On track
Is Lauderdale’s Wave a train to nowhere?
Iwant to be excited about TheWave streetcar planned for downtown Fort Lauderdale, I really do.
I’ve been fascinated by rail ever since Iwas a little girl and spotted that Lionel train set under the Christmas tree withmy brother’s name on it. I’ve ridden almost every kind of system there is — fromthe streetcar in Portland, to commuter rail in San Francisco, to high-speed rail in Japan. And I can’twait to zip to Miami after Brightline’s long-distance rail service opens later this summer.
When I first heard about TheWave, I thought about the bright yellowstreetcar in Tampa, my previous home. Tampa’s streetcar follows a 2.7-mile track from historic Ybor City to downtown— passing the aquarium, the hockey arena and the Channelside entertainment and housing district. But the projected ridership never showed up, causing budget emergencies and service cutbacks. The county transit director aptly nicknamed it “the little yellowlightning rod.” And yet. TheWave is going to happen. Supporters say it’s a done deal, no matter the growingwave of opposition fromcitizens in the downtown area who raise legitimate questions about its $195 million cost, its route and its potential to relieve traffic congestion.
Congress has already appropriated the money, they point out. To change course nowwould jeopardize about $82 million in federal funds. Plus, the state has ponied up $53 million and local governments almost $60 million. And a good chunk of change has already been spent on planning and preparation. And yet. President Trump sent shockwaves through cities with transit projects— including Fort Lauderdale— inMarch when he announced his proposed 2018 budget. To spend more on national defense, the presidentwants cities to pay for their own transportation needs. If the policy stands, TheWashington Post says projects with signed final agreements for “Small Starts” funds could proceed, but those stillworking out details with the Federal Transit Administrationwere out of luck.
Congressional sources say the Florida Department of Transportation is stillworking out the details of TheWave’s costsharing agreement with the FTA, but a completed deal is expected sometime this summer. While the money is still anticipated, they say that with the new administration tightening up federal spending, it’s not guaranteed.
In the meantime, four firms have submitted, or areworking to submit, their final bids, says JenniMorejon, executive director of theDowntown Development Authority.
Morejon speaks with matter-of-fact certainty. She says the Small Starts contract will be executed in August, the bids will be opened immediately afterward and constructionwill begin in the fall. And yet. TheWave faces a growing chorus of opposition from civic-minded people who find it a bad bet.
Critics say it will do nothing to relieve congestion, which is true. As BrittanyWallman has reported, traffic experts say its 2.8-mile loop will have negligible effects on traffic. Its chief purpose is to foster growth and development in downtown.
Critics also say TheWave will lose money, which is also true, though no transportation system sustains itself. To help operate the line, Broward County plans an annual subsidy of $6 million-plus, which will come fromsales and property taxes.
Critics also call TheWave our “Train to Nowhere” because it goes few places peoplewant to go, which experience shows is the biggest blunder planners make.
Given Broward’s traffic congestion, I’ve alwayswondered why the county decided to place its first rail line along Andrews Avenue from Southwest 17th Street to Sistrunk Boulevard, with a cut-out to Southwest Third Street and a loop near FlaglerVillage.
I don’t recall hitting traffic jams on Andrews, except when the bridge goes up.
The answer is because the developer-led Downtown Development Authority prothe posed the idea about 14 years ago and never gave up.
“The intentwas that thiswas the starter piece of a system,” Morejon says. Plus, downtown had the land use, existing and planned, to create the ridership needed to secure federal funding.
It’s expected the streetcar might one day extend to the airport, convention center, university complex inDavie and Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise. But given its overhead electrical wires and average expected speed of 8 mph, I have a hard time envisioning its seamless extension to the suburbs. Morejon notes that the cars can travel up to 40 mph.
TheWave’s first-phase route will connect many downtown government buildings and provide access to East Last Olas, the Brightline train station and Himmarshee Village. But there’s no stop at a big arena, or airport or convention center. And given the lack of parking at its terminus, TheWave is clearly designed for people who live near the route or ride Brightline.
It’s unfortunate the route doesn’t go down Sistrunk into the city’s historic black neighborhood, a decision I’ve never heard adequately explained. Connecting this challenged community to employment opportunities in downtownwould have mitigated some of the inequality issues in the city and created more supporters, rather than more detractors.
I live in Victoria Park, just four blocks froma proposed streetcar stop onNortheast Fourth Street. I expect to ride The Wave for the novelty factor, but can’t imagine making the effort to ride it to the hospital, county center or Las Olas.
I figured residents of Flagler Village and Las Olaswere its target market, sowas surprised to see those neighborhood civic associations leading the opposition.
“Right nowthe demand is for on-demand, door-todoor service,” says Rob Larson, who heads the FlaglerVillage Civic Association. “Howcan they say this willwork when the Sun Trolley is failing? If they truly believe people will get out of their cars, why don’t they run a Sun Trolley on the same route and find out who’s willing to get out of their cars?”
Sun Trolley’s ridership is down, like transit ridership nationwide, says Executive Director Robyn Chiarelli. Ride-sharing, lowgas prices, work-athome trends and lingering impacts of the recession are among the reasons why.
Nevertheless, The Wave’s ridership study says it will attract close to 3,000 riders a day.
Supporterswant you to knowthat excitement about the streetcar has generated more than $3 billion in new development in the past five years. And to be confident in making those investments, developers wanted a fixed-rail route, not a rubberwheel trolley.
My inner skepticwonders whether those projectswould have been built anyway, given the region’s growth. So I called Jeff Brown, who studies streetcars as chair of the Department ofUrban and Regional Planning at Florida StateUniversity.
“Most streetcars are primarily about urban redevelopment, but there’s no compelling evidence that there’s a development effect,” he says. “Everyone points to Portland, and yes, there’s development around streetcar there. But it’s a big leap to say the streetcar is what caused that to happen … Portland has a lot of policy supports and economic incentives to encourage development.”
Myworry is that if TheWave gets built and the ridership doesn’t showup, the streetcar will give rail a black eye. That’s what happened in Tampa.
“Yes, the folks thatwould oppose rail will use any excuse to throwsand in the gears of progress and oftentimes, they will use the streetcar as an example of whywe shouldn’t do light rail,” says Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn.
Buckhornwas a Tampa City Council member in 2002 when the city’s streetcar was reborn. He cast the lone vote against it. “I said at the time, look, it doesn’t connect anything. It goes fromno place to nowhere. It doesn’t go to the heart and soul of the employment centers. It’s underfunded. You have no plan for advertising dollars that will sustain it … It got built and everything I said came true. Unfortunately, nowI’m the mayor so I have to fix it all.” And yet. Fifteen years later, that Channelside neighborhood is looking at a $3 billion investment fromBill Gates and Jeff Vinik, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. And suddenly the little yellowlightning rod is looking a little bit better.
“The short answer is the trolley has not been successful, but in the long term I think it has the potential to be successful,” Buckhorn said.
“Anybody that tells you it’s a transportation solution is lying,” he added. “In the grand scheme of things, it’s not. It’s not like light rail or like adding five lanes to the interstate. But what it does do is make downtown more attractive to urban living.”
The other part of the equation, he said, is that Fort Lauderdale already has in hand an $18 million federal TIGER grant. Those are awarded to transportation projects that generate economic development and improve access to affordable transportation.
“If you give back that money, it’s going somewhere else. You’re never going to get that back. You don’twant to give back a TIGER grant. I don’twant to say it’s free money, because it’s all of our money. But if you’ve got that in hand, the challenges now are to do it right.”
I asked Rob Larson of Flagler Village if hewould give back the money. “Absolutely,” he said. “The local money is $20 million. If you reallywant to be cutting edge and cool and entice people out of their cars, you could use it to buy electric buses and autonomous pods. Autonomous rides with air conditioning that pick you up and take you where youwant to go for 60 or 70 cents, this is the competition. It’s going to sweep theworld. Three cities have autonomous pods. That’s what the competition is going to be.”
I asked the same of Jeff Brown at FSU. “If it’s possible to back out, I’d back out. If it’s not possible, then you need to do as much as you can to actually have people use it. It probably means making the fare free. That’s what Kansas City did. They made that decision up front and got buy-in. … But it’s likely they end up having to swipe operating money fromthe local bus system to operate this thing, which means the bus system deteriorates. That’s happened in some communities.”
I asked Fort Lauderdale CityManager Lee Feldman about the criticism of streetcars being yesteryear and the excitement about self-driving cars and buses.
“Only time will tell, right?” he said.“We can always say, every single project will neverwork and nothing will ever get done, nothing will ever change. There is a group of people all across theworld thatwould much rather never do anything. But I think you see around the country progressive downtowns are looking at all different transportation alternatives, including streetcars. TheDDAmemberswere visionaries 14 years ago in trying to bring this project to fruition. Thirty years fromnow, theremay be pods, but theremay not be. Fifteen years fromnow, theremay be autonomous vehicles, or theremay not be. None of us have a crystal ball. But ifwe wait andwait and none of it ever materializes, all you are is farther behind.”
What do I think? I neverwould have started Broward’s first rail line on Andrews Avenue, but this train has left the station. I wouldn’t give back the money. But I’m skeptical of the ridership numbers and think it makes sense to explore free ridership— and public parking at the terminus — to ensure a better buzz.
The last thing TheWavewants is a nickname like the little yellowlightning rod.
And “Fort Lauderdale’s Folly,” the name some nowcall it, has the potential to stick.
Rosemary O’Hara is the Editorial Page Editor. Email her at rohara@sun-sentinel.com.