A Fayetteville Streetcar/Trolley

[Mith242]

Thank you Skirby for the post. I was about to post a questions (and still will at some point) on the LR forum asking for some advice when my computer decided that it wanted to refresh the web page and remove all that was typed. I got mad and decided to wait.

That is true about the UofA not wanting to fund an off-campus issue (my opinion). Though doing a cos-share would be more likely if the idea ever became a prominent issue. The UofA is student oriented and if it is in the Students best interest and is feasible they will explore the idea.

Mith242, did you ever receive a reply from our Mayor? Has anyone else attempted communication with any other officials? I just want to make sure that I do not step on any toes or annoy anyone too much.

And again, thank you Skirby for answering my unasked questions.

[Snaple4]

So after doing some research of Razorback transit.

Blue and Green routes are the dominant paths for the UofA

07-08 Stats

http://parking.uark.edu/FY08.htm

08-09 stats

http://parking.uark.edu/FY09.htm

Bus Routes (Big PDF File)

http://parking.uark.edu/All_Route_Map.pdf

So looking at this we can determine that the Blue and Green routes are the most important, which makes sense. The brown route which is what we are looking at for a trolley system does 60,000 a year with the Blue and Green doing 315K and 295K, respectfully. This is something to consider with the UofA. If we push a trolley system to them they will want something mainly on campus and then they would want something with the largest ridership to replace the bus, they can relocate the current bus route to be more useful. So this would mean the green route. If the city and the UofA partnered then we would have the blue route. Think of LR and the revitalization they wanted. What could use more revitalizing? Leverett/Garland or Dickson/Square?

I would personally rather a line to go down Dickson b/c of what it would do but we need to think about funding and viability. 60K ridership a year isn't bad but it is not great comparably. We may need to rethink an approach here. Or ideas.

A route replacing the blue route would not be that bad, especially since it could be later extended to the square. That would also help considerably with creating more density along Leverett. And with the ideas for Garland and the bike lane... Well, lets see some thoughts on this.

Also, Red and blue run together so that makes for even more of a reason the UofA would rather something on the Northern side of the University than the Eastern Side. 400K+ ridership a year. That is speaking rather loudly for the UofA.

[Mith242]

So after doing some research of Razorback transit.

Blue and Green routes are the dominant paths for the UofA

07-08 Stats

http://parking.uark.edu/FY08.htm

08-09 stats

http://parking.uark.edu/FY09.htm

Bus Routes (Big PDF File)

http://parking.uark.edu/All_Route_Map.pdf

So looking at this we can determine that the Blue and Green routes are the most important, which makes sense. The brown route which is what we are looking at for a trolley system does 60,000 a year with the Blue and Green doing 315K and 295K, respectfully. This is something to consider with the UofA. If we push a trolley system to them they will want something mainly on campus and then they would want something with the largest ridership to replace the bus, they can relocate the current bus route to be more useful. So this would mean the green route. If the city and the UofA partnered then we would have the blue route. Think of LR and the revitalization they wanted. What could use more revitalizing? Leverett/Garland or Dickson/Square?

I would personally rather a line to go down Dickson b/c of what it would do but we need to think about funding and viability. 60K ridership a year isn't bad but it is not great comparably. We may need to rethink an approach here. Or ideas.

A route replacing the blue route would not be that bad, especially since it could be later extended to the square. That would also help considerably with creating more density along Leverett. And with the ideas for Garland and the bike lane... Well, lets see some thoughts on this.

[Snaple4]

Just like you I would rather have a Dickson/Square/Downtown route but we must look at ways to fund this. The UofA may still be open to the idea but they would rather have a heavy used route instead. So we must consider the UofA funds to be negligible. The UofA would however have a great amount of intellectual wealth to give and power of voice but financially it would be a hard sell.

So that brings us to a small amount from the UofA, a small amount from the city, maybe a little donation money, and then the State and Fed governments.

I found the info b/c I was looking at who to e-mail about asking for donation boxes on the buses.

Even though the Leverett route is assumed to be largely student based, they are still residents of the city and they pay taxes. Both routes have the cons and pros. I would rather push the Dickson route but what would have the least amount of risk involved? Just by those numbers you assume Leverett. So this means we need more stats to help us. Anyone have any density stats or traffic stats of the downtown area>

[Mith242]

Just like you I would rather have a Dickson/Square/Downtown route but we must look at ways to fund this. The UofA may still be open to the idea but they would rather have a heavy used route instead. So we must consider the UofA funds to be negligible. The UofA would however have a great amount of intellectual wealth to give and power of voice but financially it would be a hard sell.

So that brings us to a small amount from the UofA, a small amount from the city, maybe a little donation money, and then the State and Fed governments.

I found the info b/c I was looking at who to e-mail about asking for donation boxes on the buses.

Even though the Leverett route is assumed to be largely student based, they are still residents of the city and they pay taxes. Both routes have the cons and pros. I would rather push the Dickson route but what would have the least amount of risk involved? Just by those numbers you assume Leverett. So this means we need more stats to help us. Anyone have any density stats or traffic stats of the downtown area>

[skirby]

For those looking for a transit system without overhead wires check out Bombardier

[Snaple4]

If I am sending an e-mail to a state employee, who should I send it to? It would be to inquire about funding options and such. Basically, who would be able to move the idea around the most. I was thinking about starting with the Transportation Dept. Once I finish it I will post it on here and ask for any advise or revisions required.

[Mith242]

For those looking for a transit system without overhead wires check out Bombardier

[jllive]

Honestly I'm not sure. I haven't had much luck with any of my emails. Not sure if people just aren't responding back to me or if they're even being read.

[Snaple4]

Dear Officials:

In the past, the NWA region has entertained the idea of a light rail system that would run along the I-540 corridor. This system would run through all major cities in the region and benefit the region beyond simple road upgrades. However, this idea has been pushed aside due to the multiple city and county coordination that would be required.

A new idea presented within Fayetteville is for a trolley or street rail system similar to what Little Rock and North Little Rock currently provide. Fayetteville houses the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville campus with approximately 20,000 students and staff (4000+ live on campus), Bikes Blues & BBQ, Wal-Mart shareholder meetings, numerous athletic functions, Dickson St (the regions entertainment district) and many other amenities. A system similar to that in the Little Rock area would not only benefit Fayetteville, but would benefit the region and Arkansas as a whole. The immediate effects for Fayetteville and the region would be the ability to transport the 24% of Fayetteville residents that are below the poverty level (2007 statistic)[1], the congestion problems of our major functions outlined above, and an alternative mode of transportation that would help both Razorback Transit (transported over 1.2 million people in the 07/08 year)[2] and Ozark Regional Transit operations.

There are many possible paths that this new rail line could have and many future possibilities to tie into current and future transportation options. There could be a line that runs from the Universities transit hub, down the entertainment district, to the downtown square, and back with less than 3 miles of track. A rail line could also replace the blue route for Razorback Transit that transported 316,596 individuals last year². Little Rock

[Mith242]

Dear Officials:

In the past, the NWA region has entertained the idea of a light rail system that would run along the I-540 corridor. This system would run through all major cities in the region and benefit the region beyond simple road upgrades. However, this idea has been pushed aside due to the multiple city and county coordination that would be required.

A new idea presented within Fayetteville is for a trolley or street rail system similar to what Little Rock and North Little Rock currently provide. Fayetteville houses the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville campus with approximately 20,000 students and staff (4000+ live on campus), Bikes Blues & BBQ, Wal-Mart shareholder meetings, numerous athletic functions, Dickson St (the regions entertainment district) and many other amenities. A system similar to that in the Little Rock area would not only benefit Fayetteville, but would benefit the region and Arkansas as a whole. The immediate effects for Fayetteville and the region would be the ability to transport the 24% of Fayetteville residents that are below the poverty level (2007 statistic)[1], the congestion problems of our major functions outlined above, and an alternative mode of transportation that would help both Razorback Transit (transported over 1.2 million people in the 07/08 year)[2] and Ozark Regional Transit operations.

There are many possible paths that this new rail line could have and many future possibilities to tie into current and future transportation options. There could be a line that runs from the Universities transit hub, down the entertainment district, to the downtown square, and back with less than 3 miles of track. A rail line could also replace the blue route for Razorback Transit that transported 316,596 individuals last year². Little Rock

[Senator]

I love the trolley idea (it could be great for anchoring venues like the WAC in Fayetteville), but I'm afraid that it would be impossible to do both the trolley and regional light rail in the near future due to funding and political will. With the passage of Obama's stimulus package, there are literally billions upon billions of dollars up for grabs to build systems exactly like what NWA envisions for light rail. Though we might not be sure about issues like density, etc., I think that this is too big of an opportunity to pass up to get it built while minimizing the funding we will have to come up with on our own. If we don't do this now, it could take hundreds of millions more dollars from our own pockets. Besides, large-scale infrastructure development like light rail will make sure NWA doesn't lose its momentum during the recession. Perhaps, though, we could get both funded as long as we plan things right. Here's a message I sent to Mayor Jordan (but haven't gotten a reply yet):

Mayor Jordan,

I noticed that there will be money for mass-transit projects in President Obama's stimulus package, as well as money for rural development, sustainable energy, and smart-grid technologies. I think that this could be a great time to find some funding for a light rail system in NWA that would not only create jobs here immediately but also would spur further development and economic stability and maturity in the region. Besides the massive economic benefits of a light rail system, the project would help to prevent urban sprawl that will hurt the long-term sustainability and cohesiveness of our region. There should be mutliple opportunities for funding if we approach the project in the right way. By creating an electric light rail system that runs in part off of solar, wind, or other clean technologies, we could get money from both the sustainable energy component as well as the mass-transit component. By applying as a growing area in a rural state, we could get money from the rural development component. The lines that would power the system could use smart-grid technologies so that we could get money from there as well. Perhaps there are even more creative approaches like including wi-fi access on the trains so that we could get money from rural internet access programs; we just have to be smart and look for them.

Besides the stimulus package, another idea I had to help fund the project is for the NWA transit authority (or whatever governing body manages the funding) to sell carbon offsets from prevented road travel. The light rail system would greatly decrease the amount of carbon emissions due to gas-powered vehicles, thus creating an amount of prevented carbon viable for sale in carbon markets.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.

I'll probably repost this in the transportation thread since that's more proper for light rail discussion, but I thought it might be something valid to think about when considering a smaller trolley system.

Senator

[Snaple4]

I understand where you are coming from. And honestly I would would choose light rail over a trolley, however, light rail is going to be such a hard push. Each system has its own pros and cons and would compliment the other.

A trolley would be a fraction of the cost and would increase density making regional light rail even more feasible especially if the other cities implemented their own.

I did like the letter you sent to the Mayor of Fayetteville. The ideas are great.