Shaping the future of The Tide

Public forums will address proposed rail extension in Norfolk

Hampton Roads Transit will convene three meetings this week to discuss with residents plans for expanding The Tide light rail to the Military Circle area. The project has been in the works for years and ambitiously hopes to link the existing rail line to a part of the city slated for extensive redevelopment. The meetings — a pop-up at the Military Highway Transfer Station at 11 a.m. and a more traditional event at Elegant Affairs Banquet Hall (903 E. Military Hwy.) — will allow attendees to review the proposal and maps, and to provide feedback.

The question for Norfolk is whether this remains the right move and the right time.

The light rail effort began with the best of intentions. It was pitched as a solution to the region’s intractable traffic problems and a promising path to greater transportation connectivity among Hampton Roads’ constituent cities, with extensions going to Virginia Beach and perhaps in time to other cities — Chesapeake, Portsmouth and even the Peninsula.

The 7.4-mile “test” line cost $318.5 million, or $86 million more than its original price tag, to build and was plagued by delays before belatedly opening its doors to riders in 2011. But Virginia Beach voters in 2016 rejected a proposed extension of the railway from the city line to Town Center, a mass transportation initiative enshrined for years in Virginia Beach’s long-term planning documents. The results were undeniable: When offered the opportunity to embrace this transit option, Beach residents said no.

Fair to say, out-migration and a reduction in the sizable military footprint in Hampton Roads have helped dampen some of the conditions which made light rail appealing. While there’s still plenty of traffic, and routine backups which continue to try motorists’ patience, congestion isn’t at all what it once was here. (Hard to believe, but true.)

Still, there are plenty of reasons for commuters and visitors to choose mass transit — assuming those options deliver riders to their chosen destination, or at least close by. That has been a key criticism of the existing railway: that because it is only a test line, it doesn’t reach the airport, the naval station or other useful destinations.

It’s why on the occasion of The Tide’s 10th anniversary, James Toscano, a former HRT board chair who worked at the agency in a variety of roles including chief communications officer from 2005 to 2011, called light rail an “amenity” rather than a transportation solution. A fun way of getting to a ballgame at Harbor Park or to Eastern Virginia Medical School but not something that would tempt a large number of motorists to abandon their cars.

Ridership numbers have largely supported that conclusion. The Tide has recorded 13 million passengers since it began service, but its highest monthly total in recent years was 142,334 in August 2018. It has topped 100,000 monthly riders only once since December 2019.

In HRT’s defense, ridership plummeted during the pandemic and has struggled to recover. But will those riders ever return? Will they choose to ride the light rail, even if new stations are built?

Already the idea of extending The Tide to Naval Station Norfolk has been set aside in favor of rapid bus transit. And building a line to Military Circle, despite the prospect of a massive redevelopment there, must be reassessed for need and practicality in light of the tectonic changes in how people live, work and travel post-COVID.

Given the array of challenges before the city, it may be that this project, once so promising, is no longer the best use of limited resources. As Norfolk and HRT officials meet with the public this week, they will need to make a compelling case to proceed, or else head back to the drawing board.

HRT open houses and pop-ups

Wednesday, March 22, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Military Circle Mall, Military Circle Bus Transfer Center

Wednesday, March 22, 5-7 p.m., Elegant Affairs, 930 N. Military Hwy.

Saturday, March 25, 9-11 a.m., Newtown Road Station Park and Ride, 135 Kempsville Road.