Northstar Corridor Commuter Rail

                                     By Michal Iacono, Ning Li, Wenling Chen (November 20)

I. Project overview and background

• Project description

The Northstar Corridor is a proposed 82-mile transportation corridor, which runs along highways 10 and 47 from downtown Minneapolis to the St. Cloud/Rice area. (See map). It also includes a 0.3-mile extension of the Hiawatha Corridor light rail transit (LRT) project (See Case Study 8) to link the two passenger lines together. Total costs for the commuter rail project are estimated at $223 million and the extension project of Hiawatha LRT will add another $21.8 million. The Northstar corridor is expected to carry 10,550 average weekday passengers by the year 2020, including 9,400 daily new riders.  

Although the project received strong support from the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA), Minnesota Department of Transportation (MN DOT) and the public, the Minnesota Legislature still rejected the project in 2002. 

Please scan the following links for project overviews:

http://www.northstartrain.org/

http://news.sctimes.com/Northstar/

•  Engineering background

What is commuter rail?

Minnesota has an ambitious plan of passenger rail development. Commuter rail, light rail and High-speed rail are three main types of passenger rail under consideration. What is their difference?

•    Commuter rail passenger service is generally defined as passenger train service that operates on existing freight railroad tracks.
•    Light rail transit is generally defined as electric rail cars that operate in short trains
•    High-speed rail is a generic name for a family of technologies, both steel-wheel on rail and magnetic levitation (maglev) systems.

Their major differences are listed in the following links:

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/passengerrail/faqs.html#1 

• Economic background

Rapid growth has posed great challenges on the transportation system in the stretch of land between the Twin Cities and St. Cloud.  The Northstar project was initiated as a solution to accommodate growth and alleviate congestion along the corridor. At issue is the nearly 300$ cost of the project, which proponents of the project view as a bargain compared to building roads, while opponents think it’s far too expensive, relative to its potential benefits.  

The capital cost of the project is estimated at $294 million, half of which will be paid by the federal government. The rest will be covered by the state and local jurisdictions. Besides the capital costs, the commuter line will take $15 million a year to operate, of which, $10 million will be paid for by the state and federal government.  

View this link of FTA annual report on Northstar Commuter rail project for project description and evaluation: http://www.fta.dot.gov/library/policy/ns/ns2003/penorthstar.html

Further information: http://www.twincityscape.com/northstar.html 

II. Stakeholders involved

 The Northstar project involves many stakeholders, both within the corridor as well as throughout the state.  Statewide, because the financial impact will be felt by all state taxpayers.  Since the state contribution of $120 million is envisioned to come from bond proceeds, there needs to be a consensus among metro and outstate voters and legislators that Northstar is a worthwhile project. Not surprisingly, there are some strong objectors:  http://www.taxpayersleague.org\social_engineering.php (see “going nowhere slowly” and transportation “facts” brochures).  Another familiar critic from a previous case study is Sen. Dick Day.  Feel free to review his “freedom to drive” transportation initiative at:  http://www.freedomtodrivemn.com/day_welcome.html. 

Outgoing governor Jesse Ventura is known to be a strong supporter of the Northstar project, as well as the Hiawatha LRT project.  During the last legislative session, he lobbied hard to have Northstar included in the final bonding bill, which required a special session.  He even went as far as threatening to start slashing legislators’ pet projects out of the bonding bill to ensure Northstar’s passage, a threat he eventually did deliver on, initially cutting $300 million out the bonding bill, though he was eventually overridden.  In the end, Ventura was unable to overcome opposition from the House Transportation Committee, which happened to be chaired by Carol Molnau (R-Chaska), who now stands as lieutenant to governor-elect Tim Pawlenty.  Both of these legislators signed a “no new taxes” pledge during the last session. 

Not all of the Minnesota legislature’s conservatives were against Northstar, though.  There was strong support from many suburban representatives within the Northstar Corridor.  Most were reacting to the responses of angry constituents who were fed up with dealing with traffic jams on Hwy. 10 on a day-to-day basis.  There does seem to be strong public support for Northstar, as evidenced by this recent poll conducted at the state fair by the Minnesota House Research group:  http://www.house.mn/hinfo/2002fair.htm. 

The Metropolitan Council also has a major stake in the Northstar Corridor project, as it is an important piece of their proposed regional transit network.  See the 2010 and 2025 Regional Transitways maps at:  http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/transportation/transportation.htm. 

If Hiawatha was the “demonstration” project for LRT, then Northstar is likely envisioned as the demonstration for other commuter rail projects within the greater Twin Cities region.  Other proposed commuter rail lines include: 

• The Red Rock Corridor:  www.redrockrail.org and,
• The Dan Patch Corridor:  www.danpatchcorridor.com

Beyond transportation, the Council is counting on Northstar to serve as the catalyst for new Smart Growth prototype, mixed-use developments.  One such project envisions a new town center for the city of Ramsey, a sprawling, low-density suburb within the Northstar Corridor.  It would include roughly 2,000 new units of housing as the focal point of a larger, mixed-use center.  This project has aroused the passions of local residents. 

See the opposing views toward this type of growth at:  www.VoteToddCook.com (see the “issues” and “links” sections) and www.citizensforramsey.com (see “Town Center” link). 

III. Major issues

The Northstar project has raised concerns from various stakeholders. The major issues center around the following points:  

·        Larger group pays while only small groups benefit

Requesting nearly $150 state funding, the project would be a significant investment of taxpayers across the Minnesota, some of whom might never get paid back since the project would mainly serve residents within the corridor.  

·        Subsidies outweighs benefits

This is mainly a local concern based on the vague availability of future operating funding. $5 million out of $15 million operating costs would be the local responsibility, which might request subsidy and be a burden on local residents. What (if any) would be an appropriate source of funding? 

·        Encourage instead of curbing sprawl

One of the marketing benefits of the project is to guide development along the line and control sprawl. However, there’re also concerns that the commuter rail line might enable people to live further out and might actually support urban sprawl.  

·            Public funding was used to lobby for public funding

An interesting observation of the project is that: federal funding is used as a lobby for state match. The Federal Transit Administration has offered $147 million funding, which would be eligible upon the availability of $120 million state match. Should an investment of $120 million be justified by a $147 million grant? 

•    Political games going on

There’s also concern by the Northstar supporters that the legislature might use the project as a political bargaining chip against the project’s biggest supporter, the Governor. Think about what role Ventura has played in this project.  

Further information can be found at: http://www.bmwe.org/nw/2002/01JAN/33htm.htm,

http://news.mpr.org/features/200203/06_postt_northstarupdate-m/

http://www.mepartnership.org/mep_legislation.asp?brf_id=46 

IV. Please think about the following questions:

• What are the reasons that the Legislature disapproved the local (state) funding match?
• What role has Jesse Ventura has played in the project? How would a champion work in a transportation project?  Is our new governor a champion?
• New governor and lieutenant governors Tim Pawlenty and Carol Molnau have been stridently opposed to rail transit projects in the past, though Pawlenty has softened his stance on Northstar in light of a more recent cost-benefit study conducted by MnDOT.  This study indicates a more favorable cost-benefit ratio for the Northstar project.  What implications might this have on the state’s new transportation agenda
• Also, as mentioned, both legislators signed a “no new taxes” pledge.  In light of the state’s  $3 billion deficit and Pawlenty’s plan to bond $2 billion for roads in the coming years, how would Northstar ever get financed?
• Last year, looming budget problems caused the legislature to cut $2.7 million from the regional transit operating budget.  Prospects for the coming year show a projected $15 million shortfall for transit operations, which would necessitate major service cuts.  Can this be avoided while simultaneously committing roughly $15 million per year in operating assistance to Northstar and Hiawatha?
• What is the effect of LRT on Northstar commuter rail?
• What are the alternative uses of funding besides building Northstar line? How to decide on the right area to put money in?
• Would Northstar drive people out of their cars if it could be built? What are the factors driving people’s mode decisions?
• Think about the claims made about the Northstar Line on its website, especially relating to development.  Transit-oriented development usually requires fairly frequent service as a base requirement (something LRT will have).  Are these claims realistic?
• How does Northstar compare with other build/no-build alternatives for the corridor?