This
paper presentation at the Canadian Transportation Research Forum Annual
Conference in Windsor, ON June 1-4, 2014 reproduced below includes the
following revisions from the “as published” document: (1) page size, font and
related formats for ease of reading; (2) addition of English units of measure
(gallons, miles, etc.) in addition to the original metric measures; and (3) if
present, any photo material except Map 1.
COMMUTER RAIL FEASIBILITY FOR
BURLINGTON, VERMONT—A SMALL METRO
CASE
STUDY
Tony
Redington
Introduction
This Burlington-Montpelier-Charlotte Commuter Rail Passenger Service (BMC
Commuter Rail Service) study examines a small metro commuter rail service
feasibility for Vermont. The concept
dates from a 1989 report followed by a number of further analyses and actual
service 2000-2003 on a portion of the route.
Market potential for commuter rail becomes measurable with more
confidence after a decade of commuter bus data and successful demand management
experience.
The “Link” commuter buses started 2003
and in 2014 total 60 each workday to and from Burlington along four corridors.
The rail route analyzed here includes the 68 km (42 mi.) east-west segment
between Burlington and the Vermont State House in downtown Montpelier and the
19 km (12 mi.) segment south from Burlington to Charlotte, the 2000-2003
Champlain Flyer commuter route. The overall 87 km (54 mi.) route evaluated, Map
1, extends from Charlotte via Burlington to State House with 12 stations, eight
in town and city centers.
U.S.
and Canada Commuter Rail The twenty-five United States
and three Canadian commuter rail passenger systems reveal an underdeveloped
facet of North American surface transportation. A historic transportation
travel change away from the auto in the U.S. includes: (1) the current seven
year downturn of vehicle miles of travel (FHWA 2013); time in car travel
dropping among all population groups (FHWA 2011, Figure 5), and perhaps most
significant, the proportion of under-age-30 eligible with driver licenses
dropped about 10% since 1995 (Sivak and Schoettle 2011). These factors call for
reexamining commuter rail feasibility even in small metropolitan areas.
Commuter rail constitutes an important part of overall public transportation.
The U.S. Federal Transit Administration (FTA) reports yearly data on 15 public
transportation types with commuter rail accounting for 17.4 billion passenger
kilometers (19.0 billion passenger miles) or 21% of all kilometers (FTA 2011).
Three of fifteen service types account for 91% of public transportation
passenger kilometers totaling 84.7 billion (52.6 billion passenger miles) in
2010: (1) bus 33.2 billion (22.6 billion passenger miles), 39%; (2) heavy rail
(subways, etc.) 26.4 billion (16.4 billion passenger miles), 31%; and (3)
commuter rail 17.4 billion (10.8 billion passenger miles), 21%. Other service types include cable car, demand
services, and monorail.
U.S. public transportation 2013
ridership marked a 50-year high (APTA p 11). U.S. public transportation passenger
kilometers 2007-2013 grew 5.1% while motor vehicle travel kilometers dropped
1.9% 2007-2013, remaining below the 2007 record (FHWA 2014). The
2013 84.7 billion public transport
kilometers (52.6 billion transport miles) of travel compares to the 2007 record
4.88 trillion vehicle kilometers (3.03 trillion vehicle miles) of travel (FHWA
Table
1: United States Commuter Rail Systems Data
All 25 Systems 10 Lowest Ridership
Range
Median Range Median
Weekday riders 1,000-334,100 12,200 1,000-5,400
2,700
Ridership/km (/mi.)
31.3-477.3 139.9
31.3-129.3
54.4
Lines 1-13 1 1-1 1
Stations 5-240 17 5-15 7
Route km
24-1530 143 24-270 65.2
Route miles
15-951 89 15-168 40.5
Sources:
FTA (2006) p 2; APTA (2013, Table 36, p 40); and Wikipedia (2014).
2014).
The characteristics of U.S. and Canadian commuter rail services in
Tables 1 and 2 show a wide range of ridership, stations, and route kilometers.
The majority of systems
starts—15 of 25 in the U.S. and one of
three in Canada—date from 1990 forward. For U.S. systems (Chicago and the Long
Island Railroad services date from about 1900) ten began before 1990, seven
1990-1999, five 2000-2009, and three 2010-2013. All ten lowest ridership
systems date from 1990. Ten U.S. systems
have more than one line, and nine of those also rank in the top ten in
ridership. For the lowest ten ridership
systems: (1) all operate a single route; (2) serve 5 to 15 stations; and (3)
operate route lengths 24 to 278 kilometers (15-168 miles). These ten lowest
ridership systems set a yardstick in assessing feasibility new commuter rail
services like this case.
Vermont
Rail Involvement Vermont’s direct rail investment began
in 1961 following the Rutland Railroad bankruptcy when the State bought the
bulk of the rail properties then leased them to private operators. Vermont, second smallest U.S. in population,
continues a six-decade commitment to maintain and invest in the rail mode.
Vermont passenger rail service ended in the mid-1950s except the international
Montreal-Washington service, itself undergoing a hiatus from 1966 until
restored by Amtrak in 1972. That service continues in a truncated form, now a
State supported “Vermonter” Amtrak train St. Albans, VT-Washington. The State
supports a second Amtrak service, the Ethan Allen, Rutland, VT -New York City
begun in 1997.
In this historic context an unsolicited
1989 report, “VermonTrain,” by former rail passenger administrator and advocate
Eugene Skoropowski (Skoropowski 1989) outlined a commuter service along three
corridors out of Burlington employing self-propelled rail diesel cars
Table
2: Canada Commuter Rail Systems
Toronto
Montreal Vancouver
Daily Ridership (2013) 185,000 73,900
11,000
Route kilometers 390 214 69
Route miles 242 133 43
Note:
Ontario Province started Toronto 1965; Société de transport de la communauté
urbaine de Montréal first public Montreal operator 1982; and Vancouver’s West
Coast Express began in 1995.
operable in two-or-more units (diesel
multiple-unit or DMUs) configuration. That report along with two other major
studies preceded service, the Champlain Flyer, undertaken through the
leadership of Governor Howard Dean along a 19 km (12 mi.) corridor between
Burlington and Charlotte 2000-2002. Auto
Decline and Public Transport Growth Skoropowski’s study arrived at the end of
Vermont’s last burst of vehicle kilometers of travel growth—57% 1980-1990.
Growth collapsed to 16% 19902000 in the six New England States (FHWA Series).
Total New England kilometers vehicle travel then slid to a 3% increase 2000-2010,
and a decline is possible this decade.
Vermont car commuters—solo and
car-share--dropped 2.5% from 87.1% to 84.6 2000-2010 (U.S Census). Public
transit commuting increased 72% and bicycle 107%. As documented elsewhere,
median wages and household income in the U.S. remain only slightly higher
than 1980. Households view housing and transportation,
upwards of half the typical household expenditure, as a single expenditure and
work to minimize the combined impact of these two budgetary items (Redington
1999).
BMC Commuter Rail Service builds on the
estimated 240 commuters being served by the Chittenden County Transportation
Authority (CCTA) Montpelier Link on 18 bus runs each workday (CCTA 2013). The
240 commuters served on the Link Burlington-Montpelier corridor account for the
majority of commuters on four corridors followed by St. Albans corridor second,
80, Middlebury third, 70, and the new Jeffersonville service.
BMC
Rail Service parameters The following outlines parameters
employed for estimating BMC Commuter Rail Services passengers:
1. Estimated workdays each year: 250
2. Estimated “commuters” and “commuters
served”: Divide passenger trips per workday day by two to obtain “commuters.” Multiply “commuters” by 1.1 to obtain
“commuters served”—a commuter during a 250 workdays year takes about 25 days
without using commuter rail or about 10% of all workdays in leave (vacation,
sick, family, etc.), work at another site, travel, etc.
3. Journey-to-work Each U.S. Census
reports sample journey-to-work data by (1) destination of a jurisdiction
residents to other jurisdictions worksites by jurisdiction and (2) origin for a
jurisdiction’s worksites by originating jurisdiction.
4. Non-commuter passenger trips: Except
for a study of extending the Champlain Flyer service from Burlington to Essex
Jct., non-commuter trips are not included (RL Banks 1999, Table 7). The
commuter and non-commuter 742 daily boardings from this study (371 individual
passenger roundtrips) are allocated as presented along stations from Charlotte
to Essex Junction with one minor change.
Base
Commuters Estimate Methodology In reaching total
workday commuters, 1,110, Table 3, three data and performance sources were
utilized: (1) 2010 U.S. Census journey-to-work data; (2) actual commuter trip
data for travel from Montpelier to Burlington from
CCTA records; and (3) the RL Banks 1999
study of passenger trips estimated from an extended Champlain Flyer service to
Essex Jct. The total estimate of 1,110
base numbers of “commuters” each workday means about 1,200 individual
“commuters served.”
The actual Montpelier to Burlington
Link data in combination with journey-to-work numbers establishes an empirical
base to calibrate the commuter rail market potential as all boarding Link buses
from Montpelier commute to a Burlington worksite. And journey-to-work
Census data on total Montpelier workers
commuting to Burlington are combined with three adjacent towns commuter numbers
to Burlington to define the “Montpelier market.” The Link daily commuters from
the “Montpelier market” to Burlington then results in a 23% “market share” for
2012-2013 for the Link. For purposes of analysis here 25% of commuters in a
given station town paired with another station town comprises the core of the
passenger estimates.
Exceptions are: (1) excluding any
Colchester data because the station location far from most of the Town
population; (2) using a 20% factor for South Burlington pairs, again because of
the station at the City’s edge; (3) pairing all towns west of Waterbury to all
four of the “Montpelier market” towns; and (4) in the case of “Montpelier
market”-Waterbury considering only Montpelier to Waterbury commuters. Also for
the 59 Bolton outbound commuters a 30% share factor used reflects the Town
lacking ready interstate access and therefore a likely higher rail commuter
share. Again, for all inter-station trips between Charlotte and Essex Jct. the
RL Banks study 371 roundtrips a day was utilized (RL Banks 1999, Table 7;
Redington 2013 pp 19-24).
The Champlain Flyer service with a $1
one-way fare averaged 42 commuter roundtrips daily (all dollars in this report
are US). Onboard passenger counts totaled 62 roundtrips daily (Vermont Joint Fiscal
Office 2003). Note the 1999 RL Banks report estimated Montpelier commuters
boarding to Burlington on an extended Champlain Flyer service to Montpelier of
four versus the first full week numbers 2014 of 100 daily Link boardings (CCTA
2014).
Translating passenger trips to
passenger kilometers/miles, trips are divided into two categories--“long trips”
and “short trips”--“long” trip 64 km (40 mi.) and a “short” trip 29 km (18 mi.).
These estimates take into consideration the destination of the two highest
station boardings, Burlington and Montpelier, and examining shorter distance
commutes, particularly
Bolton located about mid-route. Bolton
trips in any direction, trips between Charlotte and Richmond in the west, and
Waterbury-Montpelier trips–all receive “short” designation.
Table
3: Estimated commuters, Passenger Trips, Passenger Kilometers (Miles)
Annual
Passenger Trips Subgroup of Commuters
Short Trips—29 km (18 mi.)
Average
185,500
Charlotte-Burlington-Essex Jct.
Estimate of 742 boardings, 371 roundtrips each workday (RL Banks 1999, Table 7)
18,000 Montpelier to Waterbury U.S. Census
25% journey-to-work Montpelier to Waterbury only, 36 roundtrips
29,500
Commuting from Bolton to
Burlington/Essex/ Winooski/Shelburne/Charlotte and Waterbury/ Montpelier 30% of
journey-to-work commuter town pairs, roundtrips 59
Sub-total
Short Trips: 466 Commuters 233,000 Annual Trips
6.750
Million Passenger Kilometers (4.194 Million Passenger Miles)
Long Trips-64 kilometers (40 miles) average
267,500
Commuting between
Burlington/Winooski/Essex Junction/IBM Technology Park/Richmond and
Waterbury/Montpelier 25% journey-to-work town pairs (for example, “Montpelier
market”-Burlington “Montpelier market”-Winooski, etc., roundtrips 535
(“Montpelier market” composed of Montpelier, Barre, Berlin, and Barre Town)
54,500
Charlotte/Shelburne and
Waterbury/Montpelier 25% journey-to-work commuter town pairs, 25 roundtrips; 20%
between South Burlington and Montpelier/Waterbury, 84 roundtrips
Sub-total
Long Trips: 644 commuters, 322,000 Annual Trips
20.728
million passenger kilometers (12.88 million passenger miles)
Total
passenger trips annually: 550,000
Total
individual roundtrips daily: 1,110
Total
annual million passenger kilometers: 27.48 (17.08 million passenger miles)
Translating passenger trips to
passenger kilometers/miles, trips are divided into two categories--“long trips”
and “short trips”--“long” trip 64 km (40 mi.) and a “short” trip 29 km (18 mi.).
These estimates take into consideration the destination of the two highest
station boardings, Burlington and Montpelier, and examining shorter distance
commutes, particularly
Bolton located about mid-route. Bolton
trips in any direction, trips between Charlotte and Richmond in the west, and
Waterbury-Montpelier trips–all receive “short” designation.
The 1,110 base daily commuter
roundtrips translate to 555,000 individual passenger trips annually. As of
mid-year of 2013-2014 Montpelier-Burlington Link service (January 2014) numbers
grew 20%. If this trend continues through June 2014, the rate of about 540
daily trips serving almost 300 commuters reaches a level equal to a quarter of
the 1,100 base daily commuters.
Role
of demand management Since 2000 Burlington’s Campus Area
Transportation Management Association (CATMA) demand management programming
reduced workers solo journey-to-work trips by about 14 percent, about 1,000 of
the sponsoring three institutions’ workers (CATMA 2013). CATMA and demand
management programming constitute a major element in the success of commuter
rail reaching the estimates outlined here. Formed by the
University of Vermont, Champlain
College and Fletcher Allen Health Care—CATMA serves their 10,000 employees in
Burlington (32% of the City’s employment) and 16,000 full-time students. The
yearly benefit to the commuter switching from solo driving to Link service can
exceed $8,000. For example, comparing the U.S. federal personal car use
reimbursement rate per kilometer of $0.35 ($0.655 per mile) (January 2014)
versus the $0.062/km ($0.10/mi.) transit fare ($4.00 one way) for the 64 km (40
mi.) one-way commute between Montpelier and Burlington over 225 workdays—the
total yearly commuting cost differential is over $8,000 yearly. Considering the
median income household in Vermont of $51,300 in 2013 (U.S. Census), $8,000
represents a 16% increase in income for the commuter. The BMC Commuter Rail
Service projects slightly higher fares than Link, $0.078/km ($0.125/mi.) or
$5.00 for the 64 km (40 mi.) Montpelier-Burlington commute one-way.
Table
4: BMC Commuter Rail Service: Trains, Annual Train Kilometers
(Miles), Passenger Kilometers (Miles), and Passengers Per Train Kilometer (Mile)
Service Level:
14 trains a day composed of three peak roundtrips a.m., three peak roundtrips
p.m., and one roundtrip mid-day. Total one-way Charlotte-Burlington-Montpelier
Kilometers: 87 (54 mi.)
Operating Workdays Yearly:
250
Trains per year:
3,500 Trains per year less mid-day runs: 3,000. Current Link buses per year
(three corridors, 2013): 12,500
Train hours of operation per year:
5,250 (based on 1.5 hour per run between Charlotte and Montpelier)
Daily (Revenue) Train Kilometers
(Miles): 1,217 (756)
Annual Train Kilometers (Miles):
304,200 (189,000)
Annual Train Kilometers (Miles) Less Mid-day
Run: 260,700 (162,000)
Passenger kilometers (miles):
233,000 “short” passenger trips yearly at 29 Kilometers (18 miles) and 322,000
“long trips” yearly at 64 kilometers (40 miles)--total passenger kilometers
(miles): 27.5 million annual passenger kilometers (17.1 million miles)
Passengers per train kilometer (mile):
90 passengers per train kilometer (mile) or about 23.8 passenger kilometers per
liter of diesel fuel (DMU assumed to attain 0.26 kilometers per liter)—90
passengers per train mile or about 90 passenger miles per gallon of diesel fuel
(DMU assumed to attain one mile per gallon)
Passengers per train:
159 passengers per train (mix of “short” and “long” passenger trips) (current
average passengers per Link bus trip Montpelier-Burlington corridor: about 22
on the 18 buses operated each workday (2013)
Schedule
and travel times The workday schedule both directions
includes three a.m. and p.m. peak trains and one mid-day, 14 trains total.
Travel time for Burlington Union Station to State House ranges 60-70 minutes,
and Charlotte to Burlington 20 minutes. Figure 1 contains six trains a.m. peak
schedule and two mid-day runs. Even though commuter rail makes seven
Map 1 Map of Rail Corridors into Burlington
Table
5: BMC Commuter Rail Service Base Year Roundtrip Boarding
Passengers Estimate by Town and Station
Town/Station Estimated
Workday Boardings
Charlotte 38
Shelburne 50
South Burlington 96
Burlington
Union Station 268
Winooski 76
St. Michael's/Fanny Allen 7
Essex Junction/Technology
Park Stations 120
Richmond 22
Bolton 59
Waterbury 106
Montpelier
268
Total Individual Roundtrip Boardings Daily: 1,110
Note:
Actual station boardings certainly to vary significantly because
of use of a mix of estimate methods.
intermediate stops versus two by the
Link between Burlington and Montpelier—and five town centers to none for
Link--overall time travel times remain about equal between the two anchor
cities. Commuter rail furthers the State premier planning goal “to plan
development so as to maintain the historic settlement patterns of compact
village and urban centers surrounded by rural countryside…” (Vermont Statutes
Annotated).
DMUs—speeds,
capacity, fuel efficiency The typical DMU—a power car and
passenger car—fits Vermont passenger levels well and obtains high fuel
efficiency. DMU maximum operating speeds range about 120 to 135 km/h (75 to 85
mph). Capacity varies considerably
depending on seating configuration and space reserved for bicycles and baggage.
A two-car DMU carries 125-175 passengers, and an estimated average 95
passengers/km (passengers/mile) for BMC Commuter Rail Service. A test in
Florida of the DMU power unit of a Colorado Railcar DMU power unit hauling two
coaches attained fuel efficiency of 0.4 liters/km (1 mile per gallon), about a
third of the fuel consumption of locomotive hauled passenger cars.
Capital
requirements Overall capital requirements for track
investments, stations, DMUs, etc., outlined in Table 8 total $58.7 million.
Only two small segments of track require substantial upgrade, the 3.2 km (2.0
mi.) between Montpelier Jct. and the State House and 11 km (6.9 mi.) between
Burlington Union Station and Essex Jct. The 51 km (32 mi.) Essex
Jct.-Montpelier Jct. rail line investments completed in 2012 raised the rating
to Class 4 enabling 130 km/h (80 mph) operation with signaling. Capital costs
also include a share of Centralized Train Control
Table
6: Populations of Vermont, Chittenden County, Washington
County, and Burlington Metro
Area
Population
Percent of State
Burlington Metropolitan Area 211,261 33.7
Chittenden County (2012) 158,504 25.3
Washington County (2010) 59,534 9.5
Chittenden and Washington
Counties combined 218,038 34.8
Vermont (2012) 626,011 100.0
Source:
U.S. Bureau of the Census (Burlington Metropolitan Statistical Area comprised
of the three northwestern counties--Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle).
(CTC) installation and crash preventing
Positive Train Control (PTC) with the latter costs indeterminate currently.
With new American standards for DMU equipment set in 2012 and little recent DMU
manufacture to previous North American standards, the acquisition cost by
Denton County, TX acquisition of 11 DMU units in 2009 was used for estimating
their cost.
Revenues
and Operating The fare-box percentage estimate of
37% of the total cost of service (capital and annual costs) for BMC Commuter
Rail Service Phase compares to about 33% for all national and Vermont public
transit services. Fare-box recovery of train operating costs estimate is 60%.
Estimated operating costs of $9.40/train km ($15.00/train mi.) approximate
national averages and those of Westside Express Service DMU service along a 24
km route near Portland, OR with its 1,700 passengers per day.
Source
of capital financing and operating support The capital
and operating costs for BMC Commuter Rail Service may cost less State dollars
support than the $7 million State dollars budgeted for FY 2014 for the two
Amtrak trains. Table 10 outlines a State and federal sharing of capital and
operating support consistent with U.S. programs with base year State annual
share of all costs $879,000. (Note
motor vehicle travel receives large subsidies, for example,
about 42% of all U.S. highway capital
and maintenance expenditures paid for by mostly general funds and bonding [FHWA
Series].)
Figure
1: BMC Commuter Rail Service--Peak a.m. and Mid-day Schedule
Outbound Inbound
a.m.
peak mid-day a.m.
peak mid-day
Charlotte 5:47 6:27 7:12
11:37 7:08 8:07 8:52 1:41 pm
Shelburne 5:56
6:36 7:21 11:46 6:59
7:59 8:44 1:32
S. Burlington 6:07 6:47 7:30 11:55 6:49
7:49 8:34 1:22
Leave
Arrive
Burlington
6:10 6:50 7:33 11:58 6:46
7:46 8:31 1:19
Winooski 6:16
6:56 7:39 12:04 6:40
7:40 8:25 1:13
St. Michael's/
Fanny Allen 6:20 7:00
7:43 12:06 6:36
7:36 8:21 1:09
Essex Jct. 6:27
7:07 7:50 12:13 6:28 7:28 8:15 1:03 pm
IBM Tech.
Park
6:31 7:11 7:54
12:17 6:23
7:23 8:10 12:58
Richmond 6:37
7:17 8:00 12:23 6:16 7:17 8:02 12:50
Bolton 6:45 7:25 8:08 12:31 6:08
7:08 7:53 12:41
Waterbury 6:56 7:36 8:19 12:42 5:57
6:57 7:42 12:32
Arrive Leave
Montpelier
State
House 7:15
7:55 8:38 1:02 5:40
6:40 7:25
12:15 pm
Arrive Leave
Note:
The balance of the workday schedule includes three peak p.m. trains in each
direction.
Table
7: BMC Commuter Rail Service Capital Cost Estimates Summary:
Track and Bridge, Stations, Rail-Highway Crossing Warning, Centralized Train
Control and Rail Passenger
Equipment (DMU)
Category
Cost Estimate $
(million)
New Stations (7) 1.4
Centralized traffic control (2/3 share) 3.3
Track and bridge upgrades 8.0
Rail-highway crossing upgrades 3.6
Rail equipment maintenance facility 0.5
Subtotal: Track and other physical
improvements: 16.8
Rail equipment—five two-car DMU sets 36.6
Contingency (10%) 5.3
Total Capital Funding Estimate $58.7
Table
7: BMC Commuter Rail Service Capital Cost Estimates Summary:
Track and Bridge, Stations, Rail-Highway Crossing Warning, Centralized Train
Control and Rail Passenger
Equipment (DMU) (concluded)
Notes: 1. Estimates (except as noted)
based on past studies with inflation factors applied, and Vermont rail
administrators with knowledge of rail infrastructure costs.
2. DMU sets cost based on 2009 Denton
County, TX purchase.
3. A shared cost not included here,
Positive Train Control for crash prevention, is a certain future requirement.
Table
8: BMC Commuter Rail Service Annual Revenue and Costs Except
Capital
Estimated
$
Revenue
Total Annual Passenger Revenue 2,565,000
Revenue per train kilometer (mile) 5.24
(8.45)
Annual Costs Except Capital
Operating costs
Train Operating Costs:
Stations 400,000
Train
Operations
($8.08
per train kilometer,
$13.00
per train mile) 2,460,000
Subtotal:
2,860,000
Shuttles 250,000
Administrative (including insurance) 1,150,000
Total Annual Operating Costs 4,260,000
Annual Operating Cost Deficit 1,695,000
Operating costs per train kilometer 9.40
Operating costs per train mile 15.12
Annual cost support per passenger trip 3.05
Annual cost support per passenger
kilometer 0.062
Annual cost support per passenger mile 0.100
Passenger farebox percentage of total
annual costs 60%
Notes:
1. Commuter rail average operation cost per revenue vehicle kilometer $9.32 (per
revenue vehicle mile $15.00) (FTA 2011).
2. Revenue per passenger kilometer
$0.093 (per passenger mile $0.150)
Conclusion
This study finds BMC Commuter Rail service feasible in view of the projected
1,100 commuters daily, comparable to other low ridership U.S. systems. The
service capital and operating cost estimates also track near national averages.
The recent movement of
Vermont workers away from car
commuting, rapid growth of commuters on Link services since 2003, and
Burlington demand management programing successes shifting car commuters to bus
transit and other modes—all augur well for a successful commuter rail service
for the Burlington Metropolitan Area.
Table
9: BMC Commuter Rail Service Support per Passenger Trip and
per Passenger Kilometer (Mile)
Passenger
Support ($)
Support Category Per Trip Per Kilometer (Mile)
Dollars per Passenger
Annual Costs Less Revenue
3.05 0.062 (0.10)
Capital (amortization) 4.65 0.093
(0.15)
Total
support: 7.70
0.155 (0.25)
Note:
Operating support per base 555,000 annual trips Table 3, and operating and
capital outlined in Table 7 and 8.
Table
10: BMC Commuter Rail Service Estimated Total Annual
Funding—State and Federal for Operations and Capital
Annual
Funding ($ )
Federal
Funds (80%) State Funds (20%) Total
Operating Support 1,356,000 339,000 1,695,000
Capital 2,160,000 540,000 2,700,000
Total 3,516,000
879,000 4,395,000
Note:
Capital financing, $58.7.4 million, Table 7, amortized over 25 years at 3.0%
interest. Federal funding is possible through a number of avenues with no more
than a 20% State match.
References
Most Vermont rail studies available at
the Chittenden Country Regional
Planning Commission online library:
http://www.ccrpcvt.org/studies/
American Public Transportation
Association (APTA) (2013) 2013 public
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(APTA: Washington).
BRW et al (1996) Burlington area
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Agency of Transportation (VAOT):
Montpelier, VT).
Campus Area Transportation Management
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student commuting patterns. (CATMA:
Burlington, VT).
Chittenden County Transportation
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provision of ridership data.
Burlington, VT.
LS Transit Systems et al (1993) Vermont
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for Vermont commuter rail passenger services along three corridors out of
Burlington, Vermont. 64 p Unpublished paper by Tony
Redington, Burlington, VT.
Redington T (1999) Impacts of the
modern roundabout on North American traffic circulation, modal choice,
sustainable development and land use. Proceedings
of the
34th
Annual Conference Canadian Transportation Research Forum,
pp 441-455
(CTRF: Woodstock, ON).
RL Banks and Associates (1991) Commuter
rail feasibility study: final report.
(VAOT: Montpelier, VT).
RL Banks et al (1999) Burlington-Essex
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Transportation: Montpelier, VT).
Sivak M and Schoettle B (2011) Recent
changes in age composition of drivers in 15 countries. P 2 UMTRI-2011-43
(University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute: Ann Arbor).
Skoropowski, E (1989) VermonTrain: A
plan for cost-effective regional rail service in northern Vermont using diesel
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Montpelier, VT).
U.S. Bureau of the Census (2014)
American Community Survey (ACS).
An interactive public data base
providing annual/multi-year samples of demographic factors, including means of
travel to work, reportable by town, county, state, and national.
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Tony Redington
Burlington, VT 05401
Blog: TonyRVT.blogspot.com
May 2014
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