Commuter rail is viable alternative
Posted Online 3/20/01
As Twin Cities-area highways become more and more congested - today 65 percent of trips in the metro area are made under congested conditions and traffic is growing at 4 percent a year, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) - it becomes clear that alternatives are needed to building more highways. There is the Metro Transit bus service and the Hiawatha light rail system is now under construction. But, the best hope to relieve congestion along the Highway 10 corridor between Minneapolis and St. Cloud, called the fastest growing corridor in the state, lies with commuter rail.
Under the present scenario, to develop the 80-mile corridor along the existing double-line Burlington-Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks between Minneapolis to Rice, west of St. Cloud, will cost $231 million in 2004 dollars, the year that proponents hope commuter rail will be operating. That figure includes $4 million to provide a link between the commuter rail line and the Hiawatha light rail line in downtown Minneapolis. Of that amount, the federal government is being asked to pay 50 percent, the state of Minnesota 40 percent and local regional rail authorities and counties along the corridor 10 percent. The Anoka County Board has already gone on record committing to that county’s share of the cost, and has also passed a resolution offering to sell the bonds to fund the entire local share.
Gov. Jesse Ventura has proposed $115 million for the project as part of his capital spending budget for the next biennium, and the project needs that sort of commitment from the 2000 Minnesota Legislature to get funding approved at the federal level, where senior members of the state’s Congressional delegation have been active in support of the project.
While critics of the commuter rail project point to figures that suggest the commuter rail system has a more negative cost-benefit ratio that light rail, proponents will tell you that the cost per mile of the Northstar system is less expensive than light rail because it uses existing railroad tracks, less expensive than a busway system, and less expensive than constructing a new highway. And MnDOT has made it clear there is not nearly enough money available to meet highway needs now or in the future.
Indeed, according to Tim Yantos, executive director of the Northstar Corridor Development Authority, the cost-effectiveness numbers for the Northstar Corridor match up very well with rail projects that have been designated “highly recommended” or “recommended” by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).
Beyond the construction cost though there are ongoing maintenance and operating costs. The most recent projections from the Northstar Corridor system peg the annual operating and maintenance costs at $10 million after revenues from fares have been factored in. It is unrealistic to think that any transit system, whether buses or trains, can be self-sufficient. Fares would have to be so high as to preclude people from using the service. Subsidies are a given for mass transit systems, just as government dollars build and maintain the roadways. But, where the operating subsidies will come from has yet to be addressed - a sales tax and/or motor vehicle excise tax funds are two suggestions from the corridor authority.
But, the Northstar Corridor Development Authority is not focusing just on commuter rail. It has embraced a multi-modal approach, which will also include roadway improvements along the Highway 10 corridor, and a commuter bus demonstration project, scheduled to begin this fall.
A successful commuter rail system along the Highway 10 corridor would also provide an impetus for commuter rail in other areas of the Twin Cities, where traffic congestion is a problem today and is only going to get worse. A case in point is the I-35W corridor in the southern metro, where a study is under way for the Dan Patch commuter rail system on the existing freight line from Minneapolis to Northfield. The line would run parallel to County Road 5 with a trip from Burnsville to a downtown Minneapolis station projected to cover 22.6 miles in 47 minutes.
The debate is not over reducing congestion on Twin Cities highways, which is forecast to get worse, but how. New highway construction cannot be the only answer. A transit system, like the Northstar Corridor commuter rail project, offers a viable alternative, but proponents will need to educate the public that riding the rails to and from work is preferable to sitting in a traffic jam. We believe it is.
Editor’s note: This editorial was a product of the ECM Editorial Board.
