Energy Conservation in Transportation By Steve Bauer and Josh Basofin

1. Energy Conservation in TransportationBy Steve Bauer and Josh Basofin

2. Three-pronged Policy Initiative: • Expansion of Regional Rail Systems • Implementation of Growth Management Legislation • Establishment of Gasoline Taxes to Incentivize Rail and Associated Public Transit Use

3. Problem Addressed: • Excessive Energy Consumption in Transportation • As a Consequence of Over-Dependence on Automobiles

4. Conclusions: • Rail expansion, growth management, & gasoline taxes, when implemented in conjunction with each other, are effective means to reduce U.S. energy consumption. • However, this three-pronged initiative is a time intensive process and therefore does not provide an immediate solution. • Furthermore, political considerations may constrain implementation of one or all prongs of this initiative.

5. History of Public Transit in the US • 1630 Boston--reputed first publicly operated ferryboat • 1835 New Orleans--oldest street railway line still operating (New Orleans & Carrollton line) • 1883 New York--first publicly operated cable-powered line (Brooklyn Bridge) • 1904 New York--first electric underground (& first 4-track express) heavy rail line (Interborough Rapid Transit Co.) • 1938 Chicago--first use of federal capital funding to build a public transportation rail line • 1946 highest-ever public transportation ridership (23.4 billion) • 1972 public transportation ridership hits all-time low (6.6 billion)

6. Types of Rail-Based Public Transit • Light Rail • Monorail • Personal Rapid Transit • Heavy Rail • Commuter Rail

7. Light Rail • Monorail - n. 1. A single rail serving as a track for passenger or freight vehicles. In most cases rail is elevated, but monorails can also run at grade, below grade or in subway tunnels. Vehicles are either suspended from or straddle a narrow guideway. Monorail vehicles are wider than the guideway that supports them. • Personalized Rapid Transit – a type of Automated People Mover (APM). • Small vehicles available for exclusive use by an individual or a small group, typically 1 to 6 passengers, traveling together by choice and available 24 hours a day. • Direct origin to destination service, without a necessity to transfer or stop at intervening stations. • Service available on demand rather than on fixed schedules.

8. Heavy Rail • Heavy rail refers to traditional high platform subway and elevated rapid transit lines. • Principal characteristics: • Operation over rights of way that are completely segregated from other uses, with the track placed in subway tunnels, on elevated structures, or on fenced surface rights of way, free of grade crossings with roads. • Trains have two to 12 cars, each with its own motors, and drawing power from a third rail (or in some cases from overhead wire).

9. Heavy Rail (cont’d) • Boarding is from high platforms that are even with the floor level of the car, allowing large numbers of people to enter and leave rapidly. • Before World War II, true heavy rail rapid transit systems existed only in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Since the war, new systems have been opened in Cleveland, Baltimore, Washington, the San Francisco-Oakland region, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Miami.

10. Commuter Rail • Commuter rail refers to passenger trains operated on main line railroad track to carry riders to and from work in city centers. • The trains are normally made up of a locomotive and a number of passenger coaches. The coaches are dimensionally similar to intercity (Amtrak) coaches, but typically have higher density seating as the average ride is shorter. • Commuter rail lines normally extend an average of 10 to 50 miles from their downtown terminus. In some cases service is only offered in rush hours. In other cities, service is operated throughout the day and evening and on weekends.

11. Commuter Rail (cont’d) • Commuter rail systems are traditionally associated with older industrial cities such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, but in recent years new diesel powered commuter rail systems have been inaugurated in cities as diverse as Los Angeles and Burlington, Vermont, as traffic congestion has made auto commutes much more difficult. Many additional cities are planning commuter rail lines currently. • Relatively inexpensive to build as they normally operate over existing rail lines. However, typical planning challenges are negotiating use of the tracks with very busy freight rail operators and finding adequate funding both for construction and for operating subsidies.

12. Existing State of Rail-Based Public Transit Nationwide From DC to Portland, Cities across the country have a wide variety of public transit systems.

13. Some Examples • BART – San Francisco • Runs partially under the Bay • MAX – Portland • Runs exclusively on street level • METRORAIL – Washington, D.C. • Runs partially underground and partially on street level

14. Cars vs. Public Transit Decreases in Public Transit Ridership Coincide with Increases in Car use.

15. Public Transit Ridership Statistics

16. Car Usage StatisticsUS population in 1969: 202,677,000 US population in 1995: 263,082,000

17. More Transit and More Cars? • While public transit ridership continues its upward trend, the number of vehicles on the road and the number of miles driven is also increasing. • In short, Americans are using both modes of transportation at higher rates.

18. The Solution: Dethroning the Car!By Increasing Public Transit Ridership • The words of John Muir – “Tug at anything and you will find it hitched to everything else in the universe” may be better stated as: “Tug at anything and you will find it hitched to an automobile”

19. Methods to Dethrone the Car… • Reduce Dependence Upon Automobiles • Increase Public Transit Ridership

20. Aspects of Increased Ridership Increased Ridership means: • Accommodating new riders on existing rail lines • Better serving urban and suburban communities

21. INCREASED RIDERSHIP A Chicago Area Case Study

22. Accommodating New Riders On Existing Rail Lines • The current metropolitan system can accommodate nearly a 25% increase in ridership. • Beyond that, new rider accommodation entails more frequent service, more cars, or rail extension.

23. Is Extension of Existing Lines Necessary to Better Serve Chicago Area Communities?

24. Metra is Currently Planning Several Extensions • North Central Service Expansion • SouthWest Service Improvements and Extension • Union Pacific West Line Extension

25. The Reality: • Rail extension is necessary to make public rail transit a more viable solution for all. • Light rail, buses, and/or transit oriented development are necessary to fill the gaps.

26. Potential Legal Implications Associated With Rail Extension • Nuisance Claims • Takings Claims • Relocation of Public Utilities Claims

27. Nuisance Claims • Among those things applicable to rail transit that are known to constitute a nuisance are: • That which annoys and disturbs property, rendering its ordinary use uncomfortable • Annoyance; anything that essentially interferes with enjoyment of life of property • Interference by means of noise, vibration, etc.

28. Common Classifications of Nuisance • Public • Private • Mixed

29. Public Nuisance • Affects an indefinite number of persons or all the people within a particular locality • Caused by failure to perform a legal duty • Intentionally causing or permitting a condition to exist that injures the public

30. Private Nuisance • Affects ONLY an individual or a few persons • Includes any wrongful act that: destroys, deteriorates, interferes with or hinders use or enjoyment, or causes a special injury different than that sustained by the public • Importantly, a private nuisance can constitute a public nuisance and vice versa…

31. Mixed Nuisance • Both public and private in its effects • Injures many persons or all of a particular locality • Produces special injuries to private rights

32. Further Classifications of Nuisance • Nuisance per se • Nuisance in fact (a/k/a Nuisance at law)

33. Nuisance per se • An act, occupation or structure that is a nuisance at all times and under all circumstances • Location and surroundings are irrelevant • Injury is certain to be inflicted in some form

34. Nuisance in fact • Similar to nuisance per se • Act, occupation, or structure • Location and surroundings ARE relevant • May become a nuisance by reason of the particular location and surroundings • May become a nuisance by reason of the manner in which it is performed or operated

35. Would Construction of New Rail Lines in Areas of Existing Development be Prone to Nuisance Claims?

36. Case Law is Clear as to Nuisance Claims from Use of Rail Systems for Private Purpose… • “The universally accepted rule is…that the operation of a lawfully constructed railroad in an ordinarily prudent and careful manner, without negligence or abuse, does not, by reason of…noise…vibration, and other objectionable features which are necessarily incident thereto and which are common to the public at large, constitute an actionable nuisance, since the doing of that which has been lawfully authorized cannot constitute a nuisance.” City of Hamilton v. Hausenbein (OH), 139 N.E.2d 459

37. Case Law is also Clear as to Nuisance Claims from use of Rail Systems for Public Purpose… • Public railroad functions are protected from nuisance claims “so long as they are exercised without negligence and in the customary and appropriate instrumentalities….” Robertson v. New Orleans & G.N.R. Co (MS), 129 So. 1180

38. “Noise…[is a] necessary incident[ ] of the construction and operation of [an elevated railway], and, if every property owner could recover in all such cases, the making of public improvements would become practically impossible.” Griveau v. S. Chicago City Railway Co. (IL), 130 Ill.App. 519 (1st Dist.)

39. “The annoyance and inconvenience occasioned [by noise from train movement is] to be viewed from the same legal standpoint as are the annoyance and inconvenience necessarily suffered by those who live along a turnpike or other highway.” • “The perfectly proper use of [rail] vehicles constitutes an annoyance, from which people suffer and sometimes seriously, but this inconvenience is an injury for which there is no redress.” Dean v. Southern Railway Co. (MS), 73 So. 55

40. However, it is unclear how this case law would influence rail expansion into well-established neighborhoods.

41. Takings Claims Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Continental Development Corporation

42. Are Takings Claims Likely to Stem from Rail Expansion? • Just compensation must be provided • No more and no less than making the landowner whole for the loss/damage sustained • Inverse Condemnation/Nuisance • When the consequences of the project are “not far removed” from a direct physical intrusion or amount to a nuisance • Severance Damages • When diminution in the FMV of the remainder of the property is caused by the project

43. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Continental Development Corporation (1) The Facts: • Continental Development Corporation (CDC) owned a 4.43 acre (192,970.8 sq. ft.) parcel of land • The Los Angles County Transportation Commission (LACTC) brought an eminent domain proceeding to acquire three interests in the land for elevated light rail construction • Air rights easement (approx. 5 feet on avg.) • Construction easement (approx. 5 feet on avg.) • Fee (373 sq. ft. area)

44. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Continental Development Corporation (2) • Issue: Whether CDC could recover severance damage to its property based on: • Building redesign • Noise mitigation • Visual Impact

45. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Continental Development Corporation (3) • Severance Damages – the diminution in the FMV of the remainder land caused by the project Two Kinds of Benefits: • General Benefits – the increase in the FMV of the land & community from advantages that come from the improvement • Special Benefits – the increase in the FMV of the land from the mere construction of the improvement – are peculiar to the land in question

46. Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority v. Continental Development Corporation (4) • Eminent domain requires a set-off of general and special damages against both severance damages and compensation for the taking Conclusion: • A land owner shall receive compensation for the damage he suffers based upon the land taken and the damage or value of the project’s construction. • Just compensation can be off-set by value added to remaining land

47. Railway expansion will likely require relocation of public utilities • Within public rights-of-way • Outside public rights-of-way

48. Relocation of Public Utilities Claims Northwest Natural Gas Co. v. City of Portland

49. Northwest Natural Gas Co. v. City of Portland (1) The Facts: • Tri-Met provides and operates a light rail transit (LRT) system in the Tri-County Portland metropolitan area in cooperation with the City of Portland • Tri-Met was constructing rail lines to provide public transit between neighboring Gresham and downtown Portland • Each of the utilities doing business within the City previously received authority to operate and maintain their facilities within the public rights-of-way

50. Northwest Natural Gas Co. v. City of Portland (2) The Facts (continued): • The City of Portland mandated the relocation of all public facilities within the public rights-of-way to enable construction of the LRT. • Four investor-owed public utilities (gas, power, & phone) sought a declaration that the City could not require uncompensated relocation of their facilities to accommodate Tri-Met’s construction of the LRT.