MODERN TIMES
Art Hobson
ahobson@uark.edu
NWA Times 18 July
2009
Visioning rail transit in Northwest Arkansas
Rail
transit connecting Drake Field (Greenland), Fayetteville, the NWA Mall,
Johnson, Springdale, Lowell, Rogers, the NWA Community College, and
Bentonville, with a link to the Regional Airport, makes sense in terms of
mobility, high quality urbanism, commerce, and the environment. This is the message of a stunning
fact-filled 162-page full color book published recently by the University of
Arkansas (UA) Community Design Center (CDC).
The
book, "Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas: Lifestyles and Ecologies,"
culminates a three-year research project by the CDC. Participants include seven faculty members and 26 students
of the UA School of Architecture, seven nationally recognized experts from the
American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Green Building Council, three
faculty members and eight graduate students at the Washington University in St.
Louis School of Architecture and Urban Design, and the UA Office of University
Relations.
CDC
Director Stephen Luoni says the project was pursued because "it makes
sense here. Eighty years ago this
area was a rail region, and because of that, two-thirds of our population live
within one mile of the rail right-of-way.
There's enormous potential to be tapped." The project has already won three national awards and been
exhibited nationally in seven major cities.
A
central theme is Northwest Arkansas' perfect suitability for rail. The population is mostly in seven
cities laid out in a nearly straight line near the Arkansas and Missouri
railroad's right of way. Jerry
Lipka of the A&M Railroad announced in 2006 that his company is open to negotiations
on sharing that right of way with commuter rail. The availability of this right of way makes rail transit
enormously easier and cheaper.
Despite the real estate sprawl that plagues our region, most of the
population still lives within a mile of the railroad. That population is now about 400,000 and is expected to grow
to over 600,000 by 2024. New
roadway to handle all these people will be cost-prohibitive and will only make
matters worse as new highways attract more drivers.
One
of the beauties of the book is its visioning of the effect of railroad stations
on their surrounding neighborhoods.
In computer-enhanced photographs, we see the area around Fayetteville's
Dickson Street station transform to a small transit stop with parking and a pocket
park, then to a larger station and park, and finally to a bustling urban place
with a complete transit center for buses and trains, new housing, and new
retail development. Such is the
typical effect of "Transit Oriented Development" (TOD).
The
moment officials announce realistic plans for future regional rail, the centers
of Fayetteville, Springdale, and every other regional center will begin to
transform in this way.
Expectations will change.
Sprawl will slow or cease.
Retail and housing will begin moving back downtown near future stations.
Thus, there's no time like the
present for getting serious about rail.
Here
are some of the book's other facts and figures: A 4-lane highway can move 9000 passengers per hour and costs
$40 million per mile to build, while commuter rail can move 40,000 passengers
per hour and costs $35 million per mile.
At capacity, rail carries the same number of passengers as 16 lanes of
highway and costs 80 percent less.
Transit riders pay for 30-70 percent of their systems' operating costs
while suburban motorists pay for only 25 percent of highway operating
costs. British scientists report
that the tension experienced by commuters stuck in traffic is equivalent to
that felt when parachuting for the first time. Medical symptoms ranging from sleep deprivation to digestive
problems are linked to long commutes.
U.S. highway capacity will increase by only 10 percent by 2050, while
demand for ground transportation will increase by 250 percent.
Furthermore: Home values increase by $140 for every
10 feet closer they are to a transit station, beginning at a quarter mile, so
that a home located 100 feet from a transit station has a $19,000 premium over
the same house located a quarter mile away. Car commuters are less involved as citizens: For every 10 minutes spent driving to
work, community involvement by the commuter falls by 10 percent. TOD residents own fewer vehicles, drive
fewer miles, and rely more on walking and transit. TOD reduces congestion, accidents, energy consumption,
pollution, illness, land use, and household travel costs. Subway and light rail
systems are common features of leading creative centers worldwide.
Last
week, the Fayetteville City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the
NWA Regional Mobility Authority to seek funding for a full-fledged rail transit
feasibility study by an outside firm, a suggestion that should be accepted
enthusiastically if the RMA is worthy of its name. In early 2006 a coalition of regional interests sent a delegation
to Washington, DC, to ask Representative John Boozman to seek such funding from
the federal government. The group
returned empty handed. Yet Boozman
was able, at the RMA's request, to secure a $600,000 federal earmark for a
feasibility study of a superfluous four-lane "western beltway" paralleling
I-540 several miles to the west.
There's a lot wrong with these priorities.
You
can pick up a copy of "Visioning Rail" at the CDC's office on the
Fayetteville Square at 104 N. East Avenue, Suite 1, phone 575-5772. Luoni will present a lecture and slide
show about the project on Thursday evening July 30 at 6:30 pm in the
Fayetteville Library, where copies of the book will be distributed.