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Local groups, DOT eye commuter rail service
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
The continuing rise in gas prices, which shows no signs of abating, has strengthened a determination to find alternatives to automobile usage for commuting. Coupled with growth in the tri-county area, which is fast outpacing the capacity of existing highways, that is turning eyes toward commuter rail.
It is not the first time commuter rail has caught the attention of local and state planners. The S.C. Department of Transportation has been studying and planning for commuter rail for years. In addition, the city of Charleston received a $200,000 federal grant in 2003 to study the downtown right-of-way, a necessary step in the commuter rail process.
For local proponents, commuter rail is a recurring on-again, off-again dream. Plans have ranged from a Moncks Corner-to-the Battery line to a network stretching as far as Yonges Island.
The latest study, commissioned by the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority, looks at establishing local rail service along the 22-mile corridor from Summerville to Charleston.
The study, conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates, posits using the existing Norfolk Southern tracks to add commuter rail. The route would include stops in downtown Summerville, at the Centre Pointe shopping center off International Boulevard in North Charleston and at the Visitor Center in downtown Charleston, following part of the route originally used by the first regular commercial passenger rail service in the nation, which began in 1830.
The study suggests full implementation would take at least 10 years.
Ticket price
According to the study, the commuter train would cost about $46 million, with $27 million for fixed facilities and the remainder for equipment.
That price seems low compared to price tags for other transportation projects: $644 million for the Ravenel Bridge and $420 million estimated to extend the Mark Clark from West Ashley to James Island.
The price of $46 million may, in fact, be too low. Susan Richards of SR Concepts is a marketing consultant whose niche is public transportation systems. Her experience, including several commuter services in the Northeast, makes her skeptical of the report’s estimate.
“I’m a real optimist when it comes to public transit. It’s a great idea if it’s done correctly,” Richards said. “But by the time we get around to building it, buying cars and working it out, it will probably cost a lot more than that. Commuter rail cars are expensive.”
Finding and filling the need
Information provided from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics underscores the need for passenger rail in light of increasing congestion on the highways:
• The state has 844 miles of interstate highway.
• There are 3,860,000 vehicles registered in South Carolina, including automobiles, trucks, buses and motorcycles.
• Of the 46 counties in South Carolina, 28 of them are served by an interstate.
• Highway conditions are especially vital to modern manufacturing because just-in-time inventory systems depend on the ease of truck movements.
A busier highway system is only one factor. The Dorchester County Growth Forum Report, released earlier this year by William Molnar of the Clemson Institute for Economic and Community Development, notes that “70% of the people who live in Dorchester County work somewhere else, and they do not want to ride public transit (i.e. buses). There is no practical alternative to driving. (We) need a light rail system going from Summerville to Charleston.”
Columbia is already on it. During a presentation at the SCDOT’s June 15 meeting, the department’s Executive Director Elizabeth Mabry outlined the history and projected future of transportation in South Carolina. One of the areas addressed in the presentation was highway congestion. Among the suggestions offered by Mabry was a focus on the state’s multimodal plan, which includes economic corridors, mass transit, high-speed and commuter rail and green spaces on highways.
Mabry’s proposed 10-year plan recommends the Council of Governments dedicate efforts toward projects identified in the multimodal plan as well as exploring innovative and flexible approaches to providing mass transit and developing a rail plan.
Considerations and benchmarks
Will Hutto, executive director of the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Rural Transportation Management Association, sees a need for coordination among several transportation systems to facilitate commuter rail.
“If it does come to fruition, they’ll need help shuttling people to and from the rail terminal,” Hutto said. “They’ll be serving a lot of rural areas that we serve.”
Richards agreed with Hutto’s assessment, pointing to the Federal Transit Administration’s requirements.
“You have to have a good support system for rail,” she said. “You have to have a good bus system, and you can’t rely on the park-and-ride to support it. There has to be a decent support system before the FTA will invest in it.”
Richards also noted the need for coordination with freight schedules.
“There’s only one rail line between Charleston and Summerville and there are four different service lines running on it,” she said. “There are two pull-off tracks where they could pass each other. It would have to be timed really well to add commuter rail and make it work.”
Another complication is the very issue commuter rail would attempt to solve: traffic.
“I’ve worked in the Northeast quite a bit, and I’ve seen huge traffic jams around the commuter rail stations during rush hour because people have to get from the station home,” said Richards. “If commuter rail becomes popular here and is used heavily, we’ll probably have the same issue.”
Richards pointed to a few systems worth emulating.
“It would be good to pay attention to what Charlotte is going through now,” she said. “It has a lot of opposition, and they’re working through a lot of issues. We can look to that example for ideas.”
Other systems have successfully worked through the growing pains.
“There’s a community rail system in California that’s good,” Richards said. “Another one is the urban track system in Salt Lake City. It started off with a lot of opposition, but now it’s expanding because it’s so heavily used. It’s light rail, so it doesn’t run on heavy tracks, which has to coordinate with freight.”
Whether the system uses light rail (with lighter cars that run on separate lines, often driven with electrical power) or heavy rail (with cars that share existing tracks with freight cars) depends on several factors, including specific plans, available funds and the needs of the community.
“Rail is extremely expensive, especially with right-of-way issues and laying new track,” said Jim Daniels, special assistant in the SCDOT’s Mass Transit Department. “It’s less expensive to work a deal with existing track. You can commingle freight and commuter rail if you coordinate it right.”
“I’ve seen a lot of heavy rail done,” said Richards. “The commuter rail system in the Boston area runs on heavy tracks. It’s an excellent system, with double-decker cars. The capacity is huge. At rush hour, it’s standing room only. But remember, they have a huge population, much larger than ours.”
Whether the dream of commuter rail will become a reality depends on the ability of industry, policy-makers, citizens and various other stakeholders to work out the details—a daunting task at best.
In the meantime, there is almost universal agreement that development of commuter rail will require extensive preparation and additional study.
“You can’t build it and expect people to just come. It has to be done correctly,” said Richards. “Charleston deserves a first-class public transportation system. That means not just CARTA buses but also rail and ferries. There’s so much potential.”
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