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Portland, OR Seeking Input On A Proposed Streetcar System

W. K. Lis

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From July 1, 2009 through August 14, 2009, the Portland Bureau of Transportation is inviting public comments on the Public Review Draft of the Portland Streetcar System Concept Plan (SSCP). During the 45-day public comment period, Portlanders are invited to share their reactions to the plan with city staff. On August 11, 2009 the Portland Planning Commission will hold a hearing on the plan, and it will go to City Council on September 9.

The Public Review Draft of the Portland Streetcar System Concept Plan will be available from July 1st until August 14, 2009. Click here to download a copy of the report (5 MB, pdf).

Toronto is mentioned on page 28.
 
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Here's my input: don't waste your money on streetcars.

Portland would beg to differ. Here's a choice quote from a Portland Streetcar document:

Since 1997 when the original streetcar alignment was identified, properties along its length have experienced significant changes:
  • $3.5 billion has been invested within two blocks of the streetcar alignment.
  • 10,212 new housing units and 5.4 million square feet of office, institutional, retail and hotel construction have been constructed within two blocks of the alignment.
  • 55% of all CBD development since 1997 has occurred within 1-block of the streetcar and properties located closest to the streetcar line more closely approach the zoned density potential than properties situated farther away.
  • Developers are building new residential buildings with significantly lower parking ratios than anywhere else in the region.
And one more:

Total capital cost was $103,150,000 for 4.0 mile alignment averaging $12.9 million per track mile.
 
That area would have developed the same way, streetcar or not. Downtown Portland was always an attractive place to live, even before the streetcar line.

PS, $103M in capital construction costs plus a $2M annual operating subsidy for a line that carries 9,000 riders a day is a disgrace.
 
PS, $103M in capital construction costs plus a $2M annual operating subsidy for a line that carries 9,000 riders a day is a disgrace.
Actually, it carried 11,900 AWD in winter 2007/2008. (9000 is the figure from fall 2005.)

That area would have developed the same way, streetcar or not. Downtown Portland was always an attractive place to live, even before the streetcar line.
Did you read the linked development report and look at the graphs of FAR/CBD development before and after the streetcar?

Prior to 1997, new projects were built to less than half of the allowable density allowed on a site in the CBD.

Since the streetcar alignment was chosen in 1997, new development achieved an average of 90% of the FAR potential within one block of the streetcar line. This percentage steadily drops to 43% at three or more blocks from the alignment.

Prior to 1997, land located within one block of the streetcar alignment captured 19% of all development.

Since the streetcar alignment was identified, 55% of all new development within the CBD has occurred within one block of the streetcar.

I guess this is just a coincidence then?
 
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PS, $103M in capital construction costs plus a $2M annual operating subsidy for a line that carries 9,000 riders a day is a disgrace.

Things like this are primarily about infrastructure; the transit builds up over time (as it is doing rather steadily there). But I really don't know what you're talking about: 9,000 riders a day for a 4 mile system is actually very good usage, and $2M per year works out to $0.60 per ride. The term "subsidy" is probably not appropriate, considering that a low fare likely boosts ridership, which benefits businesses, and in turn the city's coffers.
 
Actually, it carried 11,900 AWD in winter 2007/2008. (9000 is the figure from fall 2005.)

As we used to say in Grade 3, "big whup". 12,000 is less than the average TTC surface bus route and they do that in an environment that is less dense, more autocentric and has fewer trip generators than the downtown of a relatively vibrant, large American city.

I guess this is just a coincidence then?

Yes, it is a coincidence. The period 1997-2007 just happened to coincide with one of the biggest real estate booms in American history, and certainly the largest residential real estate boom in American downtowns since the Second World War.

I'm not a fan of Randall O'Toole, but he does know numbers and he does live in Portland. He has determined that the city lavished over $650 million in subsidies along the streetcar line, mostly to residential developers to entice them to build condos. That's on top of the $103M used to build the actual line (which is exorbitant). Now, imagine if the city of Toronto built a streetcar line and then gave condo developers $650M in incentives to build along a small corridor? I'm pretty sure the sky would soon be filled with cranes, even if it was in outer Rexdale.
 
I would also add that 'streetcar', in inner city American parlance, almost always means single tracked, i.e. useless, unidirectional systems. Head ways can never really be lower than 15m. The design is inherently worse than just about any system above pack mules plodding along a mountain in Afghanistan.

Also, 3.5b over 10 years is really nothing groundbreaking. Let's keep in mind what was going on during those ten years. Never mind the 'bear tax' logic that permeates all of this. Can you see bears? Well, the bear tax must be working then.
 
Yes, it is a coincidence. The period 1997-2007 just happened to coincide with one of the biggest real estate booms in American history, and certainly the largest residential real estate boom in American downtowns since the Second World War.

I'm not a fan of Randall O'Toole, but he does know numbers and he does live in Portland. He has determined that the city lavished over $650 million in subsidies along the streetcar line, mostly to residential developers to entice them to build condos.
None of this addresses why so much development has been clustered around the streetcar line. If you look at the maps, it's pretty clear that the "subsidized" districts (I use scare quotes because calling TIF a subsidy is a bit of a stretch, but never mind) extend much farther than three blocks from the streetcar alignment, and yet most of the development is happening near the streetcar.

To everyone except Randall O'Toole, it's pretty clear what's going on in Portland.
 
^Well, if I was a developer and I was given a subsidy that essentially negates the cost of land and had the option to build near a streetcar line where density rights were zoned to be higher, I'd jump on board too. That doesn't mean that the streetcar itself was the main attraction for developers.
 
Final thought

PS, why do you guys love streetcars so much? You know it's just a city bus on tracks, right?

I dunno. People who study transportation planning on an academic level tend to concern themsleves with things like economic rationale, operating costs, equity maximization, etc. Loving trains is kind of relegated to the back burner of priorities. The effectiveness of a public transportation project is generally inversely proportional to how exciting it is to cut the ribbon of said project on opening day. You will get more ridership if you subcontract $103M to private jitney operators or spend $103M beefing up bus service than spending the equivalent amount building streetcars.

---

I really think that streetcars bring out an Evangelical Christian-like fervour among certain transit nerds. Basically, streetcars take on shades of Christ because they were both killed by a group of conspirators only to be resurrected in the hearts and minds of followers.
 
Well, at least I learned something from this thread, which is that the Portland Bureau of Transportation is a bunch of train-obsessed nerds who want to build a streetcar network because they've been indoctrinated into the Great American Streetcar Cult -- as opposed to serious academics like Randall O'Toole, who just want public transit to succeed!
 

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