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GRTC responds to questions on proposed Bus Transfer Center at Main Street Station
The Church Hill Association has posted on their site the response from a GRTC representative to several questions submitted by CHA regarding the proposed GRTC Bus Transfer Center at Main Street Station.
I’ve taken the liberty of reproducing the entire post & editing for legibility’s sake. As an aside — I don’t recall that the CHA has voted on this yet, though the questions (see #2) seem to indicate that a point of view has already been established. Did I miss something?
April 27, 2009
Benedicte Whitworth
CHA Membership
GRTC Responses to CHA Questions re: GRTC Bus Transfer Center at Main Street Station – 30% Design Presentation of April 21, 2009
Dear CHA Membership:
Thanks for this opportunity to respond to your questions regarding the proposed GRTC Bus Transfer Center at Main Street Station. It should be remembered that at the 30% Design stage the plan is still in design development and has many additional phases prior to approval. The plan is flexible and can be changed to respond to community input. It is a working plan in progress. GRTC responses are listed below with the questions.
1. Q: Do you think that Shockoe Bottom pedestrians will be affected by emissions from the many buses? Also the same question for the historic structures. What about emissions from vehicles?
A: An important element in characterizing site-specific air quality conditions is the identification of carbon monoxide (CO) hot spots. Hot spots are small areas where CO levels have approached or exceeded national standards, caused by large volumes of slow-moving or idling vehicles that generate heavy CO concentrations. Implementation of the GRTC Transfer facility is anticipated to result in concentrated bus, and shuttle traffic in the immediate vicinity of the facility, with a corresponding concentration of idling buses. Most of this activity exist today and is simply a relocation from the existing on-street bus transfer locations along Broad Street, rather then new activity (new emissions).ÂÂ
Because of this and the minimal traffic impacts found by the traffic analysis, the air quality impacts of the project are expected to be negligible. CO hot spots are unlikely in the vicinity of the proposed project because VDEQ air quality monitoring data shows that existing CO levels in the area are already well below the CO National Ambient Air Quality Standards and the project will not substantially change emission sources/quantities.
Beyond the bus activity of the GRTC Transfer facility itself, traffic analysis for the transfer center shows that traffic-related impacts attributed to the project are minimal. The level of additional trip activity is not expected to impact regional air quality because patrons using the public transit system will transfer at the facility. It will not be a generator of vehicle trips.ÂÂ
In general, the transit transfer improvements provide long-term improvements to air quality by increasing transit use, thus reducing the number of vehicles and overall vehicle emissions on local roadways. Furthermore, the project will allow enhanced transit access to the downtown area without expanding the roadway network, thereby reducing auto-dependency for downtown trips.
2. Q: Why are we encumbering a city landmark and beautiful area with an outmoded technology
A: Main Street Station was originally a transportation hub of activity. The goal of the project is the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the currently vacant Main Street Station “Train Shed” into a GRTC Bus Transfer Center that reestablishes the historical architectural character of the National Historic Landmark while balancing the operational needs of GRTC that makes the Main Street Station into a regional multi-modal transportation facility.ÂÂ
The City of Richmond has been trying to re-configure Main Street Station into a multi-modal facility combining bicycles, passenger vehicles, taxis, buses, and trains since 1992. It could be argued that each of those transit modes is outmoded; however, it is GRTC’s concept that the Transfer Center at Main Street Station is just the beginning of modern improvements to Richmond’s transportation infrastructure. The Transfer Center will also serve the future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) route down Broad Street to Willow Lawn and out to Short Pump. The BRT project is itself a precursor to a potential light rail development.
3. Q: How many buses will be in the area (in & out of building) per day?
A: Approximately 1200 buses per work-week day. It will be reduced on weekends. The typical work-week day for buses is approximately 20hrs. with bus transfer activity spread throughout the day.
4. Q: How many people are we talking about in the area per day? How many bus riders will be in this facility at any one time?
A: The key to a successful Transfer Center operation is movement of buses and bus riders. The transfer center is designed for a maximum wait period at the platform level of 7 to 10 minuets. It is difficult to determine how many bus riders will be in the facility at any one time as there will be greater transfer activity in the morning and evening rush; however, there will be approximately 5,000 transfers on a typical work-week day.
5. Q: How is it going to impact Franklin St, Main St and 14th St during rush hour?ÂÂ
A: There are two “rush hours” a day. For bus activity the “rush periods” are 7-9am and 4-6pm. GRTC has performed a detailed Environmental Assessment (EA) which also contains a Traffic Impact Analysis. The EA is available on our web site at www.ridegrtc.com under the Mission 2015 subject. Click on the “learn more” link and go to the EA for the project. The Traffic Impact Analysis is on Page 32.ÂÂ
6. Q: What is the position of the Shockoe Bottom Neighborhood Association regarding this proposal?
A: They are in opposition to the Transfer Center project.
7.  Q: I see spill out. How can we be assured that vagrants and pedestrians do not take control? And how will they affect businesses surrounding this proposed facility?    ÂÂ
A : Excellent security and maintenance of the facility and surrounding project area are key to a successful transfer center. The GRTC program space on the north end of the transfer platform contains office spaces for a security guard as well as a City police officer. There is also an observation balcony that is restricted access for security personnel only that provides visual control to the platform and the bus ramps. Additionally, the entire project and area will be under CCTV and monitored by a GRTC security service. Access will be open to at grade pedestrians who wish to utilize the transfer platform, but can be controlled by fencing and lockable gates during off-service hours. The purpose of a transfer center is to have efficient movement of buses and riders. The Transfer Center is designed for a maximum wait period at the platform level of 7 to 10 minutes. Given the sequence of bus transferring activities, security presence roaming the platform and at an elevated viewing position, and the CCTV monitoring of activities, security control and safety will be excellent.ÂÂ
Facility maintenance activities are important to the overall experience of the traveling public. It is also a necessity of a quality operation. The GRTC will ensure that general trash pick-up and cleaning will occur daily and as needed for an emergency clean-up.
7. Q: Trash and crime?
A: Please refer to answer for question #7.
What I want to know is, how will this proposal effect the proposed high-speed rail link to Main Street Station? In the long run, the proposed high speed rail could do more for Richmond than a bus transfer center ever could.
This project is nearer to reality than most people realize… check out the details at http://www.sehsr.org
The bus transfer site would be hugely positive, for many many reasons.
Try visiting Portland, Oregon, and see what they have done with public transportation. OK, we will probably not get the city light rail or the streetcars, but when I lived there the Portland bus system was on point, with transfer stations and also bus lanes in the downtown city center–bus lanes are good for controlling traffic and they prevent people from parking/driving where the buses travel. Cars still use the streets, but buses are far less affected by rush hours.
They really really want people to use public transportation (the city center was fareless, for crying out loud), which Richmond still has a problem with (public transportation is only for “some” people).
It would be nice if Richmond got over its issues with public transportation and just do it.
As far as vagrancy/trash/people problems, the whole Broad Street corridor would only be positively affected by this–the loitering and trash would I think diminish because the transfer station would consolidate people’s getting on/off the bus–right now the Broad Street corridor looks like shit because of totally inefficient routes that zig zag and loop around, with people missing buses or having a lot of lag time between transfers. This leads to loitering and other behavior that looks shady, even if nothing shady is actually going on.
As someone who uses the bus, I think this change is needed.
Right on Clay st! I would take public transportation every single day if it was run efficiently like Portland or Minneapolis or San Francisco. I don’t know anyone who takes the bus here, and its totally weird. I used to live on Broad St downtown, and its near impossible to catch a bus to Glen Allen where so many jobs are. We shouldn’t have to use the fuel to move a ton of metal with us just to get to work.
First I must express my opinion on one thing- you’re dreaming if you think there’s ever going to be a high speed rail line. There’s NO MONEY. I’m all for it. But it’s pie in the sky, dude. Every transportation dollar gets sucked right up north.
Second, I do use public transportation and would like to be able to use it more. It’s fine that people can take the train into Richmond but once here they better be able to walk to their terminus or they’re SOL aren’t they. If coming off the train, one could hop over to the bus station and complete the trip that would be very helpful indeed. Or vice versa, maybe Amtrak patronage would increase if it were more accessible.
As for loitering, vagrancy and litter, with proper management that shouldn’t be a problem.
But it will never matter what development is proposed for any part of Richmond, anyway. I’ve never lived anywhere where the populace was so hell-bent on letting their city rot in the name of “that’s the way it’s always been”. I’ve never seen such pessimism, and pessimism spread by self important petit bureaucrats like the Church Hill Assn. At least once a week I have to ask who the hell do you think you are…?
God forbid Richmond should have (GASP!) a bus station! And God forbid we should streamline the money-sucking GRTC and run it like a business. What ARE they thinking?
We can have High Speed Rail and The bus terminal near the same location and not have any conflict. Jehovah most of the High Speed Rail money will be coming from Federal funds and has been allocated so it is already in the works. You can thank President Obama for that at least he is trying to increase Infrastructure with the Trillions he has spent on waking the economy.
Many as I have said before are supporting the Shockoe Center which has issues of Co-existence in several parts of the design area they claim will fit but does not in reality. So either they say they need a smaller version(would work if GRTC still didn’t take over the same space they need for parking.) Or that we will bring in crowds of undesirables which I think hurt them more.
@#4
” I’ve never seen such pessimism, and pessimism spread by self important petit bureaucrats like the Church Hill Assn. At least once a week I have to ask who the hell do you think you are…?”
I have to ask the same thing,in reverse, at least once a week from this new breed of disrespectful,(gasp), young adults? Whether you agree with CHA or not, I have several questions, were you ever a member of CHA?, have you ever contributed anything to CHA?, were you around to help at the start of CHA when most people were afraid to come anywhere close to ChurchHilll?,or for that matter, have you contributed anything besides dissing CHA?, have you ever thanked CHA for having a vision of an assocation and following through, and for all the good it has done in the neighborhood, contrary to some people’s unknowledeable, or ignorant comments? have you presented any new ideas to CHA?,were you even born during the hay day of revitalizing CH? what does CHA have to do with this thread, or are you looking for any opportunity to ….?
CHA isn’t perfect, but again who or what is? Oh wait, I think you might be.. so,…
For Jehovah,
Light rail in smaller areas is possible. Norfolk and Virginia Beach are developing one right now. Combination of local and federal dollars. One key is localities willing to work together. We might actually be getting to that point, with Jones and Graziano leading the effort.
LOL
In 15 years, let’s revisit this conversation and see about that high speed rail. Oops…was that pessimistic? :-p
Oh Bob, dear Bob. Who am I? Someone who has been in Church Hill since 1979, and no that ain’t my date of birth. I do not care to give you my resume, but my degree is in Civil Engineering and I work closely with the planning department. I do believe I have every right to turn the tables on JJ and Company, whether you like it or not.
What are the CO2 levels going to be? That’s rich.
I love these CHA questions. Just like the ones they asked about the ball stadium and noise from concerts. Never mind we have concerts at 25th and Broad, Shockoe Bottom and Browns Island that can all be heard on the hill. (And the marching band in another post.)
Why not complain you don’t like purple buses or ask how many will be running on bio-diesel?
clay st…positive??? grtc transfers in the bottom. it must be something you are smoking in that zig-zag..
all of the loitering, vagrancy and litter along this linear “broad street” transfer corridor will be dumped into the bottom with the added plus of jammed up traffic conjestion and more loitering, vagrancy and litter.
the push to get it off broad street is cause the loitering, vagrancy and litter is offensive to the business of govt.
a multimodal transportation center? didnt they just spend $52m on fixing the old station house for that? oohh, we forget that the rail dont accommodate it. $52M and how many passengers each week?? less than 87? you know everything, tell me how many passengers each week for that $52m??
hi-speed rail?? so how do you get to the airport? WHERE IS THE BUS TO THE AIRPORT?
Ahh, yes. Zig Zag. Clever reference to rolling papers.
Not a pot smoker though, sorry to disappoint.
Suggestion.
Plan a trip. Map your route, with at least one transfer. Take the bus, check it out, then offer suggestions.
What I mean is, have you ever taken the bus?
Go other places, experience efficient public transportation. Come back and compare.
I do not believe that I stated that I “know everything”, LOL.
But I do know what it is like to take the bus in Richmond.
Do you?
I do not argue that GRTC is awesome, because it has serious problems. But the system of getting people on/off buses needs to change.
This is the core issue for me and countless other riders.
I suspect the CO2 levels are already huge in Shockoe Bottom due to being under highway and train overpasses.
Hopefully the buses will eventually be natural gas or electric. Other cities have already made that switchover.
I am more concerned about getting more people to ride the buses in the first place and getting them out of their cars- now that might improve CO levels.
I am generally in favor of Shockoe Bottom becoming a multimodal transportation center for buses and trains.
I support the transfer station and am excited to see it move forward.
BUT the “bus rapid transit” scheme mentioned in #2 is a waste of time and money. Just as expensive as light rail, carries fewer riders, pollutes the same, vehicles have 1/3rd the service life, require more operators, and BRT doesn’t attract new ridership.
Why do we need a “precursor” to effective transit? Just do it right the first time. The Master Plan calls for light rail, not another bus route.
yes clay st……….i do ride the bus, been riding it off and on since 1967, and in the past 10 years, about half the time i have to make a transfer. so what difference does it make whether i ride the bus or not. nobody said that the transfer arrangement was ideal, but the transfers now occur linear, various points along broad mostly and along other streets. sending all of the traffic to main st station to make the transfer at one point is dumb shit, it it only will happen cause govt has the money, and common sense justification is not a factor
Common sense justification for the Downtown Transfer Center is found at the GRTC Mission 2015 micro site:
http://www.ridegrtc.com/mission_2015/downtowntransfer.asp
There is no money for light rail as far as I know. I would be supportive of BRT if its an improvement on the way to light rail.
There is money available for rail transit. Hampton Roads Transit obtained money through the FTA’s New Starts program to build Norfolk’s Tide light rail line. GRTC could do the same thing if they wanted to:
http://www.fta.dot.gov/planning/planning_environment_5221.html
Here is HRT’s funding chart showing the federal, state, and local dollar commitments to build their system:
http://www.ridethetide.com/about_the_tide/funding_and_next_steps.shtml
You can see that at $53 mil, the local dollar commitment to the HRT tram is significantly less than what certain elements are asking us to front for a AA baseball stadium.
Norfolk didn’t have to suffer BRT to get their tram, I don’t see why Richmond should. Then again, Norfolk is one of those big cities with AAA baseball…
Oh yeah, I meant to plug my transit blog:
http://pantographblog.blogspot.com/
Take a look if you’re interested in transit issues.
If you haven’t seen Charlottesville’s new (opened maybe 1-2 years ago) transfer station you need to check it out. It is an attractive building, feels safe and comfortable and is a real amenity to the community. It is located at the end of C’ville’s great downtown mall. Thinking optimistically, maybe this is the type of facility that we would see in the Bottom. For an article and a slide show of the facility see: http://greensource.construction.com/projects/0811_TransitStation.asp
Brad is right. Cville’s transfer station (and downtown in general) are a great model for a family friendly entertainment district that appeals to big kids (clubs and bars) and little kids (ice skating). Throw in movie theatres, music venues, coffee shops, and great restaurants…. and there is quite literally something for everyone. I’d love to see the Bottom be more like downtown Cville and with a transfer station, the ballpark, and a wider variety of businesses, it really could be!
Please, remember that CHA shared these questions and answers with CHPN to let everyone know more about GRTC plans and NOT to be negative. CHA is made up of 300 members that are NoBs, SoBs, young, bikers, old and new to the Hill, owners, renters, tree-huggers and pet lovers. Not all CHA are NIMBY’s, DINKs, and self-absorbed. CHA is for progress, progressive ideas or positive responsible growth. But often in projects and proposals, the devil is in the details, so it is better to shake out some of the details first – that become subject to them later.
curmudgeon – There is the whiff of agenda in this “fact finding”, (expressed in these 2 questions). This reflects the kind of a priori bias against development that folks associate with CHA. Do you see that?
It seems that post 6 also underscores the almost universal attitude most newcomers and young people face at the CHA. The attitude that if you weren’t here when it was the worst, then your opinion has no value. The extreme application of robert’s rules accompanied by shouting down, and the coldness from the old guard seem similarly (and intentionally) designed to stiffle dissent and discourage participation.
23- You hit it on the head with that one. With a little organization any civic association can be “taken over”. At $25/head to vote (I mean “join”.) it makes a grass roots movement a little pricey. An engineered take-over would only cost maybe $2500 for 100 voters. A proverbial bargain.
That’s why for years there were two civic associations. Church Hill North and the CHA. CHN was inclusive and permitted dissenting opinion, CHA didn’t. Eventually, they merged. Looks like the “old school” is back.
Be really nice to have a transfer center that ties multiple types of public transportation together in one place. And speaking from experience, not having to wait 20 to 30 minutes on Broad in hot sun or pounding rain would be a real incentive for me to take a bus more often than I do.
hey ann, try the high dollar bus shelters at the transfer points on broad, you know the ones with a roof for shade and protection from rain. maybe get yoself an umbrella so you wont have to stand too close. and so what are the multiple types of transportation that are going to get connected? where is the bus to the airport?
sorry #23 arch, but that is farthest from the truth. I enjoy reading, and accept all points of view, but when someone makes a comment as “cold” and as in your face as “At least once a week I have to ask who the hell do you think you are…?â€, I have to ask why start a debate that way, and, whose opinion matters and doesn’t matter? So, who has the attitude here? I also don’t always agree with CHA, but they have volunteered their services for years, when no one else stood up to the plate. So, whether you agree or not, show some respect, for your fellow neighbors, volunteer, and make your points known. Whatever happened to that? Why is it okay to make such a cold remark, but now you try to attack me? So yes, that comment really got me, but I sure ain’t shouting down anyone, just a reaction. So how about continuing with the topic at hand. And #24, go for it. It was done back in the early to mid 90’s. Maybe you can meet at the Happy Mart to organize.
For posts 19 and 20, you’re right, but the transfer station at the east end of the C’ville Mall was just as contentious when proposed. It took a long time for the C’ville Mall to become successful. It finally worked because there was committed city investment, as well as private sector investment. Now we have the Paramount at one end, and the Pavilion at the other…but it was not quick, and was not easy.
22, 23, 24… The questions are from the members that attended the night of the GRTC presentation and came from nearly 100 folks at the Asbury Methodist Church, (BTW: North of Broad). We do not screen questions and out of respect to every opinion – all questions were sent the forward. We do share all the results, just like recent posting with everyone on CHPN and CHA web-site on the Downtown Master Plan, Oakwood Heights, Echo Harbour and the proposed stadium in the Bottom. Please join us and make your voices and ideas known to improve the total community. We welcome your participation and this months CHA meeting is on the 19th at St. John’s at 7 PM. We are having a presentation from the City on setting utility bills rates and discussing a revision of the Church Hill Book, (which features many houses North of Broad previously not included in the old book). Lastly, CHA working with City Park and Rec to initiate a free-flight bird habitat park below Chimborazo Park around to the old train tunnel. New members, visitors and fresh volunteers are always welcome and encouraged.
How will moving the bus transfer center to Main St affect the small businesses on Broad St? I recall frequenting businesses downtown between bus rides. Is this the bulk of their customer base?
The transfer station at Main Street will kill the high-speed train project, according to reliable sources in the city’s Economic Development office. (In spite of some comments, high-speed is “on track” to be funded and implemented.) Also, the transfer station will require shuttles to bring passengers to and from the Main Street drop-off– resulting in more “transfers” than most passengers have now. Plus… putting more exhaust fumes in one of the lowest points in the city (a true valley) will turn it into a mini-Mexico-City of unbreathable smog. It needs to be on higher ground. Main Street Station is not a good location for many reasons.
The only way to change CHA is to join. CHA needs more new residents and younger residents that can together create a strong voice and new agenda. If all that complained about CHA became a member they would foster change. I will join for that purpose, will you?