From U.S. News:
President Obama is calling for $8 billion to go towards high-speed rail, as part of a six-year, $53-billion plan. The administration is hoping that the program will create jobs and boost American competitiveness in the long run. But on a smaller scale, an effective public transportation system can simply increase the quality of life in a city. By transporting people to work, school, local attractions, and healthcare facilities, public transit can reach into nearly every area of city life, from public health to tourism. Statistics show that public transit has experienced rapid growth, providing economic benefits to individuals and municipalities alike.
[See a slide show of the 10 Best Cities for Public Transportation.]
Public transit systems have become a part of daily life in many U.S. cities; the number of public transportation systems in the United States has increased more than sevenfold in the last 30 years, from 1,044 in 1980 to 7,700 in 2009. According to the American Public Transportation Association, a nonpartisan organization that advocates for public transit improvement, that increase in transit has spurred an increase in economic activity. The association estimates that for every one dollar invested in public transportation, four dollars are generated in economic returns. APTA also reported in January that in major urban areas, individuals on average save $9,656 annually by using public transportation instead of driving.
Analysis of data from the Federal Transit Administration and APTA shows which cities are among the best in the country for public transportation. All of these cities’ systems have unique features that set them apart. Portland’s public transit provides riders with a variety of travel options, including buses, light rail, commuter rail, streetcars, and an aerial tram. New York is unique simply by virtue of high ridership: in 2008, 4.2 billion trips were taken on New York metro area subway lines, buses, and railroads, six times the number of trips taken in Los Angeles, the No. 2 city. Minneapolis and Portland both feature fare-free transit routes in their downtown areas. And the Salt Lake City area’s Utah Transit Authority runs ski transit lines in the winter, in addition to its usual rail and bus services, and also features wireless Internet on its buses.
Additionally, many of the top cities for public transportation are improving their already high-quality systems. The FTA in January approved a 20-mile elevated electric passenger rail system to connect Honolulu with its suburban areas. Minneapolis and Austin have also both opened commuter rail systems in the last two years. Commuter rail systems generally serve to connect outlying communities and suburbs with central cities downtown areas, as opposed to light rail systems, which tend to operate more locally and with more frequent stops.
[See a slide show of the 10 Best Cities to Find a Job.]
According to a U.S. News analysis, the 10 U.S. cities with the best combination of public transportation investment, ridership, and safety are:
1. Portland, OR
3. New York
4. Boston
7. Los Angeles
8. Honolulu
9 (tie). Denver
9 (tie). Austin
Other major cities that came close to making the cut were the Washington, D.C., metro area and Seattle, Washington, both at No. 11, and Chicago, Illinois, at No. 13. Though all three of these systems had relatively high ridership and public investment, they all also experienced far more safety incidents–such as collisions, derailments, and fires–per million trips than the cities in the top 10.
The rankings take into account per capita spending on public transportation, number of safety incidents per million trips, and the number of trips taken per capita. The cities that made the top 10 list excelled in different ways. The greater Minneapolis-St. Paul and Salt Lake City areas, for example, had the best safety records of the top 10 cities. These high marks helped them rank well overall, despite their comparatively lower per-capita ridership. New York and San Francisco-Oakland, conversely, ranked very high on ridership and public investment, but ranked lower in terms of safety.
[See a slide show of 10 cities adopting smart grid technology.]
The rankings also take into account cities’ surrounding areas. For example, Boston data includes ridership and population in the metro area that extends into New Hampshire and Rhode Island. Only metropolitan areas where more than 20 million trips were taken in 2008 (according to APTA) were included in the rankings.
We believe density is the key to transportation success, so I am surprised to see Austin on the list. I guess getting 50,000 students around makes up for lack of residential concentration elsewhere?
Also, visited with some Denver folks recently. It is amazing how many people use the rail and bus system. Also not a high-density situation. They have invested in transit instead of highways. The highways have become such a nuisance that people in far flung suburbs drive to train and bus stations and ride into Downtown where the office population has remained concentrated because it is easier than driving and cheaper than rebuilding an office building somewhere else. Novel.
Too true John. I believe you are correct in you assumption concerning college students in Austin contributing to ridership figures. Austin also has the unusual distinction of being a relatively linear city. Due to rough terrain, one can find “rural” terrain as within 5 miles to the east and west of downtown. As the city’s growth has been overtly focused to the north- reaching some 25 miles to the north of the central city- the corridor of this growth at times is as narrow as 6 miles. Linear cities can be extremely efficient from a transportation and transit standpoint.
To make a comparison between Memphis and these cities per the ability to create an efiicient public transit option, I would need to know the employment figures for specific neighborhoods. The CCC pegs downtown’s total employee population at 65,000 which includes the Medical Center along with the core. Does anyone know where I can go to find the employment population figures for the other various employment areas around the city: Poplar Corridor (between East Parkway and White Station), the Poplar- Ridgeway district the Nonconnah Corridor, the Baptist Hospital cluster, and the Lamar/ Airport/ Southeast industrial center and the I-40 corridor?
The Memphis business journal is a great resource. Their real estate research could probably help you figure out employment concentrations but you would have to do some of the work.
Chamber likely can spit the numbers right out if you give them the parameters… and pay for the report.
No excuse for this… but our Memphis/Shelby County economic development does NOT have the capability to do this.
I don’t necesarily disagree with F. But a more efficient transit system along with a higher density population and defined commercial districts is still the right thing to do if we want lower taxes, better retail destinations, improved employment opportunities and nicer all around quality of life. So I think I’ll keep trying to convince people no matter what the root sociological/historic/psychological background is that put us in this mess.
What happens to Memphis and Memphians (like me) who are tied to the freedom and pride provided by their cars when the world around them changes?
What happens to Memphis when middle-east instability drives gas to $4 or $5 a gallon?
What happens to Memphis when property taxes start rising over 5% a year to cover road and sewer repairs that have been neglected?
What happens to our neighborhoods when Police and Fire service is cut because our vehicular lifestyle has spread the tax base too thin?
What about when the state gives in to an income tax to maintain more politically motivated highway construction?
What happens to Memphis when we can’t tell a business recruit where our office market is (it has moved three times between 1960 and today and won’t be Ridgeway forever)?
Worse yet, what happens to Memphians who cannot afford a car when we have no cohesive structure in our community planning?
Things like transit a pieces of the puzzle. It won’t matter why or what color we are. The solutions are complicated but we’ll all suffer if we don’t start looking at the stability and sustainability of this regions fiscal and physical competitiveness.
John,
I will see what I can find within the Journal. Unfortunately, I probably do not have the funds to grease the wheels with the chamber. I know MATA has performed studies concerning origins and destinations- the data would be somewhat stale but it might be a good starting point. I agree per the need for better transit and it’s benefits. Apparently MATA does as well. They are in the preliminary stages of a study that has the potential to result in a complete overhaul of the existing system. A key component of this study as expressed by MATA is to attract transit optional riders- those who do not have to take transit but choose to do so. As in so many other cities and as highlighted in this post, there is real opportunity to expand MATA’s ridership base. Car centric cities such as Austin, Dallas and Nasville have either done so or are the process. There are many lessons to be learned but can be applied locally.
John,
…one more group to add to your list of potential riders- a rapidly aging population who will want to continue to circulate throughout a community even though their ability to drive and/or their budgets may not support transit by personal vehicle.
Urbanut:
Here is a link to an MPO study that gives tremendous insight into the current users of MATA.
http://www.matatransit.com/uploadedFiles/Projects_and_Plans/Memphis%20CHSTP%20Plan%20-%20FINAL%20REPORT.pdf
However, I think you are on a better track with your thought process of determining concentrations of activity (residential density to employment density). But it is hard to find a single place in Shelby County with enough workers in a consolidated area to make existing commuter transit attractive.
I have spent a great deal of time looking at the office markets. Downtown/Medical Center remains the only dense destination but represents only about 16% of the market in terms of square feet (and has 17% vacancy and growing). Midtown is twice as large (geographically) and has about 6% market share (with 23% vacancy). The Airport Area is giant but only has around 8% of the square footage (and almost 50% vavancy). East Memphis has over 40% of our market’s space (with only 10% vacancy) but the geography is twice as large as Downtown & Midtown combined. The 385 Corridor is sapping some of the energy from East with 18% of the space (and only 7% vacancy). The rest of the market is largely in the Northeast submarket but is less than 9% of the space (with 13% vacancy). And, I haven’t even mentioned Mississippi yet.
The more I think about it, the less I think we have a transit problem and the more I think we have a zoning/planning/development problem. It is hard to exist efficiantly in this environment even if you have a new car and a full tank of gas.
John,
Thanks for the office space breakdown. I agree that the primary issue is a shifting pattern of use and development within the city due in large part to a vague and shortsighted zoning practices. The core is the most efficient location and while it represents 16% of the market, at 65,000 employees it only represents 12% of total area wide employment.
As a simple concept mind you, I think if we were to take your above market breakdown and more or less group three of the primary areas, Downtown, Midtown and East in a linear fashion as our common points of “destination” we might begin to approach a more workable model. More specifically, if instead of identifying a common multi-block destination, our common destination was linear, let’s say bounded by Kirby on the east Walnut Grove/ Poplar to the north, with the southern boundary at Park/Poplar/Central/Peabody/ Linden and the western boundary being the River, I think we would capture the vast majority of office market in the 3 submarkets you mentioned. I would not assume we would capture the entirety of each of the 3 submarkets within that boundary, so instead of the full 62% that is defined, let’s go with a conservative 50%. The linear corridor as described would be- on average- essentially a mile and a half wide. At its greatest width we would be examining an area 3.5 miles north to south in the east and as narrow as 3/4 mile in the University area.
That said, I could envision a series of closely spaced east-west routes spaced from north to south at no more than 1/4 mile intervals. These would act as the backbone to a city wide transit system. Downtown and Midtown’s grid make this simple enough, but as we progress east, it becomes more difficult to delineate routes that would adhere to this rule. Feeding into these routes while also serving a cross-town purpose would be various north-south, radial and local circulator routes. A key component of any such system would be the need to enable a level of express service along this backbone. A previous post on this site suggested establishing express service along the city’s most heavily traveled corridors in parallel with local service runs along the same routes. Anything that could be employed to expedite service along this line could be employed and would only serve to boost its efficiency and its appeal. Intersections should be outfitted to allow priority to approaching express busses and where space permits, bus lanes could be employed.
Of course all of this will require a great deal of research by myself and others to assess its true potential. I personally believe that if we can transform the image and idea of MATA from that of a required support net for those without the means of personal transit and instead are able to realistically establish it as a viable alternative to movement across the city, that development patterns will begin to reorient themselves to take advantage of what would then be a perceived asset. As stated earlier, for the purposes of transportation, a linear city posses the potential to be far more efficient than a city planned around a central hub.
…and thanks for the MATA link. I downloaded a version several months ago that apparently has become corrupt in the interim.
Union & Poplar (or just Poplar) could be repositioned as complete streets with a dedicated Express Bus lane, protected local business vehicle lane & parking, landscaping, etc.
One of the coolest examples I like to refer to is this project Dover Kohl did for Johnson City. If Johnson City is thinking about reclaiming its commercial corridors, then it should be a breeze for us.
See link: http://www.doverkohl.com/files/pdf/Johnson%20City_low%20res.pdf
There are before and after renderings elsewhere on their site that are fun to look at.
There are better examples out there about how to use the actual roadway for different uses. But this makes the point that you must look at the sea of parking as an opportunity to create town centers with pedestrian friendly linkages along the way that have identity AND astounding commercial value.
John,
One more comment regarding the MATA study- did you notice some of the inherent flaws that would have undoubtedly impacted some of the issues that have been discussed here? The first being found on pages 15-16 per Stakeholder Representation. The “General Public” is represented via 13 human service providers and 13 transportation providers. However not one general public group represented the “Consumer Groups” aspect of the stakeholders involved. No one officially served as a voice for the “transit choice” group as consumers. In addition, and perhaps most pertinent to your point regarding zoning, planning and development, while Shelby County is listed as a participant no mention is made as to whether the office of Planning and Development was an active contributor to the study program. I think that speaks volumes.
This seems as one of the times there is an opportunity to actually make something of this. If there is not a community transit advocacy group- representing all those who advocate for better transit- then we need to fill that vacuum post haste.
Livable Memphis is doing outstanding work in terms of walk/bike issues and have also been interested in transit. They recently organized a forum to bring citizens, neighborhood leaders, planners and more in front of MATA reps to start a dialogue about what MATA is up to and planning. This group is usually pretty honest and intelligent about how they engage the speakers.
Bad News… it was cancelled on one of the big snow days. I suspect it will be rescheduled.
Sign up for their mailing list here: http://www.livablememphis.org/
The infill example in Johnson City is a great one. Similar plans have been adopted for the central area of Germantown although they lack a transit component.
Livable Memphis is a great resource. I had been looking forward to the meeting and have not received word yet for the rescheduled event. It is going to require a concentrated and sustained effort to ensure MATA widens its net to capture all potential patrons.
The image of MATA isn’t changing for the next 20 years. Your negihbors, blacks especially aren’t going to hop on bikes and go to work at Fedex.
You people don’t seem to understand. The Female Workforce is not likely to travel on public MATA or transit, The FEMALE workforce especially BLACK FEMALES are NOT going to hop on bikes or the bus to ride home after 4pm . ARE you people that stupid and out of touch ??
White females aren’t likely to ride buses either, through some dangerous or questionable areas. I would not have my wife do any such thing, nor my daughter, and I bet you talking heads on this site wouldn’t have your wives do it either. You are bogus and disingenuous.
More and more women are in the active workforce. They are not going to get out of their cars, and SUVs. Plus, women still are th primary caretakers of children. There is not going to be a movement for mothers both black white and other to get out of their mini-vans just to support some stupid nothing of urban living.
It’s moronic to think they are going to abandon the relative safety of their vehicles and suburban homes to now adopt some stupid urban lifestyle.
It’s not going to happen, not in Memphis, TN.
They would not do it in Germantown, or Collierville, or Bartlett either. They shall continue to hop in their cars, SUVs and minivans to go right down the street to the Walgreens and Fresh Market.
yep, I can see it now, it’s May, or June, or July, or August, or September, and it’s 88 to 100 degrees with 90% humidity, and there are black women jumping on their bikes to ride to work or the store
or, I can see throngs of sweating residents lined up at the MATA bustop waiting on the more than likely late, already sweltering bus, train, or trolley.
some of you are quite imbued….or drunk….or sipping on the kool-aid, and becoming victims of your own bullshit.
yep, I can see it now, it’s May, or June, or July, or August, or September, and it’s 88 to 100 degrees with 90% humidity, and there are black women jumping on their bikes to ride to work or the store
or, I can see throngs of sweating residents lined up at the MATA bustop waiting on the more than likely late, already sweltering bus, train, or trolley.
some of you are quite imbued….or drunk….or sipping on the kool-aid, and becoming victims of your own bullshit.
…because it’s never hot or humid in any other city.
I think Memphis, with it’s very large black population and workforce makes it quite different than any other city ..
that’s the point I would take it, black folks in Detroit don’t really do that either, neither middle class black folk in Atlanta, Hispanics don’t do it in Miami,, blacks don’t do it in Birmingham
that’s a white man’s vision dude, a white man’s plan
Actually anon/memphismane (seeing as it is the same individual), that suggestion runs contrary to the facts. Approximately 11 million trips were made via MATA in 2006. The MATA study John was kind enough to post earlier gives an analysis showing the clientele most likely to use MATA.
Then again, we all know you are not one to actually read reports about actual conditions or refer to any sort of analysis.
I’m sitting here with a beer in hand reading some of this crap.
Memphis has always equated riding the buses with poor people and lower classes. That may not be true in a lot of other cities, but they aren’t Memphis, TN. Black residents aren’t going to shift over to mass transit if they already own cars. Maybe some left-leaning white hippiechic or waiter living in Madtown might, or ride his new bike around thinking he’s in San Fran, but it’s unlikely for Memphis to transform into something it’s never been.
I’m just glad I have another residence besides Memphis. Memphis will never change in its quest to be something it’s not.
One of its strengths is its expansiveness, thereby providing lots of choices of where to live and where to work. It’s a blessing that Memphians aren’t piled on top of each other like a NYC, who the hell wants to live like that when you can have some breathing room ?? No body in Memphis is used to being in highly concentrated, tight environs.
But I’m, seriously laughing about some of the things actually proposed. You people need to wake up from your self-induced dream state.
Geezus, I welcome the Interstate LOOP. It’s already late and behind the times.
Trust me Pensecola, we here in the city are glad you have a residence elswhere as well.
urbanutty
personal snide attacks????..you’re a real piece of work to devolve into something like you stated.
you should be ashamed of yourself…
it’s the likes of you that keep true dialogue muzzled…in Memphis, TN
Are you just another white bigot, closet kluxer too ?
You are pious with no license to be so. Lot’s of people in these United States have multiple residences. There is nothing ‘wrong’ with that. Mobility is something you may not be familiar with it seems in 2011.
No one has to be stuck in one city, whether it’s NYC or Mem
Grow up with that love it of leave it mentality
Learn how to take a joke Anon, debbie, pensacola.
The only manner by which dialogue is being muzzled is by way of your using multiple screen names that refer to one another as if there are numerous individuals supporting your position. It is quite easy for the moderator to identify the posts by origin and your IP address and SCM has identified that “all of you” are in fact the same individual. So if you would like to discuss maturity, I suggest you grow up and get away from the not so clever ruse you have been attempting to play out.
No one is hiding you moron….anyone can use a proxy ISP too…no revelation here..moreover who cares about screen names
You have to be a little in too deep to think I’m concerned about garnering some sort of ‘support’ over the web…are you crazy ??
it’s not against stated TOS for any poster to use different screen names..nothing that I have seen or read.
Why do YOU care so much ? silly. What does it matter if I used one screen name all the time, or a different one, or use anonymous all the time….what fool gets disturbed and bristly about that.
This is not some sort of competition is it ? who cares ? it’s freekin opinion fella
Your statement also shows that there is collusion between you, an alleged dispassionate independent poster and SCM, or you would not state such a thing..
Again, you are the one who has devolved into a personal attack….not me until now you idiot.
This is not a contest you fool…it’s stated opinion…and you just can’t stand divergent opinion, so you do the typical Memphis thing…seek to discredit a poster.
You know nothing about me..right ? Get real cyberPlanner..
Stop being a fool and personalizing another poster’s opinion, by personal, snide attacks
If there is something ststed you don’t like, the smart thing to do is not be confrontational and personal.
But, you’re not as smart as you like to purport I see.
I’m not trying to ‘garner support’ for anything…THAT’s crazy and downright futile…I could not care what others may choose to think or believe…it’s their business
You on theother hand, seem hellbent on ‘selling’ your own opinions ….LOL……which I find telling.
Spend less time worrying about screen names, fella
whew…
No secret collusion, the revelation was posted under another topic. The gig is up, as it were and your reaction was exactly the type of over the top denial needed to alleviate any doubts.
According to the information provided, you were attempting to support your opinions through various pen names as though you were separate individual making it appear as though several individuals were agreeing with “you”. SCM verified these assumptions via your IP address. Very immature, dishonest and a little crazy. Numerous posters here have identified you as perpetrating the same pattern again and again. You have yet to be able to substantiate one claim or opinion with any sort of verifiable facts, figures, studies or reports. No one needs to discredit you personally when all anyone has had to do thus far, and have accomplished, is discredit essentially every opinion and idea you have posted with simple facts. Re-reading your previous posts and the rebuttals to your notions is evidence enough.
Shekel, you’ve engaged in many ad hominem attacks on other posters here who disagreed with your opinions yet now you are crying about someone engaging in personal attacks against you? (making a little joke like Urbanut did hardly constitutes an “attack,” imo.)
@Urbannaut … Contact MATA. Up in my attic somewhere are several studies that they published while studying where to put a light rail.
Basically … and I’m doing this from memory … the Poplar Corridor offered the best density as far as where people worked. However the railroad killed the idea of sharing the tracks or the ROW there.
The only other option would have been a monorail for that corridor but MATA didn’t want to consider a monorail.
The next concentration of jobs was in the Airport Area followed by the Downtown-Medical District … And thus the proposed Downtown-Airport LR. As I read thru the material and looked at the proposed route … there were many, many things wrong with the idea. It would have been an expensive boondoggle and fortunately it’s stuck in its own purgatory. I hope it never gets out.
They could have taken the abandoned track that is now the Greenline but they were stuck on stupid with the Downtown-Airport line and didn’t even want to consider it.
Plenty of Memphis sits on the stupid bench, and have wasted the last 25 years at least// in schools, government, race relations and just about everything else I can thing of…well one thing is talked about: freekin BBQ or ELVIS WEEK maybe, or that stupid Memphis in May BBQ fest scheduled every year at the identical rainy/muddy season (how dumb can you get not to re-visit THAT scheduling ?)
Midtown-
I think I’ve seen excerpts, but I will search for the full report. Per the rail idea, while I am big supporter of the light rail concept, I agree that the local approach would not have necessarily generated the level of ridership found elsewhere.
Specifically, there is a mixed message for what purpose the rail line would serve. The line is proposed to operate in a mixed traffic layout throughout Midtown and Downtown which would limit the efficiencies and purpose to that of a local circulator. Then outside of Midtown it would operate in its own travel way making it akin to true commuter route. Assuming that a continuation of the line to the east in some form would tie into the airport route as some point, it would still possess some the inefficiencies of operating in mixed traffic through Midtown. Most light rail lines in the U.S. operate in their own travel way for the majority of their length with very limited portions operating in mixed traffic situations (if at all). It would not necessarily serve to decrease the amount of time spent commuting between say, East Memphis or Germantown to the Medical Center or Downtown. I have no surveys or numbers to support this notion, but my instinct is that in a city where traffic congestion adds a minimal amount of time to one’s commute, MATA will have trouble attracting a larger ridership base to such an operation if it means an additional 15 to 20 minutes commuting each way unless gas prices take dramatic swing upwards on a scale unseen as of yet. I think light rail could be beneficial and heavily utilized in Memphis, just not as proposed.
I don’t blame them per the monorail. The prices for construction have varied wildly from project to project. I’ve seen cost per mile vary between $60 million to as much as $200 million while light rail is usually in the $30-$45 million per mile range.