•••
Dover easily listed the pros and cons of light rail and its most logical alternative, Bus Rapid Transit. Light rail is fixed and gives business owners assurance that they will be near transit. Many riders prefer light rail over buses. Bus service, which isn’t tied to a track, can shift based on community desires. It’s also significantly less expensive.
Within the definition of BRT there are several options, such as dedicating a traffic lane exclusively to buses. In the end, BRT means getting you quickly from point A to point B on a bus.
When pressed, Dover was unwilling to say which service is best, because, as he notes, it’s all about a thorough, rigorous local analysis. Everyplace is different.
•••
Here’s a little extra history on Vancouver’s light rail dynamic. When Washington and Vancouver tried to get a replacement bridge project funded five years ago, the prospect of light rail and tolling ultimately doomed it. Because the bridge connects Washington and Oregon, those guys just to the south of us have a say. And they say any new bridge needs to have light rail because they already have light rail and they’d like to extend it to us.
Now some on this side of the river have been lukewarm to light rail for lots of reasons. And as we begin to revive discussions about an I-5 replacement bridge, light rail is rearing its head again. But the central question for us is simple: Is light rail right for Vancouver? The answer is not so easy.
•••
I’ve always been a light rail guy.
When I was a young lad in high school — growing up in Oak Lawn, just outside of Chicago — I remember taking a field trip to see a movie in downtown Chi-Town. A few of us quickly became bored so we sneaked out to explore the big city. One thing lead to another, we lost track of time and we missed the school bus back home.
Stranded! Or were we? Nah. We simply hopped onto the El (Chicago’s light rail system) and before you knew it, we were home.
Years later I went to D.C. on a temporary work assignment for eight months. I used its light rail — the Metro — for everything. There really was no need to have a car.
But (isn’t there almost always a “but” nowadays) I’ve begun to question my own views on this topic. And when Dover said these kinds of momentous transportation decisions always should be made locally, I sought a local expert.
•••
Enter Chuck Green.
Green has been in the transportation business for 37 years. Today he’s a senior project manager at Otak, an urban design, planning and engineering firm specializing in transport and infrastructure. He’s also been a project manager at C-Tran. He travels the world working on transportation projects but still lives in Clark County.
With Green I first asked this: Is it fair to say, for a variety of reasons, light rail is falling out of favor because of costs and fixed routes so you’ll see very few cities that don’t already have light rail choosing light rail?
Green’s response: “I think that’s a fair conclusion.”
•••
Personally, I struggle with this. I’m still a light rail guy. I’m one of those people who feel more comfortable on light rail than on a bus. But that doesn’t feel like it’s enough to spend the money on fixed light rail. Regardless, my hope is that Vancouver and Clark County makes its decision based on what is best for us. Not what’s best for Portland. I’m uncomfortable with Portland pushing us around to get what they want if we don’t want it.
So let’s do a thorough, rigorous analysis and then move forward to continue Vancouver’s path to greatness.
