51,000 rides in less than a month for streetcar (Atlanta, Jackson: reassessment, design)

[BajanYankee]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Here you go:



That's the rest of Phase 1. Notice that it includes the downtown section.



There's the full buildout plan.

Official 2014 Streetcar Plan

So according to your link, that's $3.65 billion for a full streetcar buildout? Of that 67 miles, how much of it will have dedicated ROW?

[jsvh]

Here is hoping they get to work on the next phase of the LRT soon, then we will start to see some real benefits. It will be great for tourists and citizens to be able to connect from Centennial to Ponce City Market and commuters from O4W, Midtown, westside to be able to ride it to their jobs downtown.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by BajanYankee

So according to your link, that's $3.65 billion for a full streetcar buildout? Of that 67 miles, how much of it will have dedicated ROW?

Yes. $3.65 billion buys most of it. The full cost break downs are in the full plan on page 34. To quote the important part, however:

The development of conceptual capital cost estimates are based on general unit costs adopted from data from similar transit projects in Tacoma and Seattle and projected costs for the Tucson Streetcar and Atlanta Streetcar. Capital costs generally include costs associated with tracks, power systems, overhead catenary wires and poles, street reconstruction, stations, utility relocation, property acquisition, vehicles, planning and engineering.

Table 4 presents the estimated capital costs in 2012
dollars, which does not include the additional costs
to construct supporting maintenance facilities.

Of the full 67 miles, at least 18-20 miles will be on dedicated right of way. Note that this is the worst-case scenario, as it assumes that only those tracks along the Beltline corridor will be separated (which they will, along side the paved trails).

That being said, we're still waiting for the Environmental Assessment for the rest of phase 1 to be returned from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). It should show up in a month or so. Once the EA is back, barring approval, funding can be fully secured and construction can begin.

It is this document that actually shows how the tracks are planned to be laid out. Your guess is as good as mine as to how much will be separated right of way, but at minimum, the Beltline sections will be.

[MattCW]

I'd like to see more of an operating plan, namely which endpoints will go to which other endpoints. Just looking at Phase 1 in that document for instance, will Streetcars operate shared from Piedmont to North Avenue, then split, then combine again at Georgia Tech? When Phase 2 is built, what will go down toward Five Points? What will go East to Inman Park?

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by MattCW

I'd like to see more of an operating plan, namely which endpoints will go to which other endpoints. Just looking at Phase 1 in that document for instance, will Streetcars operate shared from Piedmont to North Avenue, then split, then combine again at Georgia Tech? When Phase 2 is built, what will go down toward Five Points? What will go East to Inman Park?

See pages 27 through 29 of the streetcar plan for the conceptual operations of phase 1 and 2 (mostly the diagrams to help visualize it).

An operational concept was developed for the nearterm streetcar projects prioritized in Phase 1 and
Phase 2. General operating assumptions assume a high frequency service required for the core transit system. Streetcar vehicles would run every 10 minutes during peak period, every 15 minutes during midday and weekends, and every 30 minutes during evening hours. Service would ideally operate 18 hours a day, on weekdays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Streetcar operating plans and schedules would be designed to maximize ridership by:

• Minimizing transfers and offering greater
opportunities for a one-seat ride;

• Providing crosstown connectivity between
major destinations;

• Connecting to and providing service along the
Atlanta BeltLine corridor; and

• Offering seamless transfers between the
MARTA bus and commuter rail systems and
other planned high-capacity transit projects.

• Phase 1 – expands the initial Downtown Streetcar project to two streetcar lines. Each line includes a one-way loop, running together in opposite directions, to provide bi-directional service between Midtown and Downtown Atlanta with connections to Southwest Atlanta BeltLine and Northeast Atlanta BeltLine corridors.

• Phase 2 – expands Phase 1 to five streetcar lines providing service that connects Atlanta University Center (AUC), Grant Park, Southwest Atlanta BeltLine, Southeast Atlanta BeltLine and Northeast Atlanta BeltLine corridors to Midtown and Downtown Atlanta. Each corridor includes two streetcar lines operating together to provide connections to various destinations throughout the system.

[AnsleyPark]

$4 billion? I hope they have smart folks on board who'll get it right!

[cqholt]

Please take this streetcar plan with a grain of salt, since the Atlanta streetcar and BeltLine have been combined ABI is looking at the network again and things may change.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Please take this streetcar plan with a grain of salt, since the Atlanta streetcar and BeltLine have been combined ABI is looking at the network again and things may change.

The link posted is the combined Beltline / Streetcar plan. But yes, it may change. They have been holding regular planning meeting and some of the routes and priorities of lines may already be getting changed.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Please take this streetcar plan with a grain of salt, since the Atlanta streetcar and BeltLine have been combined ABI is looking at the network again and things may change.

Oh yeah, absolutely. It won't be until we see the final EAs that anything will be concrete, and even then things will likely change as the construction goes on.

[alco89]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

Of the full 67 miles, at least 18-20 miles will be on dedicated right of way. Note that this is the worst-case scenario, as it assumes that only those tracks along the Beltline corridor will be separated (which they will, along side the paved trails).

I'd like to think the portion on North Ave between Midtown MARTA Station and the BeltLine would be in its own ROW too. Since the road is so wide and underused, they could take 2 lanes away and dedicate it to the streetcar.