As a long-time participant in local mass transit planning, I'm delighted to see such a robust debate over Ogden's transit future. Finally, this debate is engaging not only the professional bureaucrats but also many passionate citizens as well as the media.
The most pressing questions before us seem to be these:
* What is the best alignment for the proposed transit line between downtown and the WSU/McKay-Dee area?
* Should a small downtown circulator project take precedence over the WSU line, or can we have both?
* Can we afford to build streetcar systems along either or both of these routes, or should we settle for enhanced buses?
Abundant evidence from other cities shows that while buses may be just as good at moving people around, streetcars will attract far more riders and thus greatly enhance the neighborhoods that they serve. So if our goals include redevelopment of blighted areas and creating vibrant, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods, then streetcars are the way to go. A streetcar can operate either in the same space as automobiles (like a bus), or in a dedicated right-of-way (like TRAX).
Funding a streetcar system will be challenging but not impossible. Federal programs should provide at least half of the initial construction costs. The rest of the construction costs and most of the operating expenses will have to come from the quarter-cent sales tax increase that Weber County voters approved in 2007. However, transit projects are competing against highway projects -- especially Weber County's portion of the Legacy Highway -- for that money.
The downtown circulator project sounds attractive, but we need to scrutinize it carefully before committing scarce local funds to this relatively new proposal. The main benefit of this streetcar line would be to connect downtown to the Ogden River Project, a large new development that is progressing very slowly.
While the line would also serve intermediate destinations, this service may be no faster than walking.
The WSU line, on the other hand, has been extensively studied over the last several years. Although a streetcar along this line will probably cost more than $100 million, all evidence indicates that it will be heavily used and thus produce significant economic benefits for Ogden. The challenge is to choose an alignment that will maximize those benefits.
The most natural cross-town alignment is the same as the current 603 bus route: through Ogden's East-Central neighborhood along or near 25th Street, then south along Harrison Boulevard. This alignment was favored by a 2005 feasibility study, has been endorsed by the Ogden Planning Commission, and would serve the library, several large apartment buildings, historic residential neighborhoods, and Ogden High School. It would almost certainly attract the greatest ridership, and it would save operating funds by replacing a major existing bus route.
The Utah Transit Authority, however, is now pushing for an alternate alignment on Washington Boulevard and 36th Street. Yet their reasons for this preference are unclear, because it offers no advantage in cost, ridership, or travel time. This alignment would not replace any existing bus route, and it would be partly redundant with a proposed enhanced bus system that would cover much more of Washington Boulevard.
Publicly, UTA points to the economic development potential along Washington, which is zoned for more intensive uses than Harrison. But that zoning has merely attracted used car lots and other auto-based businesses, which aren't very compatible with transit-oriented development. It's easier to change zoning than to displace existing successful businesses.
The elephant in the room during these discussions is the Utah Department of (highway) Transportation. UDOT views Harrison as a highway for through traffic, and it would prefer to avoid the complication of installing rail transit on this highway. Yet UDOT has privately conceded that the problems can be solved, and pledged to work with the community, if necessary, to find an acceptable solution.
At this time the planning process has stalled. UTA has been meeting privately with elected officials, trying to convince them to support the 36th Street alignment. A year has passed since the last public meetings were held. Nobody has attempted to bring all the stakeholders together for frank, honest negotiations.
The Sierra Club has no intrinsic bias toward serving one neighborhood or another with mass transit. We support transit because it offers a cleaner alternative to driving, and because it helps create vibrant, attractive cities where people will choose to live and work, minimizing their environmental footprint.
For Ogden, therefore, we will support the transit alternatives that are best for the riders themselves and for the long-term enhancement of our city.
Dan Schroeder has been a Sierra Club volunteer for 15 years, and has served on several city advisory committees on trails, urban planning, and mass transit.
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