TTA to build rail despite review

A recent flap over Federal Transit Administration ratings had some concerned that the Triangle Transit Authority’s commuter railway project might come to a halt.

Each year, the FTA evaluates projects submitted. This year, the TTA did not receive a rating because of an ongoing review by the FTA of its cost-benefit model.

The TTA’s plan seeks to connect the urban centers of Cary, Durham and Raleigh and to alleviate traffic conditions.

“We are in a kind of a limbo waiting for this model to be reviewed,” said John Claflin, general manager of TTA.

The model is an evaluation of economic, demographic, location, existing transit and roadway, and environmental factors that will produce a benefit rating. The FTA uses this rating to determine if a project should be funded.

“It was bad timing for us,” Claflin said.

In terms of funding, a non-rating will have no effect on the future of the project.

“It has nothing to do with funding,” Claflin said. “The project is still strong. … It hasn’t lost any of its luster.”

The current FTA schedule states that the conclusion of the review will be in mid-February. The results will be released immediately.

This project is one of many commuter rail systems being implemented across the country.

Metrolink, a commuter rail system in Los Angeles, connects cities across southern California and has made a dent in the area’s infamous traffic.

“We were in essence directly taking cars off the freeway,” said Metrolink CEO David Solow.

In a report released last July, Metrolink has reduced the average number of weekday car trips in California by 24,971 per day.

In a national sense, Edward Hudgins, Washington director of the Objectivist Center, said the popularity of such systems might have more to do with politics than practicality.

“It’s not so much a matter of the use becoming popular as the federal money becoming popular,” he said. “The federal government will put up a substantial portion of the money if the local government will put up matching funds.”

Hudgins said he thinks the commuter rail movement does not offer effective results. “The problem is that after the rail system is built, what a lot of jurisdictions find was that the congestion was not eased … and now the local jurisdictions have to put up with the upkeep.”

The issue of where to build the tracks and stations also can be problematic. “In most areas, it would be very difficult to put in a system because you have buildings already there,” Hudgins said.

Ground will break on the TTA rail project this year and is expected to be completed in 2008.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.