[6] Support Intermodal
Transportation
Integrate transportation modes into a
"seamless" and efficient system.
Expected Benefits
Intermodal transport is an important component of the overall
transportation system. Improving
connections between modes -- both for freight and for people -- helps the whole
system work better and provides economic benefits.
Implications
Direct budgetary consequences of implementing this strategy will come in
the form of specific capital projects aimed at improving intermodal
connections. Policy encouragement will
require actions by other levels of government, in addition to continued CDTC
attention.
Actions
1) Improve intermodal passenger connections throughout the region.
Tailoring
transit service to meet the overall transportation needs of the 21st century
includes improved intermodal passenger connections. Efficient transfer between private operator transit service and
CDTA service is one component.
Effective connections of local transit and taxi service with
inter-regional bus, rail and airline services is another. The idea of transportation hubs is worthy of
further exploration (see action 30 on page Error!
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Transit investment should grow to reflect easier, more convenient
service with better linkages. Among the
initiatives available for efficient transfer between local services is CDTA's
"Link" program that allows free transfer between private services and
CDTA service. This successful service
should be continued. Further, steps
should be taken to coordinate schedules and identify effective transfer
locations for private-to-CDTA and CDTA-to-private passenger transfers. This should be a consideration in efforts to
improve transfer processes and restructure the CDTA route system.
For connections to the inter-regional passenger system, the Rennselaer
Rail Station improvements will provide better connection to downtown Albany,
improved circulation and layover areas for CDTA buses and better accommodations
for taxis at the station. The project
also supports a long-range game plan for increased mixed-use development near
the station
Connections
between local and interstate transit service and the Albany International
Airport present a challenge. The
airport's central location in the region is one aspect of that challenge: local
trip origins and destinations radiate in all directions from the airport and
are generally shorter in length than in most airports.. Consequently, it is difficult to identify
transit markets that are clearly better served by full-size buses than by the
existing combination of taxis and shuttle vans. In recent years, the airport has been redesigned and expanded;
circulation and parking patterns changed in anticipation of steady growth in
commercial air traffic. As the air
traffic grows, CDTA should explore growth in potential transit markets. Among the market areas are express service
to/from the airport and downtown Albany.
CDTA's ShuttleFly service has proven quite useful for connecting workers
along Wolf Road and in the Airport area with the fixed route system.
2) Support intermodal transport of goods in and through the Capital District.
Several areas of public policy can support the intermodal transport of
goods in upstate New York: tax relief, labor issues, regulatory simplification,
and the location of freight-intensive industry.
Tax Relief
State tax policy
has had a significant impact on the New York freight industry -- both trucking
and rail -- and its competitiveness relative to other states.
The trucking industry supports the shift in tax treatment of
transportation corporations from the present Article 9 (Gross Receipts) to
Article 9-A (Net Income), as included in the 1996 state budget agreement. The budget agreement also reduced the
petroleum business tax on diesel fuel used by trucking companies and eliminated
mileage taxes on the New York State Thruway.
Continued attention to New York State truck tax issues will be required
in order maintain a competitive position relative to nearby states.
The property tax burden on railroad right-of-ways in New York State is
significant. It has contributed to many
decisions by railroads to discontinue service and abandon rail lines. Rail lines - by their nature - traverse
multiple jurisdictions. Many other
states, acknowledging the public purpose provided by private rail service,
exempt the rail lines themselves from property taxes. Ancillary properties, such as yards and maintenance facilities or
railroad-owned industrial properties often continue to be taxed. Further documentation of New York State rail
right-of-way property tax issues should occur.
An issue paper that can be shared with other MPOs around the state and
with appropriate state officials could influence state policy in this arena,
possibly resulting in legislation that would provide relief. There is a long history of the need for such
legislation -- a cooperative effort may achieve greater success than previous
attempts at reform.
Much
progress has been made since adoption of the original New Visions plan,
including reduction in the ton mile tax and gross receipts tax. Legislation reducing property taxes for
railroads was introduced by Governor Pataki in 2000 but has not yet been passed
by the Legislature. The momentum is
positive, however, for these actions.
Regulatory Simplification
Trucking and railroads have been significantly deregulated over the past
ten years -- helping the freight industry in general. The sentiment expressed through the Freight Roundtable forum is
that the remaining regulations concerning safety should be simplified. Trucking companies and railroads want to comply with safety rules, but
they are impeded by their complexity.
More time and resources should be spent on education in the spirit of
the Paperwork Reduction Act. This will
ultimately reduce enforcement costs and increase compliance. NYSDOT's Freight Transport Division and the
Department of Motor Vehicles would be responsible for implementing regulatory
simplification with statewide application.
Location of Freight-intensive
Industries
A viable intermodal freight industry needs customers. Attainment of regional goals regarding
compact development and optimal use of existing industrial land would be
fostered by public policies encouraging the location of freight-intensive
industries near existing rail lines and intermodal terminals.
3) Improve surface access to the Port of Albany.
On the Albany side, the Port of Albany is adjacent to I-787, but access
is circuitous and hampered by the presence of at-grade railroad crossings. Two of the three access points to the Port
of Albany (at Church Street and from South Pearl Street) have at-grade
crossings that can cause major delays for egress and ingress, particularly with
heavy rail traffic at the Kenwood Yards.
Within the Port proper, signage and pavement condition is poor. Direct ship/rail, ship/truck, and rail/truck
connections do exist, but would benefit from road and track improvements.
A two-pronged approach to improving surface access is proposed. In the long term, a direct access ramp from
I-787 to the Port, eliminating the Green Street grade crossing and providing
tandem facilities is desirable. In the
short term, pavement, grade crossing, and signage improvements to the existing
road network are desirable.
Improvements to dockside rails should also be considered. A focused circulation study may aid in the
advancement of these projects.
4) Implement improved surface access to the Albany International Airport.
Surface
access to the Albany International Airport has been identified as a
long-standing regional priority. The
1994-99 TIP includes a commitment to a $47 M project to build a new Exit 3 (or
redesigned Exit 4) specifically to provide direct access to the Airport from I-87. Concurrent improvements to Albany Shaker
Road and Watervliet Shaker Road are jointly funded with $20 M local/private
revenues. These projects are advancing
through the project development process.
Construction
is anticipated in 2000 for Albany-Shaker and 2001 for Watervliet-Shaker
projects. Full construction of
I-87 Exit 3 will require between $20 and $41 M including right-of-way
costs. Major environmental issues
involving historic sites and wetlands must be resolved. Lower cost alternatives that minimize
environmental impacts are being explored in the current (2000-01) scoping
effort.
Further, new air cargo facilities in the northeast quadrant of the
Airport warranted a re-examination of access to the Airport from Route 7. A specific project for access to the cargo
facilities was funded in the 1997-02 TIP and is currently under design.
5) Eliminate at-grade railroad crossings at every opportunity.
Grade crossings are considered a constraint to rail movement because of
safety and liability considerations, particularly for high-speed train
operation. An inventory of railroad
grade 
crossings
in the Capital District is included in Goods
Movement in the Capital District: A Performance Report, a New Visions technical report.
In general, basic protection at public
railroad grade crossings in the Capital District has been achieved through
previous efforts. The major locations
where this is not the case are where local land use is impacting road traffic
volumes significantly, or where a major change in rail service, namely
high-speed operation, is planned. An
example of intensifying local land use would be on Burdeck Street in Rotterdam,
where commercial and residential development has increased traffic volume on
Conrail's busy Selkirk Branch line (50 trains per day). This is an instance where a grade separation
may now be warranted.
Private crossings present a particular difficulty. Because of railroad law, public jurisdiction
is limited to public crossings. Public
funding is generally not available for improvements at private crossings. The one exception to this, made possible by
the passage of Senate Bill 7147 by the New York State Senate in 1994, is
intercity passenger rail corridors. In
order to insure public safety, NYSDOT is allowed to fund improvements or
consolidation of private crossings along intercity passenger rail corridors,
and is required to promulgate standards and specifications for design and
protection at such crossings[1].
However, this permissive legislation did not carry with it a funding
source to implement private grade crossing consolidations or safety upgrades.
The priority for grade crossing improvement and consolidation projects in
the Capital District is:
a) High Speed Amtrak Corridor -- Eliminate all at-grade
crossings. This is consistent with
proposed national policy for the Northeast corridor, recent state legislation
giving NYSDOT jurisdiction over private crossings on this route, and NYSDOT
goals. At-grade crossings can be
closed, consolidated, or grade separated in various cases. In determining the best action at a given
crossing, no net loss of public access to the Hudson Riverfront should
occur. Crossing consolidations and
closings should be sensitive to the goals of the Hudson River Greenway and the
needs of public safety agencies for access to Riverfront properties.
b) Freight Main lines -- Eliminate crossings wherever possible, with a minimum
standard of allowing no net increase in the number of crossings. There is an established Federal Railroad
Administration goal of eliminating 25% of all railroad grade crossings
nation-wide by the year 2000, and the Goods Movement task force recommends
adoption of this goal by the CDTC.
c) Other Rail lines -- Consistent with state policy, priority will be given to
closures on the main line. In general,
public grade crossings in the Capital District have been brought up to
acceptable safety standards, and those that have not are, in general, places
where closure, consolidation, or separation should be considered. Therefore, secondary and tertiary rail line
crossing closures will be addressed on a case-by-case basis, where safety or
other considerations warrant.
Opportunities to address private crossings may be best pursued at the
corridor level, such as the case of Railroad Avenue in Colonie.
Grade crossing elimination has multiple transportation system benefits:
·
improved railroad
and highway safety,
·
improved efficiency
of freight movement, and
·
allowance for
technological advances that would otherwise be impeded.
This is a change from the historic
approach, where railroad safety has been the primary determining factor in
setting priorities. This approach
recognizes the importance of the railroads in the overall transportation system
(for both passengers and freight) and takes into account as legitimate concerns
the integration of rail operations with adjacent communities. This results in a de-emphasis on equipment
upgrades and a priority for crossing consolidation, especially on the main
lines.
Funding Implications
Improved safety devices for railroad at-grade crossings cost $100,000 -
$150,000 each. Grade separation of
rails and roads costs $3 - $7 Million at each location, depending on design and
the extent of the approach work and right-of-way needed. Structures also require maintenance and
periodic replacement once built.
Encouraging closures and consolidations will therefore have significant
financial implications. However, the
long-term liability of at-grade crossings - in terms of both safety problems
and railroad maintenance responsibilities -- is eliminated.
The
historic obstacle to railroad grade crossing closure has been community
opposition based on resulting access restrictions, particularly for emergency
services, and inconvenience. This
obstacle can be overcome if sufficient provisions are made for access at other
points (such as adjacent roadway widening, pedestrian bridges, or intersection
improvements) or the provision of emergency substations. As an MPO, CDTC can facilitate bringing
affected parties to consensus on mutually beneficial solutions. However, such "community
accommodation" will cause incremental project cost increases.
The current federally funded (Section 130) grade crossing program can not
be expected to fully fund all grade crossing closures and consolidations in the
Capital District. Railroad at-grade
crossing consolidations and adjacent highway related work are clearly eligible
projects under TEA-21 funding for the flexible fund sources. Relatively few "intermodal"
projects are eligible for these "highway" funds, although vertical
clearance changes and specific railroad relocations are allowed. A grade crossing consolidation policy is one
way for the CDTC to demonstrate its commitment to the improvement of freight
transportation in the region. However,
the flexible fund sources within the TEA-21 are highly competitive. The projects that fare best in the
programming process are those that achieve multiple objectives. For example, the Lincoln Avenue grade
crossing elimination was programmed during the 1993 TIP cycle. This project will:
·
eliminate a
crossing along the Amtrak high-speed line;
·
remove commercial
traffic from a residential neighborhood;
·
create a new north
south through arterial in an area where current arterial spacing is
insufficient; and
·
promote economic
development in a commercial area.
One difficulty with the funding of grade crossing elimination projects
with TEA-21 flexible fund sources is the provision of match. In the Section 130 program, the state pays
the 20% non-federal match. With the
flexible fund sources, this is not necessarily the case. State provision of the match for the portion
of the project that is directly eliminating the grade crossing would be more
equitable. It is appropriate for the
local jurisdictions to match the portion of the project related to local
circulation improvements funded with flexible funds, but the crossing portion
of project cost should have uniform treatment across funding programs.
A large unanswered question is the funding situation for the
implementation of high speed Amtrak service.
Several federal funding demonstration programs have committed small
amounts of funding ($1M and $3M) to advancing the Northeast Corridor
proposal. However, detailed cost
estimates show a total price tag in the hundreds of millions, more than half of
which is for crossing consolidations.
It is this "sleeping giant" where the majority of the future
funding issues are anticipated. The
public funding draw for grade crossing consolidation and elimination could be
quite large. In addition, the criteria
for specific crossing consolidations require more thought. Guidelines on traffic volumes, train
frequencies, available detour routes, and reasonable community accommodation
procedures are required.