Virginia Beach officials eye Tide ridership numbers

VIRGINIA BEACH

Newtown Road is the eastern end of the line for light rail. A yellow metal beam across the tracks blocks the train from moving farther, and a fence emphasizes the dividing line between Norfolk, which has The Tide, and Virginia Beach, which doesn't.

But Thursday morning, three of the five passengers waiting under a shelter to hop the train to Norfolk were Beach residents. It'll be years - if ever - before they'll be able to catch it in their own city.

"Virginia Beach needs to get on top of this," said Stephanie Riddick, who has taken The Tide three times this week to attend classes at Tidewater Community College's downtown Norfolk campus.

Lee Edmondson and his wife drove from the Pungo area in southern Virginia Beach to test out light rail.

"It would be nice to hook it up to Town Center or the Oceanfront," Edmondson said.

Light-rail proponents in Virginia Beach have been buoyed by the packed parking lot at the Newtown Road stop, the initially high ridership numbers and the generally positive reviews from the public in the train's first week of operation.

"It's great to see the way it's been embraced," Beach Mayor Will Sessoms said. "Virginia Beach residents are spending money in Norfolk. I'd like to return the favor."

Still, Sessoms said he doesn't expect light rail to be on the fast track to Virginia Beach.

Federal transit officials want more-accurate and long-term ridership numbers for the Norfolk light-rail line to evaluate the effectiveness of extending The Tide to Virginia Beach, Sessoms said.

And the Beach needs federal money to bring The Tide to the city.

With free rides and the novelty of the train, Hampton Roads Transit officials always expected opening use to be at least double the estimated average daily ridership of 2,900 people. Still, about 13,000 people a day have hopped on The Tide this week. The Newtown Road station has been one of the busiest, and HRT has opened an overflow parking lot there, said Tom Holden, an HRT spokesman.

Vice Mayor Louis Jones said the enthusiasm over light rail's launch is to be expected. But it's irrelevant to how much The Tide will be used in the long term.

"They've had a celebration and a good time, but that's it," Jones said. "An opening of that sort is no criteria on which to base a decision on whether to move forward with light rail in Virginia Beach."

Critics have told him they still oppose bringing the line to Virginia Beach because of the cost, Jones said.

The Beach is under no pressure to rush the study or decision process, he said.

Last spring, HRT officials delayed until 2013 the completion of a $6.6 million Beach light-rail study so they could incorporate Norfolk ridership numbers. That means the City Council won't be able to decide on the project, or on whether to hold a referendum on an extension, until late 2013.

The estimated cost of extending light rail 12 miles from Newtown Road to the Oceanfront is $807 million. That extension is estimated to be the least likely to qualify for federal money, in part because ridership isn't expected to be high enough to justify the cost, according to the initial study. But less-expensive alternatives, such as stretching the line from Newtown Road to Town Center, would cost $254 million.

The Beach bought the 10.6-mile abandoned rail line the city is considering for light rail for $40 million, including $10 million in city money.

After more than a year of news about light rail's cost overruns, HRT's mismanagement of the project, and launch delays, the line's initial success is a relief to some Beach council members.

It may help to convince a few skeptical Beach residents of the merits of extending the line, Councilman Glenn Davis said.

"At the end of the day, it still comes down to cost," Davis said. "It's not going to hurt that it opened up to such great success."

Deirdre Fernandes, (757) 222-5121, deirdre.fernandes@pilotonline.com