Why We Believe that Monorail in Austin Has Not Previously Been Considered

On April 10th, the Austin Monorail Project met for a considerable length of time with Cap Metro representatives. Cap Metro was very generous in giving the Austin Monorail Project over an hour and a half of their time to discuss the Rapid Transit Project and the possibility of bringing Monorail into Austin.

During this meeting, Cap Metro representatives conceded that they could not or would not argue about the relative merits of Monorail vs. light rail for Austin. However, during this meeting, Cap Metro asserted that the 'bottom line' in not considering Monorail for Austin is that, according to Cap Metro, 'No Monorail system in the U.S. has been built using public monies in competition for TEA-21 sect. 5309 'New Starts' funding' and that they did not want Austin to 'be the first'. (what is TEA-21 and sect. 5309 'New Starts' funding? See here.)

But you don't have to take our word for it. In this article on the Austin Monorail Project in the April 12th-19th issue of The Austin Chronicle, Mr. John Almond, the Director of Cap Metro's 'Rapid Transit Project' is quoted as saying:

"I've seen the Web site, and I think it's great that others are promoting mass transit, [but] with respect to monorail, there aren't many publicly funded monorail projects in the U.S." Most monorails, he says, are privately operated. "We've said all along that as a public agency using tax money, we didn't want to be a guinea pig."
 

And in the Oak Hill Gazette front-page article on the Austin Monorail Project, a Cap Metro official is quoted as saying: '("We don't want Austin to be a guinea pig," one official said)'.

And yet, there IS precedent for public funding of Monorail with sect. 5309 'New Start' funding.

That precedent is Las Vegas.

Las Vegas has written a 'Draft Environmental Impact Statement' (DEIS) for their Las Vegas Resort Corridor project (see their entire report here). According to this report:

'The purpose of this Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is to evaluate three alternatives for the Las Vegas Resort Corridor project in the City of Las Vegas and County of Clark, Nevada. This DEIS was prepared by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). This document provides information about the purpose of and need for the Resort Corridor project, describes the alternatives, describes the environment that would be affected by the alternatives, analyzes the impacts that would result from implementation of the alternatives, and lists mitigation measures that would reduce or prevent such impacts.'

Funding for the proposed Monorail extension is described in chapter 6: Financial Analysis and Comparison of Alternatives (Adobe Acrobat Reader 5 required- Download reader for free here)

This report in fact describes describes how Las Vegas is seeking $120M in sect. 5309 'New Starts' funding.

Of particular importance is this paragraph (our emphasis in bold below):

“The RTC intends to obtain a firm fixed-price from the Master Systems Developer prior to the commencement of final design on the project, and also to assure that the Master Systems Developer and its project contractors retain all financial responsibility for any project cost overruns.” (Chapter 6: financial analysis and comparison of alternatives for the Monorail DEIS)

In addition, here is the FTA’s project profile on Las Vegas from New Starts 2002: Las Vegas Resort Corridor Fixed Guideway

According to this report:

'The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) of Clark County, Nevada, is the lead local agency proposing the implementation of a fixed guideway transit system in the Las Vegas Resort Corridor. The RTC is undertaking Preliminary Engineering for a 3.1 mile automated guideway ... joining a privately operated system near the Sahara resort. The proposed project will serve the northern portion of the Las Vegas "Strip." ... The proposed project is an elevated, automated fixed guideway with 6 stations.'

'RTC is coordinating project planning activities with the Las Vegas Monorail Corporation, a public/private partnership that is currently constructing an automated fixed guideway of approximately 4 miles that will extend as far south as Tropicana Avenue. The proposed project will extend this guideway another 3.1 miles and would offer a seamless connection.'

Note that the key words here are: elevated, automated, fixed guideway, public/private partnership.

The FTA report further states: 

'The overall project rating of Recommended is based on the high employment density in the corridor, strong cost-effectiveness, and significant mobility improvements estimated to result from the proposed investment. The overall project rating applies to this Annual Report on New Starts and reflects conditions as of November 2001. Project evaluation is an ongoing process. As New Starts projects proceed through development, the estimates of costs, benefits, and impacts are refined. The FTA ratings and recommendations will be updated annually to reflect new information, changing conditions, and refined financing plans.'

So the FTA itself is recommending this project and has in fact already authorized $13.88 million in Section 5309 New Start funding for this program.

The Austin Monorail Project has therefore informed Cap Metro of this information and that indeed, Las Vegas seems to be successfully competing for Sect. 5309 New Start funding under TEA-21 and that Austin will not have to be the 'first'.

Cap Metro was kind enough to send us a reply to our email about Las Vegas:

'Thanks for sending the link about Las Vegas monorail project. I will research the project...We will keep an eye on Las Vegas project as it goes thru FTA scrutiny for the New Starts funds.'

So Cap Metro is now aware that there is precedent for federal funding of Monorails in the US and indeed precedent for public/private partnership funding of Monorails in the US. Public/private partnerships can be made to work!

We look forward to working with Cap Metro in re-considering Monorail as a vehicle technology for fixed-rail transit in Austin.

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