City of Houston _______________

  

    Amanda K. Edwards, At-Large 4                 Special Announcement

Special Announcement

April 16, 2019

 

The High Capacity Transit Task Force Findings Are Here!

Click the Image to see High Capacity Transit 101

"Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men's blood and probably themselves will not be realized."

-Daniel Burnham

BACKGROUND

Over the next 25 years, the eight county Houston-Galveston area region will absorb an estimated additional 4.2 million people. That means our regional population will spike from over 6.5 million to 10.76 million by 2045. Our current model of expanding freeways and highway-only construction will not support the region's anticipated mobility needs. A gap in mobility capacity could mean the region's anticipated population growth, and its accompanying economic growth, could go unrealized in our region. Accordingly, our region must act with urgency to manage the mobility challenges that exist today and those that will severely worsen tomorrow if robust action is not taken soon.

In order to address the urgent mobility needs of our region, the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) Transportation Policy Council (TPC) created the High Capacity Transit (HCT) Task Force in 2017 to identify (1) a high capacity transit vision for 2045, (2) the costs associated with a range of high capacity transit options, (3) the economic impacts on the region based on these options, and (4) the funding options needed to finance such a network. In addition, the Task Force recommended a priority network for inclusion in the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) in light of the severe financial constraints the region is presently facing without a paradigm shift for funding. The report reveals the aforementioned information and illustrates that we must make substantial investments in high capacity transit in our region today in order to reap the benefits tomorrow.

THE APPROACH

The HCT Task Force created three work groups to discern transit service needs and concepts, economic impacts, and financial options. From this work, four separate high capacity transit scenarios were derived: High, Medium-High, Medium-Low, and Low. Each of the four scenarios represent different levels of capital investment and modes of transit-from the High Scenario, which envisions a fully grade separated rail network, to the Low Scenario, encompassing a network of at-grade Bus Rapid Transit (BRT); the two middle networks would be composed of a patchwork of at-grade Light Rail Transit (LRT) and BRT routes throughout, and some smaller portions of grade-separated rail. The various scenarios were predicated on data obtained from the travel demand analysis conducted by HGAC. To access the full report for all scenarios, click here. The 2045 Vision Network (High Scenario) is pictured below.

HIGH SCENARIO MAP: "VISION NETWORK"

 

 

 

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF INVESTMENT IN HIGH CAPACITY TRANSIT

Regional Job Growth & Other Economic Growth

The region as a whole would experience tremendous economic growth from substantial investment in high capacity transit. The Vision Network (High Scenario) would produce the following noteworthy economic impacts:

The implementation of the Vision Network (at varying levels) helps to solve the region's future mobility challenge that could result in stagnation. As the statistics above highlight, it catalyzes substantial economic growth in the form of jobs and economic output for the region as a whole.

Personal Impacts

The Vision Network (High Scenario) would produce over one half trillion dollars in direct personal benefits to our region through a reduction in crashes and fatalities, an increase in personal income to our residents, and a reduction in the amount of time spent in our cars on heavily congested freeways. With regard to travel time savings, improved public safety and personal impact, the Vision Network (High Scenario) returns more than three times every dollar invested. The Vision Network (High Scenario) also expands regional GDP more than threefold for every dollar spent.

Comparatively, our current vision of building nothing but highways through 2040 produces benefits so minimal that their effects barely register on any chart and will keep us in our cars for longer periods of time, traveling along hyper-congested freeways. And building no new highways or transit- keeping our existing system unchanged-will produce additional travel time costs in the tens of billions of dollars. The data is clear, the problem is made worse if we look only to highways for a solution to our mobility needs.

INVESTING IN OUR FUTURE VITALITY (FUNDING)

Our region does not rank among the world's preeminent leaders in health, science, and engineering merely by chance. We gained our reputation through the prescient foresight of leaders supported by residents committed to making the investments needed to realize a better tomorrow. Resting on our laurels today will not suffice. In order to make the investments needed to reach our potential tomorrow, we need to be clear in what those costs are and creative in how we fund them.

The capital costs for the Low Scenario is roughly $34 billion; $42 billion for the Medium-Low Scenario; $81 billion for the Medium-High Scenario; and $100 billion for the High Scenario. Annual Operations & Maintenance costs range from $1.4 billion annually for the Low Scenario to $1.3 billion for the High Scenario. Currently, the region has access to $25.6 billion for transit, leaving close to an $75 billion delta between wat we have access to and what would result in the most significant economic impacts for our region. According to the HCT Draft Report:

[H]igher capital investment scenarios are more efficient than the lower scenarios in terms of operating costs, boardings per revenue mile and hour, and cost per boarding. This is to be expected because a higher level of capital investment results in higher speeds and capacities, and therefore more passenger throughput.

In order to gain the most substantial service and economic benefits, we must focus on the paradigm shift needed to address the delta between current funding and funding needed for higher scenarios of the Vision Network.

The members of the HCT Task Force identified the need to increase funding from federal and state sources, engage in potential public-private partnerships, and explore various value capture opportunities, such as (but not limited to): tax increment financing and special assessment districts to create new streams of revenue for funding. More detailed work is needed to pursue the full array of funding to fully implement a high capacity transit vision as described in the report.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEXT STEPS

In our discussions with other areas ranging from Atlanta to Denver to Los Angeles, we learned to be bold in our vision; to be inclusive of the entire region, speak with one voice; and to embrace seemingly unlikely alliances to achieve something that no one group could achieve independently.

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

Today, we are the beneficiaries of great decision-making from our past. Through the power of bold vision, our region grew from an unlikely tract of land into a celebrated center of commerce and culture. In large part due to both the vision and substantial investments of the past, our region is one of the most diverse regions in the country and an industry leader in the medical, aerospace, and energy fields.

We now have an opportunity to continue that legacy by making the sound investments today that will facilitate the built environment needed for new pathways to commerce, innovation, and economic viability to emerge. In short, a paradigm shift for funding high capacity transit is needed in order to reach our region's full potential. The mobility feat facing our region is formidable and will only become more challenging the longer we wait to address it. Accordingly, the time to act is now, and the vision must be bold enough to inspire the needed collective action in the Houston-Galveston region.