Transportation

Transportation

By Amy Stansbury Friday, 07 November 2008

How often would you use the Red Line if it connected to Round Rock?

daily
3-5 times a week
once a week
few times a month
never

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Round Rock is considering a new commuter rail option that would connect to Capital Metro's Red Line near the intersection of IH 35 and Toll 45 and end near the Dell, Inc. headquarters.

The Red Line is expected to open March 30, 2009, and run 32 miles from Leander to Austin. Connecting to it could be the quickest and most affordable way for Round Rock to offer the option of commuting by train.

The city would have to build 4.5 miles of track in the median of Toll 45 where the right-of-way already exists and buy two locomotive trains estimated at $50 million, of which 80 percent could be eligible for federal funding, Round Rock Chief of Public Works Operations Tom Word said to the city council in a Sept. 25 work session. The initial cost to the city would be approximately $10 million.

“This is a new option on the table that gives us the opportunity to serve the Round Rock area more directly than we believe some of the other options do,” Word said to the council. “For roughly $10 million, we could have the capital facilities to tie Round Rock to the rest of the [Capital Metro Red Line rail] system and have access for people from Round Rock to downtown Austin, [The University of Texas] and so on, and to bring those same people from Leander, Cedar Park and Austin to job opportunities here.”

Commuter rail

The highest concentration of jobs in Central Texas is in downtown Austin, Word said, with The Domain/Arboretum area coming in second and the area near Toll 45 and IH 35 ranking third.

Another rail option, which is proposed by the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail district, includes a station in downtown Round Rock. But Word said it makes more sense to have one near the Toll 45 and IH 35 intersection. A station in downtown Round Rock would require riders to transfer to a bus to reach employment along Toll 45 approximately 2 miles away.

David Bartels, public works planning and programs administrator, said there would have to be a circulator bus system to get commuters from the train station in south Round Rock to their final destinations at employers such as Sears Teleserv, Dresser Wayne, Michael Angelo’s Gourmet Foods and Sam’s Club. Dell, Target and Wal-Mart employees could walk from the station because it would potentially be located within a quarter mile of their jobs.

City staff determined Dell is only a few miles from the portion of the Red Line near the IH 35 and Toll 45 intersection, and a station there could service approximately 14,000 weekday commuters.

Next steps

While the city is considering paying for the addition of a portion of the rail that would connect the Red Line to Round Rock, the responsibility of managing that portion of the rail still needs to be determined. Bartels said the city plans to explore possibilities with Capital Metro, Georgetown and the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority.

“There’s a bunch of different options available,” Bartels said. “We could partner with Cap Metro. We could create our own transit agency in Williamson County and run our portion [of the rail]. We could hire the CTRMA to run the system, or we could just turn it all over to Cap Metro.”

The rail could use revenue generated from advertising and fares to pay another entity to manage operations of the rail.

“Right now, all we have is the revenue from the fare box, revenue from advertising on the vehicles and within the vehicles, and we have ad valorem tax, which is the city property tax,” Bartels said. “Those would be the sources of revenue we have to pay for the system if we were to say we want to have Capital Metro operate the system.”

Word said that, of the other rail options being considered, the benefits of connecting to the Red Line are that it already exists so it would quickly connect Round Rock to the rest of the region. It would likely also be more economical.

“It’s possible to develop a system here with partners of Georgetown, Pflugerville and Round Rock to develop rail in our region that would tie us into the rest of the capital area,” Word said. “It would be something that we could control locally and be in control of how it is done, what kind of service is provided.”

The public works department will provide periodic updates to the city council as the city explores rail options.

“There will be more staff presentations to council because they're going to have to get real, real comfortable with it from a financial standpoint,” Bartels said. “We're also going to have more staff discussions with the CTRMA, Georgetown and Capital Metro to really solidify what does this look like, what's the management, what are the potential management structures? We also need to get better numbers on capital costs and operations to make sure that we can fully comply with the federal requirements to be able to secure that funding.”

Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail

Round Rock officials are also looking at other rail options, including the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail district, which was authorized by the Legislature and includes the participation of some counties along a 112-mile route from Georgetown to San Antonio. It would be a true commuter rail that travels faster than cars on the highway. Round Rock has not joined the district, which would require the city to pay $49,500 per year.

"We feel that we are currently represented by Williamson County, which is Commissioner Lisa Birkman," said David Bartels, Round Rock Public Works planning and programs administrator.

In a Sept. 25 presentation to the Round Rock City Council, Round Rock Chief of Public Works Operations Tom Word said the ASA conducted a study that estimates Round Rock would have 1,600 boardings a day and would be the second busiest point along the line, second to downtown Austin.

“We think some of these numbers are overestimated, particularly that they think there are more boardings in downtown Round Rock than downtown San Antonio,” Word said to the council.

Texas High Speed Rail

The Texas High Speed Rail is another commuter rail option being investigated by the city. It would connect Dallas/Fort Worth with San Antonio and Houston via a 440-mile commuter train track. This organization has secured corporate support from some airline companies, Scott & White and Bryan/College Station. A commitment from Round Rock would require a $10,000 per year membership. The Texas High Speed Rail is not expected to be operational for at least 20 years.

Capital Metro rail from East Austin to Georgetown

Capital Metro has identified a possible 23-mile route from East Austin through Pflugerville and into Georgetown. However, Word said there are no immediate plans for this commuter rail because neither Capital Metro nor the Texas Department of Transportation has funding available for it.

Capital Metro has not conducted any studies to determine station locations or cost; however, 18 months ago the Texas Department of Transportation issued a draft report about the same Missouri-Kansas-Texas right-of-way. TxDOT estimates costs of $442.3 million for a double track commuter rail or $298.6 million for a single track. Though the route along the MKT is not being seriously considered by any entity, Round Rock is thinking ahead.

“We could have a station at the Round Rock Higher Education Center, and potentially if Pflugerville wanted to participate as well, it’s only about 3 miles south to the old downtown of Pflugerville,” Word said.

Source: allsystemsgo.capmetro.org