There are some cities that don’t get enough nearly recognition for great urban design and transportation planning. I have already discussed Denver at length, and their $6.2 billion FasTracks program that will add 140 miles of light rail, commuter rail, and BRT throughout the region. Salt Lake City is another Western city that’s making smart, cost-effective transportation choices to fundamentally refashion their region into a more transit-oriented metropolis.
With a city population of just 181,000 and a regional population of 1.1 million, Salt Lake City does not usually come to mind when you think of major western cities. Frankly, it doesn’t really come to mind when you think of progressive Western cities or fast-growing SunBelt cities either. Nevertheless, Salt Lake City is surprisingly right there with Portland and Denver when it comes to bold, aggressive transit projects in the Western U.S. Salt Lake City has just embarked on its FrontLines program, which will add 70 miles of rail in seven years at a cost of $2.8 billion. Once completed in 2015, the mid-sized Salt Lake City region will boast a whopping 134 miles of light rail and commuter rail, in addition to 43 miles of BRT.
I have never been to Salt Lake City, but the FrontLines program is yet another example of what Bay Area transit planning could and should strive for: cost-effictive transit solutions that maximize efficiency and coverage throughout the region and serve as a framework for future growth. FrontLines will cost less than one half of what Bart to San Jose will cost ($2.8 billion vs. $6.2 billion) while providing 4.5 times the rail-miles (70 miles versus 16 miles) in less than half the time (2015 opening vs. 2025 at the earliest). Why? Like Denver and most other Western cities, Salt Lake City has a comprehensive regional planning agency that has not wedded itself to one mode of transportation (i.e. Bart), so it can get the most bang for its buck with light rail, commuter rail, BRT, etc. instead of relying on heavy rail even for low-ridership suburban projects. The Bay Area will only continue to fall farther and farther behind until we can solve our leadership issues that get us into these boondoggles in the first place.
I’d just note that “building” miles of rail isn’t really meaningful when you’re talking about commuter rail, so I wouldn’t be intimidated by the slogans. But the light rail plans are certainly impressive.
I disagree–yes, it does skew the numbers a bit, but the reality is that it’s still extremely valuable when comparing SLC or Denver’s programs to BART to SJ, Livermore BART, etc. These projects face the same scenarios as SLC and Denver, but rather than opting for the cost-effective commuter rail option, they spend over ten times more to build heavy rail (even ripping out the original tracks in the process, as in the cast of BART to SJ). The point is that SLC, Denver, and other cities are facing similar choices as MTC and BART, but they’re getting exponentially more bang for their buck.