5/7/12

The topic of light rail in Virginia Beach has been a hot button issue since residents first voted the idea down in 1999. However, Norfolk’s recent success with The Tide has many debating once again if a light rail extension would be good for the resort city.

Light rail is on the move, but it stops before crossing into Virginia Beach. The question is, will that change?

“We’ve studied it to death and I think the success of The Tide so far should pave the way and let’s get on with it. I’d like to live to see it happen!,” said Pat Hughes of Virginia Beach.

After spending her whole life in Virginia Beach, Pat Hughes is ready for light rail in her city and so is Edna Hodges.

“I think the beach needs it. There are a lot of people my age that don’t want to drive to downtown Norfolk and don’t want to drive to Virginia Beach and have to fight for parking,” said Hodges.

Right now, The Tide ends at Newtown Road in Norfolk, but roughly 50 feet from the end of that light rail track sits old Norfolk Southern tracks owned by the city of Virginia Beach. It’s a straight 3.2 mile shot to Town Center. The tracks eventually end roughly seven miles away near the Oceanfront. It’s a benefit that will make light rail construction easier in Virginia Beach, according to Mayor Will Sessoms .

“As sorry as I am for the issues Norfolk had during their construction process, that’s going to be a benefit to Virginia Beach, because we’re going to have learned from it, but also understand that we’re going to put our rail down an old rail line. Not going through, you know, old city roads that Norfolk had to go through. So, it will make it much easier for us. We shouldn’t have the obstacles that Norfolk ran into during the construction process,” said Mayor Sessoms.

Sessoms is up for re-election this November and he’s a major supporter of light rail expansion.

“Politically it probably isn’t the best thing for me. I could sit back and say, well I’ll just wait and see what the voters say and I’ll go along with that. I believe in The Tide. I believe in our city being progressive, but yet being responsible.”

Part of that responsibility? Flat out asking Virginia Beach voters what they want in the form of a referendum question on November’s ballot.

It reads:

“Should the City Council adopt an ordinance approving the use of all reasonable efforts to support the financing and development of The Tide light rail into Virginia Beach?”

“This is not saying we’re going to bring light rail. It says do some analysis, see if it makes sense, see if the funding is available,” said Sessoms.

Sessoms says that funding comes in the form of federal, state, and local tax dollars.
That money goes to one of two options:

Expand light rail to Town Center for an estimated $254 million

Expand it to the Oceanfront for an estimated $807 million

“If the taxpayers say they want it, we’ve got to be able to say here’s what we’ve got to do to your taxes to support it and to give it to you,” said Virginia Beach Councilman Bill DeSteph .

DeSteph wants to see specific financial answers about light rail expansion before residents vote on the referendum.

“Is it going to cost us $10-million a year? Is it going to cost us $100-million a year? What’s the year-over-year operations cost, because we’ve got to raise taxes to cover that. It’s certainly not going to be covered at the fair box and I don’t think I’ve seen the official numbers out of Norfolk yet, but I believe it’s somewhere between every dollar that you put into the fair box, it’s subsidized by about $8-$12 per ticket,” said DeSteph.

Councilman DeSteph went on to say, “Once we figure out the maintenance cost, because that’s the real cost, we can finance the $250 million if that’s what it is. We can finance that over 20, 25 years. Get that to a reasonable level, but the year-over-year operations and maintenance cost, that’s something you have to pay every single solitary year.”
However, when it comes to a tax increase, Sessoms is on a different track than DeSteph.

“At this point, I don’t anticipate that at all, but, you know, we don’t have the analysis yet. We should have some of that information prior to the vote on the referendum, but understand what the referendum is saying to us. The referendum is allowing the council to get public input, do a thorough analysis as to what the ridership would be, the cost would be of The Tide, and then make a decision,” said Sessoms.

It’s a vote the mayor says is important for the future growth of Virginia Beach.

“I don’t think this is really about me or people of my age. I think this is about my children and my grandchildren, and what they’d be looking for in order to stay in this great city.”

November’s vote is happening during a presidential election. Sessoms estimates a huge turnout, possibly 200,000 voters, but is there enough support to pass the referendum?

According to a poll taken by the Wason Center for Public Policy at Christopher Newport University in November of 2011:

76% of Virginia Beach residents polled approve expanding light rail.

15% disapprove

9% are not sure

“I think as we go through this process, we’ve got several months until November, I think the citizens of Virginia Beach are smart. They will educate themselves on whether [or not] they want to move forward for this. I will make it clear, this project will cost money, but every transportation project costs money. Every transportation project requires a subsidy. Roads do not pay for themselves. Light rail will not pay for itself, but that is what happens when we deal with transportation projects,” said Sessoms.

Because The Tide in Norfolk exceeded ridership numbers, a study to extend light rail into Virginia Beach is on hold. TheFederal Transit Administration wants Hampton Roads Transit to adjust its format to include current ridership numbers.

The study determines:

Where light rail should end in Virginia Beach.

How many people will ride daily.

Where stations should be located.

How much it will cost to run light rail each year in the city.

The study is expected to restart in August with final numbers released in December of 2013.

4/27/12

Hampton Roads Transit’s board on Thursday approved the purchase of a $1.475 million machine that reconditions the wheels of light-rail vehicles.

An HRT analysis shows that by doing the work in-house as opposed to sending it out, the agency will save more than $2 million over the life of the nine light-rail vehicles.

The “truing” machine re-profiles the tread and flange of railroad wheels. Railway wheels are a softer grade of metal than the rail and over time will wear down, creating a greater risk of derailment. HRT’s current practice is to remove all 12 wheels from a vehicle and ship them to Pennsylvania every 30,000 miles.

Jim Price, chief transit officer, noted that the under-floor machine reconditions the wheels without removing them from the vehicle, saving wear on parts.

4/25/12

Residents will soon get to weigh in on whether they want The Tide to come to the Beach.

The City Council on Tuesday voted 10-1 to put a proposal about light rail on the November ballot.

The question will say: “Should the City Council adopt an ordinance approving the use of all reasonable efforts to support the financing and development of The Tide light rail into Virginia Beach?”

The referendum is advisory, which means the City Council would make the final decision. Also, officials caution that even if the proposal passes, that doesn’t guarantee light rail will come to Virginia Beach. Among other things, the line would have to qualify for federal funding.

“We may not have an issue,” Councilman John Moss said. “There may be no federal funding.”

A Hampton Roads Transit consultant has estimated it would cost $254 million to extend The Tide to Town Center and $807 million to extend it to the Oceanfront, according to preliminary figures released last year.

Light-rail supporters say November is a good time to gauge public sentiment because voter turnout is expected to be high because of the presidential election. In a 1999 referendum, Beach voters rejected light rail 56 percent to 44 percent.

Councilman Harry Diezel was the lone dissenting vote on Tuesday.

Supporters of the referendum and light rail said high gas prices, traffic congestion, the coming Amtrak line to Harbor Park in Norfolk and the growth of Town Center indicate the time is right to extend the line into Virginia Beach.

Opponents said the city should wait for a Hampton Roads Transit consultant’s study to be finished next year before holding a referendum.

4/20/12

The public’s reception of the proposed site for a bus transfer facility has been as tepid as the city’s pitch for it.

Residents and two City Council representatives were unimpressed with the idea of a bus transfer station on St. Paul’s Boulevard in the old Downtown Plaza. Likewise, the city’s planning staff only reservedly recommended what was identified as the “least worst” location considered, according to George Homewood, assistant director of planning and community development.

Those at a public hearing Thursday night left no mystery as to their preferred spot for the $5.5 million facility: Harbor Park. The city is constructing a passenger rail station at Harbor Park that will accommodate Amtrak service in December.

Councilwoman Theresa Whibley said she isn’t ready to give up on the notion of an intermodal center at Harbor Park just yet. She also has concerns about the proposed site’s proximity to homes and its traffic congestion, particularly during rush hour.

“You want to do it right the first time,” said Whibley, who was at the hearing.

Councilwoman Angelia Williams, who was not at the hearing, said she believes the St. Paul’s property is too valuable to use for the bus facility. Like Whibley, she is concerned about the effect the facility, with its noise and smog, would have for nearby residents.

“That is a prime piece of property for our downtown area,” Williams said Thursday afternoon. “Once something is built, it’s built. There’s not a do-over.”

But try as he might, Planning Director Frank Duke says he has been unable to make the project work at Harbor Park. The challenges are many: Parking is limited, requiring that the city also build a parking deck; it’s not an easy walk to downtown and the traffic flow often is disrupted by trains.

“You want to destroy a bus system, you put it in a place where you can’t maintain a schedule,” Duke said, referring specifically to bus delays due to passing trains.

Duke said he prefers the proposed site, which is where a vacant ABC Store sits, because of the easy access it allows for buses. At most, there would be about 50 buses coming in and out of the facility per hour. It is also within walking distance of a light rail station.

The bus transfer facility currently is located at Cedar Grove, which is next to a cemetery and sits atop fly ash buried beneath the surface. Riders wait in a parking lot for the bus. Duke described the conditions of the facility as “miserable,” adding that the city must show respect to riders in order to get respect in return.

The new station will be an attempt to do that, but it’s also an attempt to increase the appeal of public transportation to a broader audience. The city started using Cedar Grove in 2008 as a temporary solution, and city officials are anxious to move ahead with a plan this year or next.

4/17/12

The Tide surpassed 1 million riders this week — about five months ahead of original projections.

To mark the occasion, Hampton Roads Transit held a brief commemoration Tuesday at the MacArthur Square light rail station where the one-millionth passenger embarked on Sunday.

The Tide, which was completed in late August, was originally expected to carry an average of 2,900 daily passengers. However, ridership has consistently soared over that figure since opening. Currently, the light-rail system is averaging about 4,900 riders each weekday.

New HRT CEO William E. Harrell said the “major milestone” comes amid “a new era at the transit agency” where transparency, efficiency “and a greater focus than ever on accountability” are on the agenda.

“One million riders on a system many people said wouldn’t have enough riders to be built,” Thelma Drake, executive director of Virginia’s Department of Rail and Public Transportation, told the crowd. “We are giving people choices and maximizing the infrastructure we already have.”

Harrell gave a tip of the hat to former HRT CEO Philip Shucet’s “herculean efforts” to get construction of Virginia’s first light rail line completed and to “loyal customers” and taxpayers. Harrell also noted the Tide is “one of the safest light-rail startups in the United States.”

“The Tide has clearly proven people can ride safely to school, work and to shop,” Harrell said.

During his turn to speak, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said the $318 million cost of the 7.4-mile starter line “keeps coming down. We hope it will be $315 to $314 million by the time we close it out.”

“It’s the least expensive per mile cost of any startup in recent history,” Fraim said. “We got great value for the investment.” He called The Tide a “resounding success” that has proven to be a viable transportation alternative.

In addition, Fraim said operations costs are estimated to be about 11 percent less than expected. He said the Newtown Road station (at the Virginia Beach line) is the busiest each morning and MacArthur Square (in downtown Norfolk) sees the highest afternoon volume.

“People are choosing to leave their cars and ride the Tide to work,” Fraim said.

HRT data posted online for December, January and February shows fare revenues exceeded the 8.8 percent of total operating costs budgeted in two of those months.

•December passenger revenues comprised 16.3 percent of $695,000 in operating costs.

•January fare revenues dipped to come in at 7.7 percent of $1.2 million spent on operations.

•February figures show revenues covered 15.7 percent of the month’s nearly $878,000 price tag.

Remaining funding is derived from local (Norfolk), state and federal assistance, according to the data.

“We’re doing as well as other properties as far as the fare box,” said Ray Amoruso, HRT’s chief planning and development officer, during a brief interview. “There have been no major accidents, no unexpected maintenance. We’re very happy with what’s going on.”

Amoruso described HRT’s light rail system as a “tight ship.”

After the event, Harrell said HRT is currently developing better performance measures. “Our goal is to run as efficiently as possible so people feel comfortable with expansion.”

The light rail system has averaged about 4,900 passengers daily.

The public is invited to join HRT and city officials for a brief commemoration at 12:30 p.m. today at the MacArthur Square station.

The Tide opened in August.

VIRGINIA BEACH

It looks likely residents will be voting in November on whether to extend The Tide light-rail line into the city.

A few tweaks in the language of a referendum proposed earlier this month appeared to satisfy a majority of City Council members this week.

The new question under consideration says: “Should the City Council adopt an ordinance approving the use of all reasonable efforts to support the financing and development of The Tide light rail into Virginia Beach?”

The language change reflected a desire among the council to make sure voters knew they were being asked not just whether they favor light rail, but whether they also favor helping pay for it.

“This one is very direct and pointed,” said Councilman Glenn Davis, who pushed for the change.

The former question said, “Should the City Council adopt an ordinance approving the expansion of The Tide light rail system into the City of Virginia Beach?”

The City Council is scheduled to vote on the referendum on April 24. If it passes, it will be on the Nov. 6 ballot. It would be an advisory referendum, which means the City Council will still make the final decision.

Officials have cautioned that even if a referendum passes, that doesn’t guarantee it will happen in Virginia Beach. Among other things, the line would need to qualify for federal funding.

Light-rail supporters say November is a good time to have the vote because turnout will be higher in a presidential election year. They also want to take advantage of $30 million for preliminary engineering programmed in the Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization’s budget. Ray Amoruso, Hampton Roads Transit’s chief planning and development officer, told the City Council on Tuesday that money could be moved to another project in 2014 if it’s not used for light rail in Virginia Beach.

An HRT consultant has estimated it would cost $254 million to extend the line only to Town Center or $807 million to extend it to the Oceanfront, according to preliminary figures released last year.

The language now more closely resembles the 1999 light-rail referendum defeated by voters 56 percent to 44 percent.

Councilman Bob Dyer was the only one to argue strongly against holding the referendum in November.

“There are just too many unknowns right now,” he said.

An HRT study is due to be completed next year.

4/9/12

Why are boosters of light rail on the City Council eager to have a referendum in November? There will be a big turnout, they say, and that’s good for democracy.

It also could attract just the kind of voters they want.

Pollsters say support to extend Norfolk’s light-rail line into Virginia Beach is high among those more likely to vote in November because of the presidential election: Democrats, independents, young people and black voters.

“You wouldn’t want to have this question on the ballot with a bunch of Republican state senators and delegates on the ballot unopposed,” said Brian Kirwin, a political consultant in Virginia Beach, describing essentially what happened last November, when several Republicans ran unopposed.

He added, “Every statistic in the polling I’ve done shows the broadest turnout favors a ‘yes’ vote on light rail.”

Quentin Kidd, a political scientist at Christopher Newport University, agreed.

“If I supported light rail, I’d want it on the ballot because it seems the support is high right now,” he said.

President Barack Obama won in 2008 with high turnout from Democrats, young people and African Americans. If those groups vote in force again, it could be good news for light-rail advocates, even though Obama narrowly lost to Sen. John McCain in Virginia Beach.

Kidd and Kirwin have conducted polls on light rail in Virginia Beach and say its support is either 59 or 76 percent, depending on the poll. They were taken at different times and asked different questions.

On Tuesday, the City Council is scheduled to discuss whether to schedule the referendum in November although a vote on the idea isn’t likely until later this month, said Councilman John Uhrin, who sponsored a resolution that calls for the referendum this year.

As written now, the resolution asks, “Should the City Council adopt an ordinance approving the expansion of The Tide light rail system into the City of Virginia Beach?”

Some council members would prefer that the phrasing of the question include the estimated cost – $807 million to extend the line to the Oceanfront and $254 million to extend it to Town Center. Others want to delay a referendum until next year’s completion of a Hampton Roads Transit study on light rail in Virginia Beach. The referendum would be advisory only; the council would make any final decision.

In a referendum held in 1999, Beach voters rejected light rail by 56 to 44 percent.

The big question in Kidd’s poll, conducted in November, asked, “Would you approve or disapprove of expanding light rail to add new lines…?”

Democrats showed the most enthusiasm for approval, independents were split almost evenly and Republicans were more likely to disapprove, the poll showed. People under 55 were more likely to approve extending light rail than those over 55, with those between 18 and 24 the most enthusiastic. Black voters were much more likely to approve light rail than white voters, the poll showed.

Responses to the question “Do you generally view light rail as important to the region’s transportation future or not important…” broke down along similar demographic lines.

Kirwin did his poll in March 2010, when The Tide was mired in cost overruns and issues about the leadership at Hampton Roads Transit.

He asked, “Do you favor or oppose a plan to extend light rail from Norfolk into Virginia Beach?”

While 39 percent “strongly” supported light rail and 28 percent “strongly” opposed, he was most interested in what those in the middle had to say. Twenty percent “somewhat” favored light rail and 9 percent “somewhat” opposed it. He called those people the “ambivalents” and said they are likely to vote in 2012.

“If you have a broad turnout, the ambivalent people also show, and… have 2-1 margin of support for light rail,” he said.

Councilman Uhrin said he’s aware polls show light rail appears to be popular now.

“If polling shows the general public is supportive, you’re probably more likely to have those results replicated in a referendum.”

NORFOLK

A pilot bus service to Norfolk International Airport will end next week.

Hampton Roads Transit started the route in February, but ridership was weak, a news release from HRT said.

The minimum goal was 10 to 12 passengers per hour of service. The average number of passengers per hour on the airport route was about four.

The last trip will be at 11 p.m. April 14 from the Norfolk airport.

Route 7 runs from the arrivals and departures terminals via Norview Avenue and Tidewater Drive with stops in downtown Norfolk and the Cedar Grove transfer facility. Each trip costs $1.50, and it runs hourly from 5 a.m. to 11:47 p.m.

WVEC.com

NORFOLK — The new CEO and President of Hampton Roads Transit is sharing his thoughts on the future of transportation.