Bill Lhota, the President and CEO at COTA, had a busy day on Friday fielding calls and questions from the local media on the announcement of the new Light Rail Proposal that was released on Thursday.

Still, he made time to fit Columbus Underground into the mix and answer a variety of questions being posed on the transit news stories here. Bill admitted to being a regular reader of Columbus Underground, and enjoys seeing the youthful, energetic, and thoughtful discussion taking place. Read on to get more insight on what the future of rail development in Columbus could potentially look like.

Evans: Well first, thanks for having me over and taking the time to answer some questions. I know a lot of people on Columbus Underground really appreciate the chance to get some of their questions in front of you and hear some of your insight and input on this new proposal.

Lhota: Sure, thanks for coming over.

Evans: Well, first things first… for the most part the reactions on Columbus Underground in the past uh… what’s it been, 22 hours, 23 hours… have been overwhelming positive and optimistic, but there’s always plenty of room for healthy skepticism and concern on how other developments could be impacted. It sounds like the details of the plan are still being worked out, but it was announced yesterday that this new Passenger Rail Proposal will combine the “Best Parts” of both the older COTA North Corridor Proposal and the newer Downtown Streetcar Proposal. Can you share with us which parts of each proposal are being considered for this new project?

Lhota: Well, right now Walker, we don’t know the answer to that question, but we clearly want to take the benefits of both and put them together. The Streetcar demonstrated potential economic development benefits and certainly met the need for linking Ohio State with Downtown, as did the North Corridor Rail Project. So as we go forward with our studies, we want to take anything that was learned in either project, and we want to make sure that we can maximize all opportunities. But as you’re well aware, this is very early early in the process. There’s more unanswered questions than there are answered questions. But again, as we go forward we want to make sure we’re putting together the best project for the city of Columbus. We don’t want to overlook any work that’s been done previously.

Evans: It’s not come up too much yet, but in previous rail discussions on Columbus Underground we’ve had many debates on the definitions and details of passenger rail types. Is it too early to say exactly what type of passenger rail this will be classified? Heavy Commuter Rail? Light Rail? Streetcar? Tram?

Lhota: What we had before with the Streetcar was a smaller vehicle in the 60 foot range, and what we had with the North Corridor was a typical light rail car that was in the 120 foot range. The key issue is the axle load on the vehicle, because the axle load determines what kind of foundation you need, how deep does it have to be, and how heavy does it have to be. So, as move forward we need to explore exactly what type of vehicle we want. I should also mention of course… Streetcars go slow, Light Rail cars go fast. If you’re moving people a short distance and it’s not a commuter system, slow is ok. But with Light Rail, where you’re moving people longer distances, they want to get where they’re going quickly. So we’ve got to balance that trade off somewhere. I would prefer to get the speed of the Light Rail vehicle if we can get that speed with a slightly smaller vehicle. But there will be a lot of engineering analysis to determine what is the optimal vehicle for Central Ohio going forward. Also, and maybe this is one of your questions, but we can’t just look at the North Corridor. We’ve got to look at this as a network that’s ultimately going to radiate around Central Ohio. So whatever we do with the North Corridor, we want it to be compatible with a future system maybe 10, 20, 30 years out. We’ve got to think long term.

Evans: Yeah, that was one of the questions and one of the bigger concerns that a lot of people have. How it all fits together.

Lhota: Yeah, I think there was a question I saw on Columbus Underground last night about how our current fixed bus system will have to be redesigned to work with a light rail system. For instance, a park and ride at Morse Road. Some people can walk, some people will drive to the park and ride but we should also have buses that feed into that park and ride. I don’t know how often you get to DC or some other areas that have these big systems, but they have big park and rides and you always see bus lanes and buses dropping people off to get to the rail.

Evans: My wife and I spent some time in San Francisco not too long ago and it was beautiful how everything was compatible and how the different forms of transit complimented each other.

Lhota: It’s got to be… rail, bus, bike, walking… everything. I mean, it all has to work together as a system.

Evans: Right. Do you think the length and expansion of the line will help to quell some of the naysayers of the Streetcar project who weren’t necessarily opposed to the idea of passenger rail in Columbus, but instead thought that the shorter starter line was not enough?

Lhota: I certainly hope so. It’s certainly one of our concerns. And I was upfront with the Mayor. We did not support the Streetcar at first because it was too limited in what it did. We said that if the Streetcar is the first step in a broader network, then we will support it. Well, this is a broader network. This is a transportation system now. So I would hope that others would see it as a transportation system. Again, not just as a 13-mile link, but as the first transportation piece of that bigger system. Because these types of systems are not inexpensive but they are long lived, and they need to be here for the future.

Evans: Right. But with so many other states and cities scrambling for federal funding for their own infrastructure projects, do you think Columbus is a good candidate to receive these federal dollars at this particular time?

Lhota: Well, I’m sure as you well know, every city in the country has got their own list of projects. But I feel optimistic. And one of the things I really appreciate about the Mayor and MORPC and COTA coming together is that one of the criteria for these projects is that can you get to construction quickly. And the fact that we had the North Corridor DEIS is a huge huge step. That is a major document that we have. Now, it’s going to have to be refreshed because it’s two years old, but it’s just a matter of refreshing it, and not completely redoing it. Also, we’ve completed an onboard survey of our system in conjunction with MORPC. We’ve done all of the data collection phase and we’re now into the analysis phase. That’s another key step that has to be done before these projects go forward. So in my opinion we’re years ahead of others who’ve just put a line on a map and said “We want to do this project”. So we’ve got a lot of good data, and we’ve got the $20 Million commitment from MORPC. So I’m hopeful that this will demonstrate that our project can be positioned to be successful. One other thing I aught to mention… There was another question on Columbus Underground asking if are we going to be taking money away from the other city projects that are being done. And the answer to that is no, as we understand it. If you look at this… this is from the Saturday/Sunday, Dec 20th/21st Wall Street Journal… if you look at what’s being proposed, they’re talking about creating “buckets”. This is the transit bucket… $12 Billion… that is being proposed in the stimulus package for transit. So it’s a standalone pot of money. That’s what we’re trying to get this $200 million out of. So it’s not competing with something else that the city may want, or the county may want, or the state may want for other projects.

Evans: It sounds like a lot of people who haven’t been properly informed don’t realize that it’s not “allowance money” to spend on whatever you want, it’s very specific requests that you either get it for that or you don’t get it at all.

Lhota: As we understand it, yes. And with these projects you’re going to have to be accountable and demonstrate that it’s doing what you said it was going to do.

Evans: Exactly. Well, speaking of those naysayers, a lot of people are are quick to point out that rail transit is traditionally not a money-making piece of infrastructure. Neither are highways of course, but no one ever says that. Both offer opportunities to spur additional transit-oriented development though. Can you give us your thoughts on what kind of economic impact this new passenger rail project could have on Central Ohio as a whole?

Lhota: Public transit is a subsidized business. Just like highways are a subsidized business. Public transit has peak periods just like highways have peak periods. But, what this can do overall for the economy is.. number one: it can create jobs… number two: it can spur economic development along the corridor. Developers make no bones about it, they’ll invest where a rail line goes quicker than they will where a bus line goes. Because a rail line you’re not going to pick it up and move it overnight. But also it’s got environmental benefits from the standpoint of reducing the number of vehicles on the street and reducing greenhouse gases, it helps with energy security, it’s more energy efficient, and it uses electric energy which in this area is predominantly generated by coal so we’re not burning a foreign oil product to do it. But another benefit that sometimes gets overlooked is that it’s moving people from home to work, or home to entertainment, or home to healthcare, which is critically important because if we can’t get people from home to jobs we create significant problems. And when gasoline hit $4 per gallon earlier last year, COTA was contacted by companies who wouldn’t give us the time of day six months ago because it created a real dilemma for them to get their employees to and from work. So if we don’t have that transportation network in place at the appropriate time it can have devastating economic side effects.

Evans: Kind of playing off what you just said… COTA has seen tremendous improvements over the past few years both in terms of service upgrades and ridership numbers. What will be COTA’s leadership role in the implementation of this passenger rail project?

Lhota: Well, the plan is that this will be a COTA project. The Mayor has blessed it. He’s fully supportive that COTA now will be the leader to plan, design, construct, own, and operate this system going forward just as if it were a bus line going down High Street. So it can be fully integrated with our bus system. It will be seamless to the rider. If you buy a pass you should be able to ride this facility or ride a bus just like you do in every other city. So this will all be up to COTA. Of course, we’re certainly going to seek all the input and support from the city, we’re going to seek all the input and support from MORPC, and others who want to provide us input. But we feel that we have earned the right at COTA to manage this project through what has been done over the past four years though a lot of work by a lot of people. I hope the community recognizes that we’re trying to be a world class quality transit company.

Evans: That’s good to hear. Like I mentioned earlier with San Francisco, it was great to be able to get one pass and ride everything and have it all be seamless.

Lhota: It has to be that way. It has to be.

Evans: Some of the Rail “Cheerleaders” on Columbus Underground are begging for a downtown version of Grand Central Station. What are the chances that a portion of a redeveloped City Center could serve as a transit hub downtown?

Lhota: Well, I don’t want to speculate too much on what the re-use of City Center is, but if you think about Grand Central Station… it is what it is because that’s where all the railroad tracks criss-crossed, and there’s a great book out on the redevelopment of Grand Central. Clearly, as we integrate future light rail with  with intercity rail and interstate rail such as the 3C corridor or an East-West Corridor, it’s probably going to have to be near an existing railroad track. And last time I checked there weren’t too many railroad tracks at City Center.

Evans: Hah! Right.

Lhota: I’m being somewhat facetious there, but we clearly have to think about that hub, and that interchange, and if you envision a bus/light rail/intercity rail/interstate rail hub… at this point in time it’s going to be more appropriate in the Nationwide area where the old railroad station was located on North High Street. Clearly there’s going to have to be that geographical location where people can transfer easily. Let’s say you’re coming from downtown Cleveland to downtown Columbus or Ohio State and you’re going to come down on an intercity rail… you’re going to have to have a way to easily get off and get on a local line to go wherever you want to go.

Evans: You mentioned the 3C Corridor Project and Ohio Hub Development… do you think there will be any kind of competition there for federal funds since they’ve also been seeking funding?

Lhota: My guess is that there’s going to be a lot of competition for funds. I’m sure every city of any significant size in this country is thinking probably like we are. I’m sure the intercity rail… although in Oberstar’s bill he had a bucket for rail there as well… but absolutely, there’s going to be competition. I think that’s why because of the work that’s already been done on the North Corridor, we do have a leg up on the competition. But absolutely, the competition is going to be fierce.

Evans: With the request for federal funding, has there been a lot of thought and planning going into allocating some of it for the operations and maintenance for the line going into the future, or is that something that’s going to be left up to Central Ohio taxpayers and COTA to foot the bill?

Lhota: Good question. With the nature of these projects, you get construction money, and you have to demonstrate that you have the ability to operate. The federal government generally provides the planning, engineering, and construction money. It can provide some of the operations, but we will have to demonstrate that we have the local resources to operate this going forward. So, the $200 million that the mayor has asked for is really what I call the “seed money”. This project is going to cost more than $200 million. But this would be the money that we would get in what is defined as the short term stimulus package. That’s for projects that can be construction-ready in 2 years. Once we get that done, we then immediately have to try to get funding in the transportation reauthorization bill that will be developed later this year so that we can get a full funding grant agreement to complete the project. We’ll try to get as much federal funds as we can, we’ll try to get state funds, but we ultimately are going to have to have local operating funds to operate and maintain this thing in perpetuity. Now, how are we going to do that? Right at this point in time we don’t know the answer to that, but if you go to the 21st Century Transportation Priorities Task Force and look at Recommendation M, it is a recommendation that the state create a dedicated funding source for public transit that would start out at 10% of our operating budget and escalate to 25% over the next 6 years. That is a possible source for those local funds, but not guaranteed by any stretch of the imagination. But we will be looking at developing how will we have to fund it. Now having said that, one thing we’re trying to make sure gets out there, and anything you can do to help us would really be appreciated, is that in 2006 the voters gave us an additional quarter-percent sales tax to expand our bus system at 60,000 hours per year until we get to about 1.1 million.  We’re currently a little over 700,000. We promised that if they gave us the money, we would do that. We are going to keep that promise. We are not going to take our current local sales tax money and use it to fund the Light Rail project. We just want the voters and taxpayers to know that we made the commitment and we’re going to meet that commitment. We’re going to separate funding for these two from each other in the future.

Evans: Cool, that’s definitely very good information for people to know about, as I’m sure it’s going to get overlooked by some.

Lhota: Right. We don’t want to say one thing and do another.

Evans: President Elect Obama takes office in less than two weeks. When do you think we can expect to hear something back in regard to whether or not we’ll be obtaining this funding, or is that all still wild speculation at this point?

Lhota: I’m sure you read as many newspapers and watch as much news as I do… so your guess is as good as mine. He wants it done quickly, but you know, as someone once said, you don’t want to watch sausage or laws being made. My instinct is that they’re going to want to move as fast as they can but once you get into the deliberative body of the US Senate there’s no telling. They can talk forever. So I don’t know. But in fact, I was listening to a news show last night, and it seems like they’re all in agreement that something needs to be done, but yeah… I don’t know the answer to that. And we don’t know in what form it will come. Because the President said there will be no earmarks in this at all. So is it block grants to the state? Is it block grants to the city? We don’t know.

Evans: Well, I figured we’d end on something fun. We like to play the speculation game on Columbus Underground with gas prices. Sort of our version of “The Price is Right”…

Lhota: Hahahahah!

Evans: So, what do you think a gallon of unleaded will cost on Memorial Day?

Lhota: On Memorial Day?

Evans: Yep. This year.

Lhota: Oh boy. Uh… the economy’s still going to be down, but the war is really a wild card. Uhm… on Memorial Day… I’m going to say we’re going to have a little bit of an economic recovery… slightly… and I’m going to say that it’s going to be $2.95 per gallon.

Evans: $2.95?

Lhota: Yeah, are you going to track all of this?

Evans: Of course. When the date rolls around, we’ll come back to this and see how close you were.

Lhota: Hahaha!

Evans: Bill, thanks again for taking the time to sit down with us and answer some of our questions and concerns.

Lhota: My pleasure.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 6:11 pm and is filed under Features, Transit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Related Tags: bill lhota • columbus • COTA • interviews • light rail • morpc • north corridor • passenger rail • q&a • streetcar • Transit

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