A new scorecard grading California transit rail stations on how well they encourage rider-ship gives Sacramento a “C.”
Advertisement
UC Berkeley researcher Ethan Elkind says downtown stations scored well. “Putting in the infrastructure is just part of the job”.
Here’s a few news that’ll surprise anyone who rides BART or Muni regularly: both systems are the best public transit in the state, based on ridership, access to amenities, and walkability.
The study was released this week by Next 10, a nonprofit nonpartisan group, and the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment at UC Berkeley.
Nothing good could be said about the 57 MTS stations studied, save one: The 12th & Imperial Transit Center which scored a B.
The report also graded several other major transit lines around California. “You don’t have a lot of walkable neighborhoods in that half mile radius”.
“There’s a huge market demand for these kind of communities”. “These stations provide access to housing, shopping, places of work and other amenities”, said Next 10 founder F. Noel Perry. They received a B and B-minus, respectively. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority earned a C- with the Japantown/Ayer station in San Jose scoring best for that system and the Middlefield station in Mountain View scoring worst. That includes the Gillespie Field Station, which got the lowest marks of any transit station in the state. “MUNI was built before the advent of the automobile and the city is high-density”. Other A-grade stations included the Hollywood/Western and Wilshire/Western stops.
KPCC pointed out that the Westlake/MacArthur Park ranked at the top even though it had a low rating on safety. It scored an A with 88.2 points.
Cal Hollis, managing executive officer for countywide planning at Metro, told the Los Angeles Times that the grading factors favored more densely populated areas like San Francisco.
“The less urban areas – Sacramento, San Diego and Santa Clara Valley – will score lower”.
However, not all is lost as more than half of L.A.’s Metro stations scored A or B grades.
The study states that the low-density area is dominated by auto use and lacks the concentrations of employers and housing conducive to healthy ridership. The Blue Line’s Willow, Artesia, and Del Amo stations were also among the bottom five, along with the Green Line’s Norwalk station. Studies show that the most effective rail lines serve job centers, retail and service areas and residential neighborhoods.
Since the 1980s, Metro has spent and earmarked more than $21 billion for subway and light-rail lines in the county.
Is it fair to compare more compact areas to sprawling regions like Los Angeles?
“We know riders are going to want to take advantage of that service”, said Fichter, “We’re trying to provide commuters to these stations”.
Advertisement
The authority has given a few $20 million in grants to local cities to help plan transit-oriented developments.
