The Virginian-Pilot
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Transportation planners have drafted a long-term blueprint for public transit in the region, including enhanced bus service, expanded light rail, and new ferry and commuter rail service.
The "Transit Vision Plan for Hampton Roads," released Thursday, does not offer price tags or ways to pay for the projects. Costs and ridership estimates will be developed over the next several months.
Current transit offerings have been called skeletal by Hampton Roads Transit's president, Michael Townes. Many buses run only hourly, and large chunks of the region are not served.
The new plan is far more extensive than anything discussed in the past.
The core of the proposal is a light-rail network in the urban areas supported by express bus and bus rapid transit - buses that run on dedicated lanes - in the suburban areas. Commuter rail would bring workers from the suburbs to the commercial cores, and intercity passenger rail would connect Hampton Roads to Richmond and beyond.
Among the specific proposals:
- Extending the light-rail line now under construction in Norfolk to Norfolk Naval Station, the Virginia Beach Oceanfront, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Suffolk and the Peninsula.
- Building commuter rail between Norfolk and North Carolina through Chesapeake and between downtown Portsmouth and downtown Suffolk.
- Running ferry service connecting Norfolk with Hampton and Newport News until light rail can cross the harbor.
- Implementing a bus rapid-transit line at the Oceanfront in Virginia Beach.
- Establishing an intermodal transportation hub near Harbor Park in Norfolk linking light rail, commuter rail and bus lines.
- Expanding express bus routes.
Robert Case, a transportation engineer who manages the study for the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization, said there is growing political interest in shifting resources from highway projects to transit. He said such a shift would be a "sea change" and would require changes in land use and funding priorities.
The plan calls for creating higher-density and mixed-use development patterns in some areas to support an expanded transit network.
"The plan is intended to identify those locations so the cities and counties, if they want these things, can make their land-use decisions accordingly," Case said.
It's projected that about 820,000 residents would live close enough to use the higher-speed transit services.
In South Hampton Roads, about 320,000 residents would live within walking distance of an expanded light-rail system.
Funded by the state, the $400,000 study was developed by consultants and managed by the Metropolitan Planning Organization.
"A broad and integrated regional transit network will increase mobility options, contribute to energy and natural resource conservation and strengthen the regional economy," the report states.
Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com
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here we go...
well you know Pedro and sd1955, u may as well be upset at the US government for using our tax dollars to fund NASA. cuz if they didn't fund NASA, then alot of the technology that we're using to have this discussion wouldn't be available. But ur right, it's a waste of money to research something that could help out region and someday an entire Nation. also sd1955, i love how people like u always say that these projects or ideas are done by people that know nothing. Since you know so much, how do u propose we fix the transportation issue? Don't say by adding more lanes or tunnels either.
Take a look
Pull up beside ANY TRT bus and count the people that are on it. You will probably have fingers left over. The demographics of the riders would be interesting. From what I've seen it appears to be lower income for the most part and those that for whatever reason don't own a car. My point here is that with ridership so low how can this light rail system be something that is needed. They can't pay to repair the existing roads but they can sink BILLIONS into a light rail system that will only serve about ten percent of the population? Somehow the logic escapes me here.
Reaching too Far
During the next couple of decades, HRT might be able to extend light rail to the oceanfront, naval base, and ODU. They could probably also build bus rapid transit lines along the coeanfront, Jefferson Avenue in Newport News, and a few other locations. The rest of the plan seems like pie in the sky. There is a website for the transit vision plan at: http://www.hamptonroadstransitplan.com/ . For anyone who can't get enough of this debate, there is also a norfolk_light_rail forum on Yahoo! Groups.
Consultants
The thorn in everyone's side! You are RIGHT ON THE MONEY about all the money spent on these experts. I thought the experts were being interviewed for lofty positions and hired already, guess they don't know squat. Talk a good talk! You or I could probably fill the position with all the ideas we may have, with NO consult fee either! Even a round table "retreat" doesn't answer the needs. Apply for that job when it comes up next time! :)
Wasted money
If we had saved all the money wasted on the endless stream of consultant studies we would a nice down payment on our transportation problems. What fools we are to spend $500,000 here and there to have consultant firms develope schemes for which we know there is no funding. Heck, by 2012 we will not even have the resources to maintain our existing highways. The MPO should be ashamed of this sillyness. If you drive you pay, and the best, least expensive, and least obtrusive way to accomplish that is via a fuel tax increase. Wake up and smell the gasoline fumes America!
A bright future
The plans will help connect the area better and make travel easier for college students, residents, military, and tourists. It will also create lots of jobs, make our roads safer and bring lots of tourists money to the area. Everybody in the Tidewater Area should throw a party knowing that they have a bright future.
sounds familiar...
All this naysaying probably sounds a little like the unbelief which DC and Northern VA must have heard in the 70's. Oh well, I guess its a free country so everyone gets a voice. But time will tell and mass transit will come to fruition in the coming decades. The car culture is over, suburban sprawl is inefficient, foreign oil is monopoly, this is the 21st century!
Now this is more like it....
This is more along the line of what I've been harping about in my posts to tame Hampton Roads' traffic and transit issues. This new plan, when realized, can employ hundreds jobs by itself. Traffic congestion is reduced on I-64 and other major roadways, and commuters would only have to go from their home to the nearest station lot. Saves on gas for commuters, too; instead of driving 10's of miles each day, potentially down to only a couple at most. On the light rail and commuter lines, riders can zip right on by traffic stuck on the roads, like at HRBT or I-64/I-264 Interchange, or any of the downtown traffic. This is the correct way to move Hampton Roads ahead instead of just building more roads. Now, if we can have our representatives in state and federal government push for money and stimulus funds, and this ball can get rolling. We shall see.
It's a great idea but from a
It's a great idea but from a practicality standpoint the cities in Tidewater aren't very accustomed to working together. Norfolk wants to be Virginia Beach. Virginia Beach wants to be Norfolk. Portsmouth doesn't know what it wants to be, but charges the highest tax rates anyway. Hampton and Newport News don't want to be left out. Chesapeake and Suffolk are less confused, but in all these other cities we have an identity crisis more than anything else. If our cities would actually realize who they are, and stop trying to expand beyond that scope (with the true intent of increasing revenues), we'd have much nicer places to live, and enough cooperation to achieve something like this plan.
Yeah
That Norfolk - Hampton ferry is all about building condos in the middle of the harbor.