Charleston considers emulating Charlotte LRT success

[vicupstate]

Charleston has a Commuter Rail study underway.  This is the third and most in-depth study within recent years.  A 22 mile line along existing and abandoned rail lines between DT and the inland suburb of Summerville would be the first component.

The newspaper has been running a in-depth series on the plan since last Sunday.  Today's installment discusses the success of Charlotte's Lynx system and the lessons it has for Charleston's effort.

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/09/charlotte_finds_light_rail_success46849/

CHARLOTTE â€" The Lynx arrives quietly, rolling on seamless rails that will carry about 6,300 people on this weekday morning from park-and-ride lots on the outskirts of the city to jobs downtown.

The Lynx is an electric light-rail system that started running in November and quickly exceeded ridership predictions. Near many of the 15 stations along the 9.6-mile line, new condominiums and other buildings are under construction, and property values are rising fast. In Charleston, proponents of light rail and streetcars point to Charlotte as a success story and a model to consider.

Lisa Traylor works in Charlotte's banking district and enjoys reading a book on the Lynx Blue Line instead of sitting in traffic. She leaves her car in a free park-and-ride lot, saving money on gas and even more on downtown parking.

"I figure I'm saving $2,400 a year," she said. "It's about the same amount of (commuting) time, but it's less hassle."

Like a traditional trolley, the Lynx is powered by overhead electric lines, and it does not share the rails with freight trains. Its tracks are separate from the street, but if not for old-fashioned streetcars, the modern Lynx would not exist.

Charlotte closed down its original electric streetcar system in 1938, in favor of buses. Charleston did the same.

Nearly 60 years later, a Charlotte non-profit group put a restored trolley called Car 85 back in service, and its popularity was credited with helping to revitalize part of the city. The city later rebuilt and extended the tracks used by historic Car 85 to create what is now a modern light-rail system.

The Lynx Blue Line cost $463 million, and it's the first piece of Charlotte's $9 billion transit plan, to be completed by the year 2030, which calls for several light-rail lines, a commuter rail line and streetcars. A voter-approved half-cent sales tax dedicated to transit will pay for much of the work.

Scott Link, a truck driver in Charlotte, is a regular Lynx rider. He's a supporter of the new system even though he says it priced him out of his former apartment.

"It raised property values all along the line," he said. "My apartment went condo."

In Charleston, trolley supporters hope to replicate Charlotte's success.

Developers of the 104-acre Magnolia project in the Charleston Neck Area have been the leading advocates for a trolley or another form of light rail. Unlike the proposed commuter rail from Charleston to Summerville, a trolley line could connect the massive Magnolia development to downtown Charleston, with stops in the neighborhoods along the way.

In 2005, the Magnolia developers brought speakers from Charlotte and San Francisco to tout the benefits of trolleys to a Chamber of Commerce audience. Early in 2006, some of the Magnolia developers purchased two 1930s-vintage trolleys that had been converted into a home in West Ashley, thinking the streetcars might be renovated and returned to service some day, which is exactly what happened in Charlotte.

"Charlotte used the trolley to demonstrate the love of rail, and they parlayed it into a light-rail system," said Robert Clement, a partner in the Magnolia project.

Charleston area planners have all but dismissed the idea of a trolley or light-rail line because of the cost, which is roughly five to 10 times the cost of commuter rail. The Magnolia developers haven't given up but realize they might have to go it alone.

"We might have the trolley just running around Magnolia," Clement said. "We haven't thought that through, but that's something we are starting to think about.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.

Here are the prior installments in this series. There are some PDFs that graphically show Charleston's proposal included.


http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/06/cloggedand_getting_worse46670/

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/07/widening_i26_will_get_expensive/

http://www.charleston.net/news/2008/jul/08/rail_line_wouldnt_be_cheap/


http://www.charleston.net/graphics/200807_rail/

http://www.charleston.net/media/2008/pdf/08swtp.pdf