Most cost-effective rail route ends in downtown Denton - Expense-per-rider would meet federal funding criteria

By DAVE MOORE - Denton Record-Chronicle - Wednesday, May 11, 2005
DENTON – A route that ends in downtown Denton is the most cost-effective for commuter rail service from Denton to Dallas, a consultant said Wednesday.
URS Corp. associate Tim Baldwin told the Denton County Transportation Authority board that the average rider would cost the DCTA $15.05 per year using that route. Denver-based URS arrived at the figure by dividing the annual construction, operating and maintenance costs by the number of riders per year.
To receive federal funding, rail projects in 2006 must cost $15.22 or less per rider per year, according to Mr. Baldwin.
"With this analysis, we move beyond the emotion" of those opposing the line, said DCTA board member Randy Hunt.
Mr. Hunt wouldn't specify who has been objecting to rail talks, but some residents in Corinth have voiced concerns about how the train line, proposed along a Missouri-Kansas-Texas line, would disrupt their neighborhoods.
In another alternative, URS has proposed spending $20 million to move the line parallel to Interstate 35E and away from the neighborhoods. But that pushes the cost of the project up $1 per rider per year.
The authority was created by a countywide vote in 2003, with a majority of the voters in Denton, Lewisville and Highland Village approving. Its mission is to create and operate mass transit systems for Denton County
that would connect to the Dallas area.
The DCTA has been collecting its half-cent sales tax since January 2004 and has been holding public meetings and forums.
The cost analysis given Wednesday is not the final recommendation from URS. The consultant will publicly disclose that at meetings Monday and Tuesday in Denton and Highland Village, respectively.
The DCTA board will use that recommendation and other public input to choose the best way to reduce commuter congestion on Interstate 35E. They are to vote on a route at a meeting May 26.
Mr. Baldwin said community input also will influence URS' recommendation of which commuting option is the best choice.
The rail option determined to be second-most cost-efficient was using the Missouri-Kansas-Texas rail line to downtown Carrollton, then heading south to Las Colinas using the Burlington-Northern-Santa Fe rail line, parallel to the existing Trinity Railway Express line to Union Station in downtown Dallas.
But that would increase construction costs by at least $100 million, according to URS documents. That route's ridership would be higher, which would reduce the cost to $15.29 per passenger per year, Mr. Baldwin said.
The option was put in the mix at the advice of the federal officials, who wanted an alternative route in case Dallas Area Rapid Transit doesn't extend its rail line north to Carrollton. The URS analysis on the Burlington route assumes that the DART extension to Carrollton wouldn't be completed, Mr. Baldwin said.
One advantage to the Burlington route would be that riders wouldn't need to transfer trains in their commutes between Dallas and Denton, Mr. Baldwin said. Currently, the DCTA plans to have riders transfer from its passenger train cars in Carrollton to board DART light-rail cars, Mr. Baldwin said.
The Denton County rail line could be completed as early as 2011, depending upon DART's timeline, Baldwin said.
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