Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook (2018)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

29 This chapter identifies the key characteristics of the commuter rail systems in the United States and Canada. The chapter provides descriptive information about each of the commuter rail systems, such as the number of rail lines and ownership of the rail right-of-way. The chapter also provides data to illustrate the scale of operation and performance metrics. Location Figure 3 shows a map of the locations of the 31 commuter rail systems in North America in operation as of the end of 2017. Description of Commuter Rail Systems Table 5 provides descriptive information about each of the commuter rail systems. The order is alphabetical by state or province and then alphabetical by commuter rail system. The table lists the country and state or province for each commuter rail system. Other information includes • Service area, • Year the commuter rail opened as a public transit service, • Classification as a legacy system or new start, • Number of commuter rail lines, and • Total directional route miles (the mileage in each direction over which commuter trains travel while in revenue service). Owner of Railroad Right-of-Way The railroad right-of-way for each commuter rail system is owned by the commuter rail agency, the state department of transportation, another public entity, and/or a private freight railroad. Table 6 summarizes railroad ownership for each commuter rail system. Level of Service The commuter rail systems differ in the level of service. The following factors can categorize the level of service: • The days of the week that service is operated (weekdays, Saturday, or Sunday). • Whether service is bidirectional or peak direction. • The span of service hours on weekdays [21 to 24 hours, 16 to 20 hours (day and night), peak periods and midday, or peak periods]. C H A P T E R 4 Key Characteristics of Commuter Rail Systems

30 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook Figure 3. Map of 31 commuter rail systems in North America in 2017. In this guidebook, the level of service according to the combination of these three factors is classified as A through E as defined in Table 7. Level of Service A Commuter rail systems that operate at Level of Service A are listed. Level of Service A is available for customers on most of the system. The span of service on weekdays or weekends may be less on some lines. • Metra • NJ TRANSIT • LIRR • Metro-North • PATH Level of Service B Commuter rail systems that operate at Level of Service B include the following: • Caltrain • Denver RTD

Key Characteristics of Commuter Rail Systems 31 S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Service Area Le g ac y N ew S ta rt s Number of Rail Lines Total Directional Route Miles UNITED STATES CA ACE Stockton–San Jose, CA 1998 x Single 172 CA Caltrain San Francisco–San Jose–Gilroy, CA 1992 x Single 154 CA COASTER San Diego County, CA 1995 x Single 82 CA Metrolink Southern CA–Los Angeles, CA 1992 x Multi (7) 824 CA SMART Sonoma and Marin counties, CA 2017 x Single 86 CO RTD Denver, CO 2016 x Two 59 CT SLE New Haven–New London, CT 1990 x Single 101 FL SunRail Central Florida–Orlando, FL 2014 x Single 64 FL Tri-Rail South Florida 1989 x Single 142 IL Metra Chicago, IL 1983 x Multiple (11) 975 IN South Shore Line South Bend, IN–Chicago, IL 1989 x Single 180 MA MBTA Boston, MA 1964 x Multiple (14) 776 MD MARC Martinsburg, WV–Frederick, MD–Perryville, MD–Baltimore, MD–Washington, D.C. 1983 x Three 400 MN Northstar St. Cloud–Minneapolis, MN 2009 x Single 78 NJ NJ TRANSIT New Jersey–New York City 1983 x Multiple (8) 1,002 NM Rail Runner Albuquerque–Santa Fe, NM 2006 x Single 193 NY LIRR New York City–Long Island, NY 1966 x Multiple (11) 638 NY Metro-North New York City–North and East NY 1983 x Multiple (5) 546 NY PATH New York City–New Jersey 1962 x Multiple (4) 29 OR WES Wilsonville–Beaverton, OR 2009 x Single 29 PA SEPTA Philadelphia, PA 1983 x Multiple (13) 447 TN Music City Star Nashville, TN 2006 x Single 63 TX A-train Denton County, TX 2011 x Single 43 TX MetroRail Austin, TX 2010 x Single 64 TX TRE Dallas–Fort Worth, TX 1996 x Single 72 UT FrontRunner Ogden–Salt Lake City–Provo, UT 2008 x Single 175 VA VRE Northern VA–Washington, D.C. 1992 x Two 174 WA Sounder Lakewood–Seattle–Everett, WA 2000 x Single 164 CANADA BC WCE Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 1995 x Single 42 ON GO Transit Greater Toronto and Hamilton 1967 x Multiple 283 Area, Ontario, Canada (7) QC RTM Montreal, Quebec, Canada 1982 x Multiple (6) 158 Note: Source of directional route miles for United States: National Transit Database 2016. Source of directional route miles for Canada: Canadian Urban Transit Association and RTM. Year Open to Public Service Table 5. Description of commuter rail systems.

32 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Number of Rail Lines Owner of Railroad Rights-of-Way United States CA ACE Single UPRR and PCJPB CA Caltrain Single PCJPB and UPRR CA COASTER Single NCTD and San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) CA Metrolink Multiple (7) SCRRA, UPRR, and BNSF CA SMART Single SMART District CO RTD Two RTD CT SLE Single CTDOT and Amtrak FL SunRail Single Florida DOT FL Tri-Rail Single Florida DOT IL Metra Multiple (11) Metra, UPRR, BNSF, CN, and NS IN South Shore Line Single NICTD and Metra (ME Line) MA MBTA Multiple (14) MBTA and Amtrak (Northeast Corridor in Rhode Island) MD MARC Three CSX Corporation (Brunswick and Camden Lines) and Amtrak (Penn Line/Northeast Corridor) MN Northstar Single BNSF NJ NJ TRANSIT Multiple (8) NJ TRANSIT, Amtrak (Northeast Corridor) NM Rail Runner Single New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT) and City of Santa Fe NY LIRR Multiple (11) New York MTA NY Metro-North Multiple (5) New York MTA and Connecticut DOT (New Haven Line in Connecticut) NY PATH Multiple (4) Port Authority of NY & NJ OR WES Single TriMet and Oregon Department of Transportation (Oregon DOT) PA SEPTA Multiple (13) SEPTA and Amtrak (Wilmington–Newark, Trenton, and Paoli–Thorndale Lines) TN Music City Star Single NERR TX A-train Single DART TX MetroRail Single Capital Metro TX TRE Single DART UT FrontRunner Single UTA VA VRE Two CSX (Fredericksburg Line), NS (Manassas Line), and Amtrak (Washington Union Station) WA Sounder Single Sound Transit and BNSF Canada BC WCE Single CP ON GO Transit Multiple (7) Metrolinx, CP, and CN QC RTM Multiple (6) RTM, CP, and CN Table 6. Owner of railroad right-of-way for commuter rail systems.

Key Characteristics of Commuter Rail Systems 33 • MBTA • MARC (Penn Line) • SEPTA • GO Transit For multi-line commuter rail systems, level of service may be less on some rail lines. The level of service indicated is the highest for any of the rail lines on the respective system. Level of Service C Commuter rail systems that operate at Level of Service C include the following: • COASTER • Metrolink • SMART • SLE • Tri-Rail • South Shore Line • A-train • MetroRail • TRE • FrontRunner • RTM For multi-line commuter rail systems (Metrolink and RTM), the level of service may be less on some rail lines. Level of Service D Commuter rail systems that operate at Level of Service D are • SunRail • MARC (Camden Line) • Rail Runner (limited weekend service) • WES • Music City Star • Sounder LEVEL OF SERVICE A B C D E Days of operation Weekdays, Saturday, Sunday X X X Weekdays, Saturday X Weekdays only X X Direction Bidirectional service X X X X Peak-direction service X Span of service hours weekdays 21–24 hours per day X 16–20 hours per day X Peak periods and midday, limited nights X Peak periods and limited midday; limited off-peak direction trips X Peak periods only X Table 7. Level of service.

34 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook Level of Service E Commuter rail systems that operate peak periods, peak direction include the following: • ACE • MARC (Brunswick Line) • Northstar (limited weekend service) • VRE • WCE Scale of Operations The level of service is a consideration for the scale of operations, measured by annual passenger trips, passenger miles, and passenger rail car revenue miles. Table 8 provides data for the scale of operations for each of the commuter rail systems according to the 2016 annual data. The data are passenger trips, passenger miles, passenger rail car revenue miles, and operating expenses. To provide relevant context, the number of commuter rail lines and the total directional route miles are included in Table 8. The order is by annual passenger trips, from highest to lowest. Large Commuter Rail Systems Five commuter rail systems provided service to more than 70 million passengers in 2016. These mega-sized commuter rail operations are all legacy systems and include multiple rail lines: • LIRR • NJ TRANSIT • PATH • Metro-North • Metra Three commuter rail systems served between 33 million and 54 million passengers in 2016. These very large commuter rail operations are all legacy systems and include multiple rail lines: • GO Transit • SEPTA • MBTA The final group of commuter rail systems that falls into the large category includes four systems that carried between 8 million and 20 million passengers in 2016: • RTM • Caltrain • Metrolink • MARC In total, 12 commuter rail systems each served more than 8 million passengers in 2016 and fall into the general category of a large system. Caltrain is the only large system that is a single rail line, and Metrolink is the only large operation that is not a legacy system. Medium Commuter Rail Systems Ten commuter rail systems served between 1 million and 5 million passengers in 2016 and fall into the general category of a medium system according to ridership: • FrontRunner • VRE

Key Characteristics of Commuter Rail Systems 35 S iz e S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Number of Rail Lines Total Directional Route Miles Annual Passenger Trips in 000’s 2016 Annual Passenger Miles in 000’s 2016 Annual Passenger Car Revenue Miles in 000’s 2016 Annual Operating Expenses in 000’s 2016 M eg al ar ge NY LIRR Multiple (11) 638 103,197 2,154,354 66,763 $1,309,291 NJ NJ TRANSIT Multiple (8) 1,002 90,872 2,090,913 61,393 $1,022,642 NY PATHa Multiple (4) 29 88,330 370,186 12,865 $415,251 NY Metro-North Multiple (5) 546 86,298 2,522,416 69,580 $1,158,815 IL Metra Multiple (11) 975 72,290 1,616,848 43,521 $722,592 V er y La rg e ON GO Transit Multiple (7) 283 53,800 1,191,585 NA NA PA SEPTA Multiple (13) 447 36,188 455,692 19,334 $267,844 MA MBTA Multiple (14) 776 33,831 697,963 23,533 $403,655 La rg e QC RTMb Multiple (6) 158 19,508 261,829 7,027 $167,319 CA Caltrain Single 154 18,356 488,208 7,216 $112,219 CA Metrolink Multiple (7) 824 13,758 425,150 13,090 $218,013 MD MARC Three 400 8,962 266,288 6,386 $139,558 M ed iu m UT FrontRunner Single 175 4,546 125,131 5,401 $45,232 VA VRE Two 174 4,353 145,777 2,289 $69,875 CO RTD Two 59 4,317 41,854 1,664 $46,714 WA Sounder Single 164 4,312 106,688 1,795 $44,415 FL Tri-Rail Single 142 4,241 117,304 3,596 $89,988 IN South Shore Line Single 180 3,504 113,035 4,234 $48,081 BC WCEb Single 42 2,459 53,486 854 $18,148 TX TRE Single 72 2,054 40,270 1,165 $27,969 CA COASTER Single 82 1,556 43,723 1,372 $16,745 CA ACE Single 172 1,290 55,472 1,079 $17,380 S m al l FL SunRail Single 64 910 13,105 649 $31,209 NM Rail Runner Single 193 886 39,741 1,407 $29,945 CT SLE Single 101 850 21,215 1,824 $32,042 TX MetroRail Single 64 806 13,241 298 $23,076 MN Northstar Single 78 711 17,608 538 $16,677 TX A-train Single 43 545 8,000 645 $12,757 OR WES Single 29 457 3,884 164 $7,899 TN Music City Star Single 63 278 4,434 201 $5,152 New CA SMART Single 86 Opened August 2017 Note: Source of data for United States: National Transit Database 2016. Source of data for Canada: Canadian Urban Transit Association, Metrolinx, and RTM. NA = not available. aPATH is a heavy rail system. bIn Canadian dollars. Table 8. Scale of operations for commuter rail systems.

36 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook • Denver RTD • Sounder • Tri-Rail • South Shore Line • WCE • TRE • COASTER • ACE These rail systems represent a range of dates for opening of service. South Shore Line is a legacy system, and the rest are new starts. Denver RTD opened commuter rail service in 2016. All are single rail lines except VRE and Denver RTD, each with two commuter rail lines. Small Commuter Rail Systems Eight commuter rail systems served less than 1 million passengers in 2016 and fall into the general category of a small system according to ridership. All eight systems are single rail lines and opened as new starts: • SunRail • Rail Runner • SLE • MetroRail • Northstar • A-train • WES • Music City Star SMART opened service in August 2017. Performance Metrics Comparison of commuter rail systems based on performance metrics is challenging because there are significant differences in the systems that affect performance. The following is a list of the characteristics of commuter rail systems that can differ considerably, and these differences will affect performance metrics: • Commuter rail directional route miles (distance) • Operating environment for the service area – Geography and topography of the commuter rail corridors – Freight rail activity on the commuter rail corridors – Number of stations and types of passenger facilities at the stations (e.g., parking available) – Intermodal connections • Level of service – Days of operation (weekdays, Saturday, or Sunday) – Direction of service (bidirectional or peak direction) – Span of service hours weekdays • Ownership of railroad right-of-way – Responsibility for dispatch – Responsibility for maintenance of way – Responsibility for signals and communication – Responsibility for PTC wayside maintenance – Terms of trackage rights agreement (TRA) or other similar access agreement, if applicable

Key Characteristics of Commuter Rail Systems 37 • Type of rail equipment and age of rail equipment; passenger car seating capacity • Procedures for collecting and reporting service and financial data to the National Transit Database. Data from the database are used in the United States for peer performance comparisons. The list is not inclusive of all factors that affect performance but provides an indication of why comparison of commuter rail systems is difficult and why many factors have to be considered before drawing conclusions. Data analysis could not confirm that the approach to service delivery (agency operated or contracted) has a direct influence on performance metrics. Many other factors affect perfor- mance metrics that are unrelated to the approach to service delivery. Chapters 5 and 6 of this guidebook discuss approaches to service delivery. Each of the commuter rail systems in the United States reports data each year to the National Transit Database. There is no comparable source of data for Canadian systems; the Canadian Urban Transit Association or agency publications provide the data. Table 9 provides the performance metrics by commuter rail system. The order is by annual passenger trips, from highest to lowest. The performance metrics include the following: • Service effectiveness – Passenger miles per passenger trip – Passenger trips per passenger car revenue mile • Cost effectiveness – Operating cost per passenger trip – Operating cost per passenger mile These performance metrics are included for each U.S. commuter rail system for years 2012 through 2016 in the profiles in TCRP Research Report 200: Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles. Table 10 provides the performance metrics for all U.S. commuter rail systems reporting to the National Transit Database each year for 2012 through 2016. In 2012, there were 25 com- muter rail systems reporting. SunRail reported data in 2015, and Denver RTD added data for commuter rail as a mode in 2016. Table 10 reports the median, the average, and the weighted average of all commuter rail systems each year. Overall, the metrics are consistent from year to year over the 5 years. Summary This chapter provides the key characteristics of each of the 28 commuter rail systems in the United States and three commuter rail systems in Canada. Service area, number of rail lines, directional route miles, and ownership of the rail right-of-way describe each system. Data tables illustrate the scale of operations as measured by annual passenger trips, annual passenger miles, annual passenger car revenue miles, and annual operating costs as reported for 2016. The commuter rail systems differ in the level of service. The level of service is categorized by the days of service, whether service is bidirectional or peak direction only, and the span of service hours on weekdays. Although comparisons of commuter rail systems are often of interest, this chapter discusses why comparisons are difficult. The commuter rail systems are significantly different according to distance, operating environment, level of service, passenger car and train passenger capacity, ownership of rail right-of-way, and type and age of the rail equipment. With these many factors, the approach to service delivery for each commuter rail system has to be considered in context. The next chapter discusses approaches to providing commuter rail.

38 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook S iz e S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Number of Rail Lines Total Directional Route Miles Level of Service Passenger Miles/ Passenger Trip 2016 Passenger Trips/ Passenger Car Revenue Mile 2016 Operating Cost/ Passenger Trip 2016 Operating Cost/ Passenger Mile 2016 M eg al ar ge NY LIRR Multiple (11) 638 A 20.88 1.55 $12.69 $0.61 NJ NJ TRANSIT Multiple (8) 1,002 A 23.01 1.48 $11.25 $0.49 NY PATHa Multiple (4) 29 A 4.19 6.87 $4.70 $1.12 NY Metro-North Multiple (5) 546 A 29.23 1.24 $13.43 $0.46 IL Metra Multiple (11) 975 A 22.37 1.66 $10.00 $0.45 V er y La rg e ON GO Transit Multiple (7) 283 B 21.39 n/a n/a n/a PA SEPTA Multiple (13) 447 B 12.59 1.87 $7.40 $0.59 MA MBTA Multiple (14) 776 B 20.63 1.44 $11.93 $0.58 La rg e QC RTMb Multiple (6) 158 C 13.42 2.78 $8.58 $0.64 CA Caltrain Single 154 B 26.60 2.54 $6.11 $0.23 CA Metrolink Multiple (7) 824 C 30.90 1.05 $15.85 $0.51 MD MARC Three 400 Penn Line–B 29.71 1.40 $15.57 $0.52 M ed iu m UT FrontRunner Single 175 C 27.53 0.84 $9.95 $0.36 VA VRE Two 174 E 33.49 1.90 $16.05 $0.48 CO RTD Two 59 B 9.69 2.60 $10.82 $1.12 WA Sounder Single 164 D 24.74 2.40 $10.30 $0.42 FL Tri-Rail Single 142 C 27.66 1.18 $21.22 $0.77 IN South Shore Line Single 180 C 32.26 0.83 $13.72 $0.43 BC WCEb Single 42 E 21.75 2.88 $7.38 $0.34 TX TRE Single 72 C 19.61 1.76 $13.62 $0.69 CA COASTER Single 82 C 28.10 1.13 $10.76 $0.38 CA ACE Single 172 E 43.00 1.20 $13.47 $0.31 S m al l FL SunRail Single 64 D 14.40 1.40 $34.28 $2.38 NM Rail Runner Single 193 D 44.84 0.63 $33.78 $0.75 CT SLE Single 101 C 24.96 0.47 $37.70 $1.51 TX MetroRail Single 64 C 16.42 2.70 $28.62 $1.74 MN Northstar Single 78 E 24.76 1.32 $23.45 $0.95 TX A-train Single 43 C 14.67 0.85 $23.40 $1.59 OR WES Single 29 D 8.49 2.79 $17.27 $2.03 TN Music City Star Single 63 D 15.96 1.38 $18.55 $1.16 New CA SMART Single 86 C Opened August 2017 Note: Source of data for United States: National Transit Database 2016. Source of data for Canada: Canadian Urban Transit Association, Metrolinx, and RTM. NA = not available. aPATH is a heavy rail system. bIn Canadian dollars. Table 9. Performance metrics for each commuter rail system in 2016.

Key Characteristics of Commuter Rail Systems 39 Year 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Number of U.S. Commuter Rail Systems Reporting 25 25 25 26 27 Passenger Miles per Passenger Trip Median 22.65 23.95 24.54 24.57 24.74 Average 23.89 24.27 23.86 23.58 23.36 Weighted Average 20.75 21.89 20.79 20.68 20.42 Passenger Trips per Passenger Car Revenue Mile Median 1.37 1.47 1.36 1.44 1.40 Average 1.74 1.74 1.72 1.72 1.72 Weighted Average 1.69 1.64 1.64 1.65 1.67 Operating Cost per Passenger Trip Median $12.00 $13.00 $13.31 $13.51 $13.62 Average $14.08 $14.03 $14.39 $15.63 $16.51 Weighted Average $9.51 $10.27 $10.54 $10.56 $10.78 Operating Cost per Passenger Mile Median $0.46 $0.49 $0.52 $0.56 $0.59 Average $0.69 $0.68 $0.69 $0.77 $0.84 Weighted Average $0.46 $0.47 $0.51 $0.51 $0.53 Source: National Transit Database 2016. Table 10. Performance metrics for U.S. commuter rail systems for 2012–2016.