2009: A year in rail transit

Looking back at 2009, public transit had a big year throughout the region. With a trip north to Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. late in the year, I was able to experience every rail transit line that opened in 2009. Here’s a review of those systems, in chronological order, with a few highlights.

TriMet’s WES Commuter Rail broke convention… and just plain broke a lot too.

First, in February, Portland’s TriMet opened up its first commuter rail operation, WES. This line runs 14.7 miles from Beaverton Transit Center (where a transfer can be made to MAX light rail) south to Wilsonville. Three intermediate stops allow riders to access the Nimbus/Washington Square area and central Tigard and Tualatin.

The project opened in February, late by about three months, and slightly over budget. The equipment — Colorado Railcar “Aero” Diesel-Multiple-Units — have been buggy and error prone since the beginning. Mired in political controversies (especially from loud critics of TriMet’s rail transit projects), WES has had low ridership so far.

In time, the line may become a key core of a larger Portland-Salem commuter operation, or it may convert into proper High-Capacity Transit with all-day, every-day service at frequent intervals. Or, it may languish as a testament to Washington County’s inflated self-image, a transit equivalent of Beaverton’s Round development.

Pros: Comfy and fast; great connections with Salem busses; WiFi on board.

Cons: Constant equipment failures; mixed ridership and high fixed costs; no fare transfers for Salem busses.

Seattle finally stuck its tow in the light rail water, but will there be more?

While Portland’s TriMet was busy making a commuter operation that looked as much like light rail as possible, Seattle’s Sound Transit was busy making a light rail system — Central Link — that looked very much like Vancouver’s SkyTrain heavy rail system. The result was a 13.9 mile line through Seattle’s downtown transit tunnel and then south to Tukwila, opened in July, with a short extension (1.7 miles) to the SeaTac airport that opened in December. The line uses extensive viaducts and tunneling, and includes a station in a tunnel much like Portland’s MAX light rail.

With such a short segment, Central Link has a long way to go before it develops sufficient critical mass to become a major part of the Seattle transit universe. Indeed, it is the expansions to the system that are currently the center of debate. An extension eastward through Bellevue has generated controversy regarding what bridge on which to cross Lake Washington and where and how to route through downtown Bellevue. Meanwhile, there is discussion of extensions wholly within the city of Seattle, and some interesting debate about the role of streetcars in augmenting the system.

Pros: Feels fast, a few nice stations, train length not limited by system design to two car sets.

Cons: Fare system less than ideal; still only one line not a full system, odd, isolated feel to route in SoDo.

Vancouver, B.C. added a sleek new SkyTrain line.

Just in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver opened a new SkyTrain route — the “Canada Line” — from the YVR airport to downtown in August. This route also has a short branch to the suburb of Richmond, bringing the system mileage to 11.8. Totally separate from the existing SkyTrain heavy rail system, the Canada Line is half underground, half elevated, and very rapid. Equipment for the line is incompatible with the older SkyTrain segments, but the system is integrated into TransLink and uses the same fares and transfers.

Given that this is a relatively new line, it’s hard to say if it will spur lots of tower-block development like the older SkyTrain stations have. Like most totally grade separated lines, the stations constrict train size.

Pros: Bigger, sleeker, more comfortable cars; connections to YVR airport and the Richmond suburbs; Fast and convenient.

Cons: Equipment is incompatible with the rest of the network; stations limit train length.

Portland gets a new downtown light rail alignment and a new spoke to the transit wheel.

The last major opening in the Pacific Northwest was again in Portland, with a two stage addition to the MAX light rail network; 1.8 miles of new downtown alignment on the old bus mall, and 6.5 miles of new line from Gateway Transit Center to Clackamas Town Center Mall.

The alignment on the mall in downtown, sharing the roadway with busses, was a significant cause of worry for me. I remember the old bus mall and the completely undisciplined insanity of the busses there, and could not imagine that exisitng with MAX going through it. The new design, however, injects a significant amount of formality into the mall and works breathtakingly well. In a city that seems more interested in finding the latest negative to gripe about, it is a virtually unsung triumph.

The Gateway to Clackamas TC alignment, although looking much like a roller coaster at first glance, operates quickly and smoothly, and introduces a swift connection between outer southeast and downtown that did not exist prior.

Pros: Downtown segment operates smoothly; fewer downtown station stops; feels fast; great Park & Ride facilities.

Cons: Limited transit-oriented development potential; slight delays at Gateway and Steel Bridge.

Overall, a total of 50.4 miles of new rail transit were added in the Pacific Northwest during 2009. 2010? Here in Portland, two transit projects should get underway during the year, the Portland Streetcar’s eastside project, and the MAX extension to Milwaukie. Otherwise, it should prove a far quieter year in terms of construction, but also a time of important debates about new additions to the transit maps.