evaluation criteria for seattle streetcars nelson\nygaard consulting associates seattle center city...

$: Evaluation Criteria for Seattle Streetcars Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Seattle Center City Streetcar Workshop July 20, 2007$
Evaluation Criteria for Seattle Streetcars Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates

Seattle Center City Streetcar Workshop

July 20, 2007


Evaluation Criteria for Seattle Streetcars


Transit Plan - Goal

… Transit every 15 minutes … 18 hours a day … 7 days a week …


Existing and Future Transit


Seattle Candidate Streetcar Corridors

All UVTN routes are initial candidates for streetcar service.

Today:

• Criteria Evaluation

• Mapping Exercise


Screening Criteria

• Grade• Street Geometry• Physical Barriers• Possible Terminal Location• Utilities• Volume/Capacity Ratio• Duplication of Service• Transit-Supportive Land Uses• Industrial Zoning


Grade

• Grades inhibit streetcar operations

• 0% to 6% - acceptable• 6% to 10% - if all other screening criteria are met

• > 10% - eliminated


Street Geometry

• Interchanges• Turning movements (<90° unacceptable)

• Weaving or curvature needs• Exclusive right-of-way needs• Transit priority needs (bridges, underpasses)

• Wheel noise


Other Physical Barriers

• Low bridges or skyways– >14’ of vertical clearance– < 14’ of vertical clearance – fatal flaw

• Narrow streets– Lane widths narrower than 10 ft is a fatal

flaw

• At-grade freight railroad crossing– Requires difficult approval process – fatal

flaw


Terminal Location

• Needs reasonable location to terminate and connect to other transit:– No strong connection to

transit hub is treated as a fatal flaw


Utilities

• Relocation of major utilities (water, storm or sanitary) may be too costly:– >6 ft from trackway– 3-6 ft from trackway– <3 ft from trackway


Speed and Reliability

• Traffic congestion inhibits successful streetcar– Corridor or segments with volume/lane

ratios greater than the average plus one standard deviation is treated as a fatal flaw (unless exclusive ROW)


Duplication of Service

• Corridors that directly compete for riders with existing or programmed LRT service should be eliminated.


Land Use Types

Low Medium High

Airport General Commercial Small Scale Commercial General

Golf Course Downtown Secondary Office Downtown Edge

Industrial General Office-Residential Medium Density

Downtown Entertainment

Industrial Light Mixed Use - Residential Medium

Downtown Primary Office

Institutional (E.g. Cemetery) Office / Convertible Space Downtown Retail

Protected Open Space Residential Medium Density Live Work Units

Parks Residential High Density

Water Mixed Use - Residential High

Railway Mixed Use with Retail

Residential Low Density Office- Residential High

Retail Single Story Transit Oriented Use

Trolley Railway

Vehicular Right-of-Way


Land Use Types, cont’d

• “Low” transit-supportive land use:– Residential density < 10 units/acre– Industrial– Low-scale commercial development– No significant mixed-use development


Industrial Zoning

• Streetcar garage needs to be located on track connected to main alignment:– No industrial zoning within ½ mile of

corridor is treated as a fatal flaw.


Summary• Grade

– 0% to 6% - acceptable– 6% to 10% - if all other

screening criteria are met– > 10% - eliminated

• Street Geometry– Interchanges– Turning movements (<90°

unacceptable)– Weaving or curvature needs– Exclusive right-of-way

needs– Transit priority needs– Wheel noise

• Physical Barriers– Low bridges or skyways

• >14’ vertical clearance• < 14’ vertical clearance

– Lane widths narrower than 10 ft

– At-grade freight railroad crossing

• Possible Terminal Location– No strong connection to

transit hub is treated as a fatal flaw


Summary, Cont’d• Utilities

– >6 ft from trackway– 3-6 ft from trackway– <3 ft from trackway

• Volume/Capacity Ratio– Volume/lane ratios

greater than the average plus one standard deviation

• Duplication of Service– Corridors that directly

compete for riders with existing or programmed LRT

• Transit-Supportive Land Uses– See list

• Industrial Zoning– No industrial zoning

within ½ mile of corridor

evaluation criteria for seattle streetcars nelson\nygaard consulting associates seattle center city...

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