway Express (VRE).
• Obtains and allocates 100 million annually in
  transit assistance.
• Provides a policy forum for local/state elected
  officials.

18
Code Red Ozone Alert Free Bus Fares

• Region sets aside 75,000 per Code Red day for
  free bus fares.
• Part of overall strategy to meet federal clean
  air standards.
• Twelve Code Red free transit fare days so far in
  Summer, 2002 vs. five in 2001.
• NVTC manages funds, alerts public, promotes
  broader participation by transit systems.

19
Bus Fare Buydown

• 808,000 annual program reduces fares.
• Originally to compensate for lost transit revenue
  due to relaxed HOV restrictions on I-66.
• Now boosts ridership in one corridor each year
• I-66 in 2001
• I-95/Springfield Mixing Bowl in 2002
• Dulles Corridor in 2003
• Route 1 in 2004

20
Corridor Studies

• NVTC managed a cooperative consulting study,
  identifying transit/pedestrian/HOV improvements
  in the Route 1 corridor (Fairfax/Prince William
  counties). Now being used to guide the VDOT
  center-line study.
• NVTC led the evaluation of ITS technologies in
  the Dulles corridor and produced a report that is
  guiding the use of these new technologies.

21
SmarTrip Fareboxes/ Clearinghouse

• NVTC represents six transit systems on WMATAs
  executive team.
• 5 million state/federal funded project.
• Installation of 370 fareboxes expected in early
  2003.
• Negotiating memorandum of understanding for
  Clearinghouse executive management.
• Clearinghouse expected in November, 2003

22
Emergency Response

• NVTC assembled Northern Virginias transit
  operators shortly after 9/11.
• Solidified communication.
• Improved VDOTs policy on lifting HOV
  restrictions.
• Now part of ongoing regional emergency response
  planning at MWCOG.

23
NVTC Public Outreach

• Promoted transit safety and security response
  with radio ads and new web page at
  www.CommuterPage.com.
• NVTCs new web presence at www.thinkoutsidethecar
  .org provides enhanced interactivity between NVTC
  and the public. The new site highlights
• Information
• Research
• Events
• Legislative alerts

24
Virginia Railway Express (VRE)

• NVTC began working to create VRE in 1984.
• Service began in 1992.
• As co-owner, NVTC manages VREs state grants and
  audit.
• NVTCs balance sheet shows assets (including VRE)
  of a quarter billion dollars.
• VRE is renowned for its customer service
  innovations including Train Brain.

25
How the commonwealth can help NVTC as it works
for a better balanced transportation system
26
1. Recognize Funding Disparities

• State reserves most revenue resources for itself.
• State funds a much higher percentage of road vs.
  transit projects.
• State doesnt meet its own limited funding goals
  for transit.
• NVTCs local governments 126 per capita for
  transit is four times greater than any other
  Virginia transit system.
• NVTCs governments provide 72 percent of local
  funds for transit statewide, but only receive 65
  percent of state transit aid.

27
2 NVTC is Short Changed

• In FY2003, total state aid to NVTC/VRE is 68.7
  million
• 49.9 million for FTM
• 18.8 million for capital
• NVTC state aid shortfall 75.4 million
• 57.8 million FTM
• 17.6 million capital
• The commonwealth does not meet its own statutory
  targets for sharing in transit investments with
  localities.

28
3 All Transit in Virginia is shortchanged

• Total state transit aid 97 million
• 73.2 million for FTM
• 24.2 million for capital
• State shortfall 111 million
• 81.8 million for FTM
• 22.6 million for capital

29
Other ways the commonwealth can help

• Create a six-year plan, with an emphasis on
  multi-modal systems, that is meaningful with an
  open/transparent process that allows local
  governments to respond before it is locked into
  place.
• Give the region equitable treatment.
• Give transit its fair share of any new revenues.
• Promptly issue bonds approved by the General
  Assembly for transit

30
Even more ways the commonwealth can help

• Be an advocate for transit systems, their
  customers, and the local governments that must
  pay the lions share.
• Seek more transit funding in the federal TEA-21
  reauthorization process.
• Encourage better cooperation and performance from
  the freight railroads hosting VRE.
• Above all, fully fund the existing state transit
  programs.