Independent studies on rail transit

[Rizzo]

My apologies if this has been discussed here at UP. Has anyone stumbled on any independent studies or research on the true effectiveness as an alternative transit option? I've looked through the web and sometimes I run into two sides painting a radically different picture of rail. You have on side of the spectrum hailing it as an effective transit alternative and one despising it per cost subsidy. In most cases the study of this transit option plays two ideologies -- the obvious ones I won't mention.

[TheBostonian]

An article about a study with discouraging findings about metro Boston commuter rail--specifically the failure of communities to appropriately adjust zoning when adding or restoring commuter rail service:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial...us_only_so_far/

"Above all, the data suggest that we should be very wary of claims that commuter rail will also produce a variety of indirect benefits, such as reducing sprawl or revitalizing ailing communities. If we want to fulfill those goals, the key is to craft good zoning and land-use policies ."

[monsoon]

Indeed. For any study out there, it behooves you to find out who paid for it.

In general there are a lot very negative anti-transit studies out there, because going to transit means changing the way things are done in most cities here in the USA and when that happens, a lot of people stand to lose out. There is a lot of vested interest in preserving the suburban life style centered around the automobile and the big box retail that goes with it. Transit promises to change this and a lot of people interested in maintaining this status quo become unglued and will do whatever they can to discredit transit.

Your best bet is to look for case studies on what has happened to cities that have built or expanded rail transit in the past 35 - 40 years vs those that didn't.

[TheBostonian]

Here's the study. I'll try to find a chance to read it soon:

http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/rappaport/downl...mmuter_rail.pdf

[Rizzo]

I'd say that for every pro-rail transit study there was two anti studies. When I was reading various rebuttals they would rarely present coherent points. Some things just didn't make sense. It was really hard to read some studies, they read almost like two grade school girls

arguing. Some were blatant in their "bone to pick." I'm sorry, but I quickly discredit that form of discussion.

Thanks for the input.

[TheBostonian]

I'm not sure that it is fair to characterize this study as anti-rail. It's findings show a major flaw in transit policy: commuter rail service does not by itself bring dramatic changes in land use, since land use depends on local zoning laws. The author was quoted in some newspaper article saying "If you want to change the land use, then for God's sake, change the land use!"

It was during an entirely different era that adding rail service directly shaped the built environment. What we now see as dense and livable streetcar suburbs, for example, developed around streetcar routes when land use was virtually unregulated. But today, if you add rail service to an area but keep the zoning unchanged, land use will not be affected much by the addition of rail.

My take on this study is that its findings are extremely valuable if we want to make rail transit work.

(Clarification: the pdf link above is to a summary of the study, which in full is something like 60 pages and is linked in the summary.)

[Rizzo]

I should have clarified that I wasn't talking about the study above. If there was a proactive change in how things are zoned and how to get to those zones then rail would seem more effective.

[Inkdaub]

I read the article. I completely disagree with the asertion that transit...rail specifically...does not bring about a change of property value along the transit corridor. Every light rail line I have ever seen has raised property values along the corridor...some to staggering levels. I can't think of a transit corridor I have looked at that didn't attract retail and housing along the corridor. In Denver(I think it was Denver) the light rail expansion has encouraged over four billion dollars in development.

[tombarnes]

I can't imagine how light rail would not raise property values in almost any urban area. The areas in the Washington suburbs served by light rail have shown robust growth in property values. This is nearly always the case, though there are exceptions where demand has not quite yet caught up with growth. The better question might be to imagine how these suburbs would have developed without light rail. It goes without saying that a light rail station alone is not going to turn a Roxbury into a Duxbury.

[Lance Winslow]

Adding WiFi to Commuter Rail

Modern Mass Transit is making it easier for commuters, especially with the latest inter connecting wireless technologies. Many buses, commuter trains, shuttles and even trolley cars now have WiFi wireless computer access so no one is out of touch during the travel time. This is being done now in Baltimore to NY trains and in Sacramento to San Francisco Trains thanks to Amtrak. After all we now have WiFi hotspots at McDonalds, Kinko