cotton belt corridor regional rail project - dart.org

Prepared for Dallas Area Rapid Transit

General Planning Consultant Managed by URS Corporation

Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail

Project Ridership

July 2013

Prepared by URS Corporation

Document Revision Record Project/Report Name: URS Project Number: 25338842

PM: Dan Meyers PIC: Jerry Smiley

Revision Number: Date:

Version 1 December 2013

Version 2

Originator: Reggie Herman, AICP, URS December 30, 2013

Comments by:

Task Manager Approval: Date:

Verified/Approved by: Date:

Distribution Name Title Firm

Cotton Belt Corridor Regional Rail Project

Ridership i

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................................................... i

1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1

2.0 PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT STRATEGIES .................................................................................... 1

3.0 AGENCY COORDINATION .................................................................................................... 2

3.1 Interagency Coordination During Scoping........................................................................ 2

3.2 Tribal Coordination During Scoping ................................................................................. 2

3.3 Jurisdictional Agency Coordination .................................................................................. 5

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2-1 Area Focus Group Meetings ................................................................................... 2


Ridership 1

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Another critical component to the evaluation of rail in the Cotton Belt Corridor Passenger Rail

Project (Cotton Belt Project) is ridership. This section of the report will summarize the travel

forecasts prepared for the Cotton Belt Project. A simplified approach was employed to develop

an order of magnitude patronage for a full-build (also known as All Station) Alternative with

eleven to twelve stations and two minimal operating segments (MOS) that serve Dallas/Fort

Worth International (DFW) Airport to Addison and Carrollton to Addison, respectively. This

information was used to estimate parking needs at stations as well as level of rail service

frequency and capacity. It should be noted that there was limited sensitivity testing on ridership

for the project. Scenarios with different station locations or fewer stations were not analyzed.

2.0 METHODOLOGY

The regional travel demand model developed and supported by the North Central Texas Council

of Governments (NCTCOG) is routinely used by DART for the preparation of transit forecasts.

The transit network includes fixed route bus modes (local, feeder, and express) and fixed

guideway rail modes (light rail, commuter rail, and people movers). In addition, carpooling is

allowed in the system of High Occupancy Vehicle lanes in the region. The specific version of the

model used in this assessment of the Cotton Belt Corridor was validated using 2007 On Board

Survey Data and is the same version of the model that used to develop the regional

transportation plan, Mobility 2035: the Metropolitan Transportation Plan for the Dallas/Fort

Worth Metropolitan Area.

All forecasts used the regionally approved 2035 demographics, with the following rail

investments included in the background network. .There are other rail investments in the

Mobility 2035 that were not included in the background network primarily because service

levels in many of these corridor like: McKinney-Allen and Midlothian have not been fully

defined.

• The T’s TEX Rail – from southwest Fort Worth to DFW Terminal A/B

• DCTA’s A-Train – from downtown Denton to downtown Carrollton

• DART South Oak Cliff extension to UNT Dallas

• DART Red, Orange, Blue and Green lines

• Trinity Railway Express

Travel forecasts for three alternative scenarios were prepared for this effort. , The most

comprehensive Build Alternative full build and two MOS alternatives are discussed below.

Information related to the remaining forecasts can be found in the document, Technical

Memorandum: Cotton Belt Corridor Travel Forecasts – June 2013.


Ridership 2

3.0 RESULTS

3.1 Feeder Bus System

Travel forecasts for the most comprehensive Build Alternative (All Station Alternative) and the

two shorter segment options were generated using the travel demand model as described in the

previous section. The Cotton Belt Rail was coded to operate at 20-minute peak and 60-minute

off peak headways. The DART bus system was adjusted to feed the rail stations appropriately.

Figures 3.1 through 3.3 show maps of the DART bus in the vicinity of the proposed Cotton Belt

Project, along with the specific station locations and corresponding feeder routes. Figure 3-4

shows the complete corridor as reflected in the All Station Alternative forecast.

Figure 3-1: All Station Alternative Bus Routing and Station Detail (DFW Airport Vicinity)

Source: Connectics Transportation Group, June 2013.


Ridership 3

Figure 3.2: Build Alternative Bus Routing and Station Detail (Addison Vicinity)

Source: Connetics Transportation Group, June 2013

Figure 3.3: Build Alternative Bus Routing and Station Detail (Plano Vicinity)

Source: Connectics Transportation Group, June 2013


Ridership 4

Figure 3.4: Build Alternative Corridor Map

Source: Connetics Transportation Group, June 2013.

3.2 Ridership

The two MOS Alternatives (MOS 1 Carrollton to Addison and MOS 2 DFW Airport to Addison)

include the following stations.

Source: Dunbar Transportation

Alternative MOS included all of the above except the North Lake Station. Both were forecast at

20 and 60 minute headways to generate 2,035 average daily ridership in the corridor.

Table 3.1

MOS Station Configuration

STATION/ALTERNATIVE MOS 1 MOS 2

DFW Airport Terminal B Station No Yes

DFW North No Yes

North Lake Station No Yes

Downtown Carrollton Yes Yes

Addison Transit Center Station Yes Yes


Ridership 5

3.3 Build Alternatives

All Station Alternative which extends the full length of the project corridor, beginning at Shiloh

Road in Plano and continuing into the DFW Airport Terminal B Station. A review the detailed

information contained in the Technical Memorandum: Cotton Belt Corridor Travel Forecasts –

June 2013 reveal the following observations about the performance of the Build Alternative:

• Drive access represents the highest boarding mode (32% of all boardings) and is highest

at the Bush Turnpike Station (nearly 24% of all drives board at this station).

• Transfers from the regional commuter rail lines (TEX Rail and the DCTA A-Train) provide

the next highest boarding mode (18% of all boardings) and occur at the DFW North and

Downtown Carrollton stations.

• The Downtown Carrollton Station reflects the highest overall station ridership, due in

great measure to the transferring rail riders from the DART Green Line and the DCTA A-

Train at this location.

• Transfers to the Cotton Belt Project from DART Light Rail occur as expected at the 12th

Street and Bush Turnpike stations (from the Red Line), the Downtown Carrollton Station

(from the Green Line) and the DFW Airport Terminal B Station (from the Orange Line).

Transfer from LRT represents nearly 14% of all boardings and 18% of all alightings for

the Cotton Belt Project.

• The second highest station ridership overall occurs at the DFW Airport Terminal B

Station. The airport is a major activity center and the high rail ridership at this station

reflects that – both for employees and passengers. It is primarily a destination station

(231 boardings versus 4981 alightings) with Walk and the Automated People Mover

(APM) providing the majority of access.

• The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD)/Synergy Station shows the impact of the feeder

bus system that was included for this Alternative. Over 68% of the boardings at this

Table 3.2

Total Station Ridership – 2035 Average Weekday Ridership

STATION/ALTERNATIVE

All

Station MOS 1 MOS 2

DFW Airport Terminal B Station 2,590 NA 1,552

DFW North 1,567 NA 1,244

North Lake Station 608 NA 407

Downtown Carrollton 2,719 2,021 1,810

Addison Transit Center Station 1,837 2,021 2,123

Knoll Trail Station 998 NA N/A

Preston Station 544 NA N/A

Renner Village Station 1,012 NA N/A

UTD/Synergy Station 1,341 NA N/A

Bush Turnpike Station 1,736 NA N/A

12th

Street Station 600 NA N/A

Shiloh Station 831 NA N/A

Total Cotton Belt Trips 16,382 4,041 7,136


Ridership 6

station come from DART bus – this represents the highest bus access of any stations

along the Cotton Belt Project.

• The Addison Transit Center Station is the third highest in overall ridership and includes a

strong walk egress component.

• The stations at North Lake, Preston and 12th Street are the lowest ridership stations

along the project. The 12th

Street Station is clearly impacted by the proximity of the

Bush Turnpike Station and ridership at this location would increase if the Bush Turnpike

Station were eliminated. The riders accessing the Cotton Belt Project at both the North

Lake Station and the Preston Station would most likely re-distribute to the neighboring

stations should these two be eliminated. There is a greater likelihood of this for Preston

Station than North Lake Station as the neighboring Addison Transit Center Station is

much closer to Preston Station than the Downtown Carrollton or DFW North are to the

North Lake Station. The local and feeder bus service to North Lake Station is minimal,

which also may contribute to this station’s performance.

• The ridership forecast did show some degradation of ridership on existing DART rail lines

as a result of Cotton Belt Project service. There is a net increase in overall system

ridership.

o Orange Line – 13,050 No-Build versus 9,990 Build Alternative 2

o Green Line – 12,500 No-Build versus 12,090 Build Alternative 2

o Red Line – 14,640 No-Build versus 14,730 Build Alternative 2

o Blue Line – 7,000 No-Build versus 6,680 Build Alternative 2

Alternative MOS 1 – Carrollton to Addison

Alternative MOS 1 depicts rail running from downtown Carrollton to the Town of Addison.

Headways, park-and-ride locations, and feeder bus routes are identical for the stations included

in this segment as those shown for the All Station Alternative. A review of MOS 1 ridership

projections reveals the following observations about the performance of MOS 1.

• The ridership on MOS 1 was estimated at 2,021 riders per day or about 12.3% of overall

ridership on the All Station Alternative previously stated.

• With only two stations, ridership at each is identical.

• Transfers between the Cotton Belt Project and DART LRT or the DCTA A-Train in

downtown Carrollton represent 85% of the MOS 1 ridership.

Alternative MOS 2 – DFW Airport to Addison

Alternative MOS 2 depicts rail extending from the Town of Addison to the DFW Airport.

Headways, park-and-ride locations, and feeder bus routes are identical for the stations included

in this segment as those shown for the Full Station Alternative. A review the detailed

information contained in the Technical Memorandum: Cotton Belt Corridor Travel Forecasts –

June 2013 reveal the following observations about the performance of the MOS:

• The MOS shows a 56% drop in overall corridor ridership from the All Station Alternative

previously shown in Table 3-2.

• Addison Transit Center Station is the highest overall ridership station, with 30% of the

overall ridership.


Ridership 7

• Drive and Commuter Rail access are the highest modes for boardings along the corridor,

each representing 30% of the overall boardings.

• As with All Station Alternative, transfers to DART LRT at Downtown Carrollton and DFW

Airport, along with the DFW Airport APM are important – representing 30% of the total

alightings for this alternative.

• Ridership at the North Lake Station is the lowest along the MOS, representing less than

6% of the overall corridor riders.

• Removing the North Lake Station results in a slight drop in ridership, a loss of 14 daily

riders.

• The remaining North Lake Station riders were distributed across the other stations. Each

increased in ridership, with the Addison Transit Center Station showing a 4% increase,

Downtown Carrollton and DFW North stations each showing a 5% increase and DFW

Airport Terminal B Station showing a nearly 10% increase.

• The ridership forecast did show some degradation of ridership on existing DART rail lines

as a result of Cotton Belt service. The overall effect on system ridership will need further

analysis.

• MOS-2 has a similar impact on the DART LRT system as the All Station Alternative

although there is less degradation in ridership on Green and Orange Lines and no

degradation on the Red and Blue lines. System ridership has a net increase.

Alliance Transportation Group

Arredondo, Zepeda & Brunz

Bowman Engineering

Connetics Transportation Group

Cox|McLain Environmental Consulting

CP&Y

Criado & Associates

Dunbar Transportation Consulting

HMMH

KAI Texas

K Strategies Group

Legacy Resource Group

Mas-Tek Engineering & Associates

Nathan D. Maier Consulting Engineers

Pacheco Koch Consulting Engineers

Parsons

Schrader & Cline

Spartan Solutions

Stantec Consulting Services Inc.

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