Originally Posted by the salinas californian
Published Saturday, January 9, 2010, by The Salinas Californian
TAMC working to give Salinas commuter rail link to Silicon Valley
By Leslie Griffy
Sometime this decade, Salinas Valley residents who commute to Silicon Valley
could leave road rage behind.
A plan to extend commuter rail service from the Bay Area into Salinas is moving
along.
Transportation Agency for Monterey County planners are working on federal
environmental documents and engineering studies for the project. Approximately
5,400 Monterey County residents make the trek north for work every weekday,
according to an environmental study done on the plan. And those folks have to
drive.
"There is no real transit link between the Monterey County area and the Silicon
Valley jobs base," TAMC Project Manager Christina Watson said. "A lot of people
make the commute. We are looking at providing alternative forms of
transportation to reduce traffic and improve air quality in the basin."
The project has been in the works for nearly a decade. Once the engineering and
environmental studies are complete, design work and construction can begin.
Planners estimate that with stops in Salinas, Castroville and Pajaro, the
service could carry 720,000 passenger trips a year, Watson said. Santa Cruz
County is interested in chipping in for the cost of the Pajaro station because
many riders boarding will be county residents. The total cost of construction
for the line is estimated at $101 million.
It's unclear who would operate the line. The vision is for it to connect with or
be part of the Caltrain commuter rail system that runs from Gilroy to San
Francisco on weekdays. Monterey County transit leaders are in talks with
officials from Caltrain and the Capitol Corridor, a line that runs from San Jose
to Auburn.
With much of the right of way -- existing Union Pacific rail lines -- already
purchased, service could begin as soon as 2012.
About three years later, TAMC planner Kristen Hoschouer said, the agency hopes
to connect the Castroville station with a light rail service -- a local rapid
transit system with less hauling capacity than a heavy or commuter rail, to
Monterey.
The light rail would ease existing traffic on Highway 1 and limit the impact of
developments planned in Marina, officials said.
"We knew that we needed to look at alternative ways to get people to work
without having to drive, because we couldn't pave our way to ending traffic,"
Hoschouer said.
Here's a look at each project:
Commuter rail
* Estimated cost of building and studies: $101m, 62% federal, 27% state, 11%
local
* Operating costs: $1.2 million
* Times: Salinas-San Jose, 1 hour and 45 minutes; Salinas-San Francisco, 3 hours
* Schedule: 2 trains leaving Salinas in the morning, 2 returning in the evening.
* Path: Along Union Pacific rail lines from Salinas to Gilroy
* Service begins 2012.
* Stops: Salinas, Castroville, Pajaro.
* Passengers: 720,000 per year.
Light Rail
* Estimated cost of building and studies: $128.5m, 62% federal, 27% state, 11%
local.
* Operating costs: $4.3 million.
* 16 miles with stations between Monterey and Castroville.
* Service: begins in 2015
* Phase 1: Monterey to Marina
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