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Moving
trains courtesy of
| The
"Costs vs. Benefits" Page
Costs
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Total
estimated costs (exclusive of land aquisition)
are included in the HDR Study Update that
was completed in December of 2001. A
complete copy of the HDR Study can be viewed
via Adobe Acrobat Reader by clicking on
the "HDR Study" button to the
left. Detailed cost estimates begin on page
104. The following is a summarized version
for the four track option that is most likely
to be selected.
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Segment
1
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Segment
2
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Segment
3
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Total
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Track
Const.
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$
9,899,000
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$
70,877,000
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$
66,489,000
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$
147,265,000
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Grade
Seperations
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$
58,825,000
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$
104,494,000
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$
7,999,000
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$
171,318,000
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Totals
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$
68,724,000
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$
175,371,000
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$
74,488,000
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$
318,583,000
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Land
acquisition including right of way
for the BNSF as well as necessary property
for the downtown multi-modal depot is estimated
at an additional $150 Million that could
bring the total cost of Fresno rail
consolidation to approximately $500
Million.
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Benefits
Report
1
Fresno citizens now
spending over $33.5 million a year in
wasted time
at the BNSF and the UP tracks
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Report
2
| How the Fresno BNSF rail
issue and Rail Consolidation affects you
and
Fresno transportation.
|
Report
3
| The
big issue facing Fresno and the Central
Valley today is air pollution. This report
gives you important statistics
on just how much our air will benefit by
rail consolidation.
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Report
4
| Written
by Dennis Manning, FARRC
VP of R&D and a retired
CalTrans Engineer, this
report
details the unbelievable
econonmic and employment
impact that
rail consolidation will
have on Fresno. . |
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REPORT
1
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RAIL
CONSOLIDATION WORTH OVER $750 MILLION IN
TIME SAVED
How can we evaluate the benefits of the Fresno Rail
Consolidation Project?
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A good place to start is with time saved. The one commodity that we all
value is our time. Time spent idling at railroad crossings is wasted – lost
productivity, lost leisure time, lost business, higher frustration. The Fresno
Area Rail Consolidation project would save an estimated 2,238,000 vehicle hours
in the first year. That equates to $33,567,000 in dollar savings. The present
value1 of $33,567,000 over 30 years is $416,000,000. However, it is
nearly certain that road and rail traffic will continue to grow. The chart
below depicts the present value at various road traffic growth rates2.
With an historical street traffic growth rate of 4.5% the present value of
time saved would be $750 million.
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Time savings alone will pay for Rail Consolidation.
The following benefits would accrue to the people of Fresno,
the State, and the Nation for free.
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·
Saved lives and property damage
·
Reduced air and noise pollution
·
Free up a 10 mile corridor – possibly for a cycle/pedestrian green belt
·
A more beautiful City
·
A spur to downtown revitalization
·
Increased opportunity for efficient mixed-use neighborhoods
·
Swifter passage through Fresno for both rail lines
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1 - Uses a rate of
$15/hr/vehicle
2 - Assumes interest
rate of 7%
3 - Rail traffic rate
assumed to grow at 50% of road traffic rate
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REPORT
2
FRESNO RAIL CONSOLIDATION AND HOW THE INNER CITY
BNSF RAIL
CORRIDOR IS CENTRAL TO THE FRESNO TRANSPORTATION ISSUE
v
The corridor, built in 1896, intersects 31 Fresno
major streets. Due to numerous accidents, injuries and deaths, 7 of the streets
have been blocked to vehicle traffic but the blockages still leave room for
pedestrian crossings.
v
As reported recently by an Associated Press news
article, maintenance on all railroads has been steadily declining. The
increased derailments (reportedly, 11 in 18 months) on this local Fresno
stretch of BNSF tracks seems to indicate problems with track, track bed and/or
equipment that could be attributed to the same reduced maintenance reported by
Associated Press.
v
From a 1990-1999 Fresno GOG Traffic Study
(actual count), a compilation of vehicle traffic trips on the 31 streets
intersecting with the BNSF tracks averaged over 400,000 vehicle trips per day
crossing the tracks.
v
With a current average of 10 Amtrak and 30
freight trains traveling on the tracks each day, over the 24 hour period, it is
estimated that approximately 15% of the 400,000 vehicle trips crossing the
tracks each 24 hour period are stopped by a train crossing their paths. The
congestion created causes several traffic issues:
1. Idling
engines adding more pollution to already poor air quality
2. Careless
drivers causing accidents, some trying to beat the train and some simply not
judging stopping time for cars ahead
3. The
longer trains of today, with long lines of waiting autos, block several streets
at a time due to the location of these tracks
v
Of a very serious import are the numerous delays
to emergency vehicles; ambulance, fire and police.
v
Everyone, government, education, business and
all Fresno citizens and visitors
bear a rising cost created by the present location of the BNSF inner city rail
corridor.
v
Fresno Rail Consolidation, achieved through a
partnership of local, state and federal cooperation and funding, will pay for
itself in coming years as the population grows from better planning for
alternative means moving people and utilizing the existing, once vacated,
corridor for multiple community purposes
v
Consolidating the BNSF rail corridor with the UP
corridor along highway 99, with each company having its own double track for
unrestricted passage providing the necessary under/overpasses to allow
uninterrupted travel by trains, vehicles and pedestrians will give Fresno
a necessary improvement to better transportation.
v
The current engineering update to the 1993 Rail
Consolidation Analysis and report will provide the current requirements and
estimated costs to accomplish the project.
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REPORT
3
RAIL CONSOLIDATION IMPROVES AIR QUALITY
The often asked question, “How much Fresno
air pollution will be eliminated by rail consolidation?,”
can now be answered. Currently, an average of 613,503
vehicles cross over the street level tracks of the BNSF and the UP
railroads every day in Fresno. Of
those, approximately 15%, or about 90,000 vehicles, are stopped by a train
going over those crossings every day.
The average wait for those vehicles while a long freight
train or a speedy Amtrak train goes by is 4 minutes, from the time one stops to
when one starts up again. As we all know, very few drivers shut off their
engines while they wait. Those idling engines are pouring tons of pollution
into our already “severe non-attainment classification” air status which is
bad. Recent, many reports have been making all aware of the bad air problem.
The following calculations are an acceptable estimate of the
benefit to be realized from Fresno Rail Consolidation, which includes
constructing under/overpasses at all major crossings
on the consolidated corridor thus eliminating all street level crossings from
both rail lines:
Pollutant Types Current
Pollutants that will be eliminated
VOC = Volatile Hydrocarbons 123,000 lbs/year (61.5 tons)
CO = Carbon Monoxide 1,657,000 lbs/year (828.5 tons)
NOX = Nitrous Oxide 28,000
lbs/year (14
tons)
PM10 = Particle Matter (10 microns) 12,800
lbs/year (6.4
tons)
As Fresno and
the Central Valley grows, with
projections indicating doubling to 900,000 residents possible in Fresno
alone in the next 20 years, Fresno Rail Consolidation must take priority and
become a reality. Without Rail Consolidation, the figures above would increase
causing unlivable conditions.
Sources:
Dennis Manning, Vice Chairman, FARRC, (559)
323-1614, dennis@movethetracks.org,
Fresno County Council of
Governments, COG
Caltrans
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REPORT
4
Economic and Employment Impact of
Fresno Rail
Consolidation
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In
addition to Fresno’s anticipated
expenditure of approximately $150m for rail consolidation, State and Federal
matching funds are estimated to be in the range of $300m. (Includes right of way
costs). These matching funds are funds that normally would not flow into the Fresno economy. $150m local dollars
plus 300m State and Federal dollars represents a sum that will have considerable
effect in bolstering Fresno economy and raise employment levels, both during construction and beyond.
Taking note of the
“multiplier effect”, i.e. an additional dollar spent in the local economy
continues to circulate in the economy “multiplying” its effect by approximately
threefold. That translates to an economic boost to
Fresno of about $1.35b over and
above the local spending share. Note: In various economic studies the
“multiplier effect” can vary over a range from 2 to 9 depending on the nature of
the infused capital and the local economy. For the Alameda Corridor project
study 4 was used. To be conservative a multiplier of 3 is used for
Fresno.
Using the experience
of the just completed, much larger but similar in nature “Alameda Corridor”
project in Los Angeles, it is
possible to approximate impacts here in Fresno. Over the 7-year life of theFresno project 2800 jobs of varying
duration will be created. Many will run the entire life of the project. In
general these will be high wage jobs. As follows:
1,800 Construction
trades
300 Professional and technical
700 Manufacturing, service, and transportation
industry
Again using the
“multiplier” it would be expected to generate 8,400 jobs in the greater Fresno area.
Not
all jobs will remain upon completion; however, it can be anticipated through a
local training program, as was done with the “Alameda Corridor”, local low
skilled people can be trained and placed in approximately 250 relatively high
skill jobs. These skills will remain after completion of the project for a
lasting skill improvement in the local work force.
These effects on jobs
and the economy will begin even before actual construction begins. In the 1-year
pre-construction period about $20m will go toward design and environmental work.
Benefits begin to flow immediately.
It
is anticipated that the first phase of construction will be elimination of the
11 UP corridor vehicle crossings such as Ventura
Boulevard,Olive
Avenue, etc. Traffic will begin freer flow within
about 2 years. This will produce an ongoing savings of about $10m per year in
lost time, wasted fuel, pollution, lost lives, and the horns will cease to blow
in the Union Pacific corridor. Upon completion all traffic conflicts will be
eliminated boosting the direct ongoing savings to over $33m per year.
Remembering the “multiplier effect” of 3 to 1 dollars added to the economy, the
same effect exists when dollars are saved. They can circulate in the same way as
an added dollar, culminating in a local ongoing economic impact of about $100m
per year.
In
summary – For Fresno’s investment of $150m, rail consolidation will boost
Fresno’s overall economic activity
by $1.35 billion over the life of the project. The effects will begin in early
phases. As various phases are completed the impact will grow to an ongoing $100m
annually. 2800 high paying jobs will be
directly created, and 8,400 total jobs in the local economy. With a job training
program 260 low skill workers can be elevated to high skill level.
National Economic Impact
Although it is
difficult to draw a direct comparison, a report was prepared in 1994 for the
Alameda Corridor project entitled “The National Economic Significance of the
Alameda Corridor”. According to the
report the Alameda Corridor will play a very large role in our global
competitiveness. Higher transportation costs impose higher costs at the margin.
25% of all water borne trade in the
US passes
through the SanPedroHarbor. The
value of those goods totals $120 billion per year (1994 dollars). Nationwide 2.5
million jobs are linked to this trade. A non-congested free flowing port is
essential to stay competitive. Using
only 5% of possible projected trade increase that would result from construction
of the Alameda Corridor it was estimated that it will generate 70,000 new jobs
across the nation, and $2.5 billion in additional federal revenues. The actual
figures could be 20 times that amount.
Fresno Rail
Consolidation will account for a significant portion of cargo flowing in and out
of the Alameda Corridor. Determining the percentage of Fresno’s impact is beyond the scope
of this paper; however, it is clear that there is a large direct impact of
national significance.
Critical to National
Defense
The
corridor through Fresno, connecting
major defense facilities, is the only north/south corridor for movement of
military goods and personal via rail in
California. It is thus a critical
element for national defense both in peace time and in times of national
emergency.
__________
Prepared by Dennis
Manning, FARRC Vice-Chairman of Research and Development May, 2002.
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