Table Of ContentT R A N S P O R T A T I O N R E S E A R C H
Number E-C177 November 2013
Sustaining the Metropolis
LRT and Streetcars for Super Cities
12th International Light Rail Conference
November 11–13, 2012
Salt Lake City, Utah
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
2013 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OFFICERS
Chair: Deborah H. Butler, Executive Vice President, Planning, and CIO, Norfolk Southern
Corporation, Norfolk, Virginia
Vice Chair: Kirk T. Steudle, Director, Michigan Department of Transportation, Lansing
Division Chair for NRC Oversight: Susan Hanson, Distinguished University Professor
Emerita, School of Geography, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts
Executive Director: Robert E. Skinner, Jr., Transportation Research Board
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH BOARD
2013–2014 TECHNICAL ACTIVITIES COUNCIL
Chair: Katherine F. Turnbull, Executive Associate Director, Texas A&M Transportation
Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station
Technical Activities Director: Mark R. Norman, Transportation Research Board
Paul Carlson, Research Engineer, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Texas A&M
University, College Station, Operations and Maintenance Group Chair
Barbara A. Ivanov, Director, Freight Systems, Washington State Department of Transportation,
Olympia, Freight Systems Group Chair
Paul P. Jovanis, Professor, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Safety and Systems
Users Group Chair
Thomas J. Kazmierowski, Senior Consultant, Golder Associates, Toronto, Canada, Design and
Construction Group Chair
Mark S. Kross, Consultant, Jefferson City, Missouri, Planning and Environment Group Chair
Peter B. Mandle, Director, LeighFisher, Inc., Burlingame, California, Aviation Group Chair
Harold R. (Skip) Paul, Director, Louisiana Transportation Research Center, Louisiana
Department of Transportation and Development, Baton Rouge, State DOT Representative
Anthony D. Perl, Professor of Political Science and Urban Studies and Director, Urban Studies
Program, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Rail Group
Chair
Lucy Phillips Priddy, Research Civil Engineer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg,
Mississippi Young Members Council Chair
James S. Thiel, General Counsel, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, Legal Resources
Group Chair
Thomas H. Wakeman, Research Professor, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New
Jersey, Marine Group Chair
David C. Wilcock, Vice President, Michael Baker, Jr., Inc., Norwood, Massachusetts, Public
Transportation Group Chair
Johanna P. Zmud, Director, Transportation, Space, and Technology Program, RAND
Corporation, Arlington, Virginia, Policy and Organization Group Chair
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CIRCULAR E-C177
Sustaining the Metropolis
LRT and Streetcars for Super Cities
12th National Light Rail Conference
November 11–13, 2012
Salt Lake City, Utah
Cosponsored by
Transportation Research Board
American Public Transportation Association
Transportation Research Board
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
www.TRB.org
TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH CIRCULAR E-C177
The Transportation Research Board is a unit of the National Research Council, a private, nonprofit institution that
is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
Under a congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council provides
scientific and technical advice to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities.
The Transportation Research Board is distributing this Circular to make the information contained herein
available for use by individual practitioners in state and local transportation agencies, researchers in academic
institutions, and other members of the transportation research community. The information in this Circular was
taken directly from the submissions of the authors. This document is not a report of the National Research Council
or of the National Academy of Sciences.
Public Transportation Group
Steven Silkunas, Chair
2012 Joint Light Rail Conference Planning Committee
Richard Krisak, Chair
Gregory L. Thompson, Vice Chair
Toni Bates Stephanie Eiler Charles Joseph
Daman Blythe Thomas B. Furmaniak Jeffrey LaMora
Jeffrey Brown James H. Graebner Francis E. Loetterle
Kevin Dow T.R. Hickey Paul O’Brien
Michael B. Eidlin John Schumann
Jennifer Rosales, TRB Senior Program Officer
Jennifer L. Weeks, TRB Senior Program Officer
Mary Kissi, TRB Senior Program Associate, LRT Conference Proceedings Coordinator
Transportation Research Board
500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
www.TRB.org
Javy Awan, Production Editor; Jennifer Correro, Proofreading and Layout;
Jennifer J. Weeks, Layout; Kristin Sawyer, Proofreader
Foreword
he National Light Rail Conference: Sustaining the Metropolis: LRT and Streetcars for Super
T Cities is the 12th conference of the Transportation Research Board series on light rail that
began in Philadelphia in 1975. The American Public Transportation Association became a
cosponsor in 1995.
At the Philadelphia conference, the technical sessions focused on introducing the concept
of light rail transit (LRT) in North America. Light rail had evolved from traditional streetcar
systems in a number of northern European cities into intermediate capacity and performance rail
transit systems sized for mid-sized urban agglomerations. The purpose of the first light rail
conference was to show local decision makers in North America that the concept had great
promise for application in North American cities. The Urban Mass Transit Administration jointly
sponsored the first conference and offered financing for cities willing to implement light rail. At
that time there were only eight legacy streetcar systems left in Canada and the United States.
Now, 37 years later, the eight legacy systems have been rebuilt with many light rail
characteristics and 22 additional completely new light rail systems have joined them. Many of
the 22 new systems have steadily expanded through the years, and currently nine of the 22 new
systems are in the process of further expansion. In addition, eight cities have built short
circulator streetcar lines, mostly in downtown districts as part of urban revitalization efforts, four
additional circulator streetcar lines are under construction, and at least a dozen circulator
streetcar proposals are in the discussion stage.
The focus and related topics of the previous 11 national conferences have paralleled the
development and reintroduction of LRT in North America:
• Introduction to LRT, 1st National Conference, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1975;
• Light Rail Transit: Planning and Technology, 2nd National Conference, Boston,
Massachusetts, 1978;
• Light Rail Transit: Planning, Design, and Implementation, 3rd National Conference,
San Diego, California, 1982 (San Diego in July 1981 was the first all-bus urban agglomeration in
the United States to open European-style light rail; Edmonton in 1978 was the first in North
America);
• Light Rail Transit: System Design for Cost-Effectiveness, 4th National Conference,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1985;
• Light Rail Transit: New System Successes at Affordable Prices, 5th National
Conference, San Jose, California, 1988;
• Light Rail Transit: Planning, Design, and Operating Experience, 6th National
Conference, Calgary, Canada, 1992;
• Building on Success, Learning from Experience, 7th National Conference, Baltimore,
Maryland, 1995;
• Light Rail: Investment for the Future, 8th National Conference, Dallas, Texas, 2000;
• Light Rail: Experience, Economics, and Evolution: From Starter Lines to Growing
Systems, 9th National Conference, Portland, Oregon, 2003; and
• Light Rail Transit: A World of Applications and Opportunities, 10th National
Conference and First Joint International Light Rail Conference, St. Louis, Missouri, 2006.
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• Light Rail: Growth and Renewal, Los Angeles, California, 2009.
The technical information in the proceedings of these conferences (1–11) provides
planners, designers, decision makers, and operators with a valuable collection of experiences and
ingredients necessary for a successful transit development project.
More than 250 public transportation industry experts from across the country met at the
Salt Lake City Grand America Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City for the 12 National Light Rail
Conference, November 11–13, 2012. Sponsored by TRB and APTA and hosted by the Utah
Transit Authority, the conference focused on the positive results being experienced in
metropolitan areas that have embraced light rail and circulator streetcar and, similarly, show how
other metropolitan areas that have rejected these modes of transportation have fared.
This conference was significant in that it returned to Europe for inspiration, both through
papers and through a special plenary session highlighting the new French approach to insertion.
Apparently, the old light rail dog indeed has new tricks. The new tricks center on techniques for
inserting high-performance rail transit into the hearts of urban and suburban activity areas where
transit infrastructure previously did not exist, in such a way as to reverse the declining role of
transit while also developing transit-oriented urban forms. Just as in 1975, these exciting new
European developments appear to have applicability to North American urban agglomerations.
With 14 sessions, eight tours, and a products and services showcase, the conference
offered up-to-date information on new ways to plan, design, construct, maintain, and operate
light rail and streetcar systems.
The objective of each conference in this series is to add to the growing body of
knowledge and real-world experiences with modern LRT applications in order to continually
improve new systems being planned, as well as those already in operation. This e-circular of 31
peer-reviewed research papers exemplifies the vibrancy of the fields.
Success can be fleeting, and we need to learn from past and current experience to do the
best possible job of providing cost-effective public transportation services. The information,
data, and research contained in this proceeding are meant to serve this need.
—Richard Krisak, Chair
Chair, APTA Light Rail Technical Forum
—Gregory L. Thompson, Vice Chair
Chair, TRB Light Rail Transit Committee
REFERENCES
1. Special Report 161: Light Rail Transport. TRB, National Research Council, Washington,
D.C., 1975.
2. Special Report 182: Light Rail Transit: Planning and Technology. TRB, National Research
Council, Washington, D.C., 1978.
3. Special Report 195: Light Rail Transit: Planning, Design, and Implementation. TRB,
National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1982.
4. TRB State-of-the-Art Report 2: Light Rail Transit: System Design for Cost-Effectiveness.
TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1985.
ii
5. Special Report 221: Light Rail Transit: New System Successes at Affordable Prices. TRB,
National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1989.
6. Transportation Research Record 1361: Light Rail Transit: Planning, Design, and Operating
Experience. TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1992.
7. Conference Proceedings 8: Seventh National Conference on Light Rail Transit, Vols. 1 and
2, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1995.
8. Light Rail: Investment for the Future: Eighth National Conference on Light Rail Transit,
TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 2000.
9. Transportation Research Circular E-C058: 9th National Light Rail Transit Conference.
Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2003.
10. Transportation Research Circular E-C112: Joint International Light Rail Conference: A
World of Applications and Opportunities, Transportation Research Board of the National
Academies, Washington, D.C., 2007.
11. Transportation Research Circular E-C145: Joint International Light Rail Conference:
Growth and Renewal, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies,
Washington, D.C., 2010.
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Contents
OPENING GENERAL SESSION
Status of North American Light Rail Transit and Streetcar Systems:
Year 2012 Update. ....................................................................................................................3
John W. Schumann
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A TRANSIT SYSTEM DOES,
OR DOES NOT, BUILD LIGHT RAIL?
Streetcar Implementation Policy Analysis: A Survey and
Observations of Streetcar Institutional Structures. ............................................................21
Jonathan D. Weidman Jr., Paul Grether, and Joel D. Anders
Comparative Examination of New Start Light Rail Transit, Light Railway
and Bus Rapid Transit Services Opened from 2000. ..........................................................37
Lyndon Henry and Dave Dobbs
Eastside Extension Light Rail Transit: Mobility, Connectivity, and
Integrated Project Design in Los Angeles. ...........................................................................51
Monica Villalobos and Ray Sosa
PROOF-OF-PAYMENT FARE COLLECTION:
A NORTH AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE
Off-Board Fare Payment Using Proof-of-Payment Verification. ......................................71
Thomas F. Larwin and Yung Koprowski
Tackling Fare Evasion on Calgary Transit’s CTrain System ...........................................84
Brian Whitelaw, Stephen Hansen, and Janis Leong
Seattle Sound Transit Experiences with Proof-of-Payment Fare Collection ...................96
Kenneth Cummins, Branden Porter, Josiah Durham, and Jeremy Heinrichs
Smart Cards and Proof-of-Payment: A Marriage of Necessity. ......................................110
Edward B. Pollan
LIGHT RAIL AND STREETCARS IN URBAN AND UNIVERSITY CENTERS
Development of Sacramento’s Streetcar System Plan Using Transportation,
Land Use, and Economic Development Performance Measures. ....................................125
Robert S. Grandy, Fedolia (Sparky) Harris, and Denise Malvetti
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Light Rail Through a University Campus:
The Purple Line and the University of Maryland.............................................................139
Monica J. Meade, Henry Kay, Michael Maden, and Gregory Benz
Applying a European Urban-Style Light Rail Transit Design Approach
in North America: Recent Experience and Lessons Learned in Canada .......................151
Alan Jones
LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES AND STREETCARS: THE EVOLUTION CONTINUES
Development of Guidelines for Modern Streetcar Vehicles. ............................................171
John Smatlak
Practical Off-Wire Streetcar and Light Rail Vehicle Operation. ....................................181
John D. Swanson
The New Seattle Streetcar with Onboard Energy Storage ..............................................190
Denny Porter and Ethan Melone
TAILORING LIGHT RAIL OPERATIONS TO FIT THE
MODERN MULTIMODAL METROPOLIS
Light Rail to Airports: Lessons Learned, Key Issues, and Success Criteria. .................203
Andrew Sharp
Intermodal Connections with Light Rail in Phoenix, Arizona ........................................217
Wulf Grote, Benjamin Limmer, Deron Lozano, and Hannah Ritchie
COMMUNITY DECISION MAKING
Noise and Vibration Issues of Modern Streetcars ............................................................233
Shankar Rajaram, Shannon McKenna, and Hugh Saurenman
Baltimore Red Line Process Is a Model for Civic Engagement.......................................251
Danyell Diggs and Jonathan Howard
LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT, STREETCARS, AND TRANSIT-ORIENTED
DEVELOPMENTS
Light Railways and Busways as Key Driver for Sustainable Urban Development:
Swedish Experiences with Transit-Oriented Development..............................................259
Todor Stojanovski, Mats Johan Lundstrom, and Tigran Haas
Light Rail as the Catalyst for Ottawa’s Transit-Oriented Development:
Planning for Sustainable Growth. ......................................................................................279
Dennis Gratton, Leanne Watson, Lise Guevremont, and Hassan Eljaji
v
Understanding the Level of Integration of Light Rail Transit into
Communities in the Denver Region....................................................................................296
Wesley Marshall and Kara Luckey
TRAFFIC ENGINEERING INNOVATIONS FOR
LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT AND STREETCARS
Leveraging Subsurface Utility Engineering Data for
Utility Safety on Light Rail Transit Projects. ....................................................................313
Philip J. Meis
Traffic Engineering Innovations for the Sugarhouse Streetcar Project. ........................320
Lynn Jacobs
Modern Roundabout Makes Preferred Alignment Possible for
TRAX Light Rail in Salt Lake City. ...................................................................................334
Bill Baranowski
The Tide: The Evolution of Train Detection at Hampton Roads. ...................................343
James Price
GROWING STREETCAR LINES FROM URBAN
CIRCULATORS TO METRO LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SYSTEMS
Economies of Scale in Operating Costs for Light Rail Transit and Streetcars. .............351
Duncan Allen
RIGHT-OF-WAY TREATMENTS TO ENHANCE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT AND
STREETCAR OPERATIONS AND AESTHETICS
Enhancing Neighborhoods through Streetcar Development in Paris, France. ..............361
Mathieu Dunant and Graham Currie
Purple Line: Connecting the Nation’s Capital Transportation System .........................373
Gregory P. Benz, Henry Kay, Michael Madden, and Monica Meade
APPENDICES
A. Transportation Research Board 2012 Executive Committee .....................................389
B. American Public Transportation Association Board of Directors .............................392
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