Archinect - News

California's first EV-charging roadway to be built at UCLA before 2028 Olympics

2024-12-03T10:56:00-05:00

Nearly $20 million will go to electrify the university’s BruinBus fleet and install underground charging for shuttles and buses along a route that stretches for less than a mile in Westwood. The grant will also fund a new transit hub between the UCLA bus depot and a planned UCLA/Westwood Metro station that would connect to the future D Line subway extension.

The project comes as part of a multimillion-dollar grant to UCLA ahead of its hosting of the 2028 Olympic Village. Under the plans, inductive charging coils will be installed underground along Charles E. Young Drive between the Westwood Plaza intersection and Murphy Hall, while stationary chargers will also be added at passenger drop-off and pickup locations.

Buses traveling along the roadways will pick up charge while driving or parked. The team behind the project hopes it will eliminate the need for drivers to hook vehicles up to charging ports, thus saving time.

"A wireless inductive option is a game changer," UCLA Fleet and Transit director Clinton Bench told the LA Times. "When a vehicle is driving over [a charger], the vehicle can collect charge while it’s moving. If you’re stationary at a stop and you had a five to seven-minute layover [...] that’s probably giving you a pretty good head start on your next route and reducing the amount of charge you need in the evening."

The w...

London's new Elizabeth Line project wins the 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize

2024-10-16T17:00:00-04:00

The 2024 RIBA Stirling Prize — the annual honor of the UK's best new architecture — has been conferred to the London Underground system's new Elizabeth Line designs from Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation, and AtkinsRéalis.

The official jury citation mentions ten separate Underground stations and their "platform architecture, passenger tunnels, escalators, station concourses, signage, furniture, fittings, finishes and supporting technology" as the fundaments of the "intuitive, frictionless experience" offered by it to the capital's transit users.

The Elizabeth Line, London Underground, by Grimshaw, Maynard, Equation, and AtkinsRéalis. Image: Hufton + Crow

The new Crossrail, which was renamed to honor the late Queen Elizabeth II, was inaugurated in May of 2022 after a massive $25 billion infrastructure investment and covers a large swath of Central London while connecting to the Great Western Main Line and Great Eastern Main Line of the National Rail.

The Elizabeth Line, London Underground,...

Mecanoo’s new Taoyuan Station project breaks ground in Taiwan

2024-07-11T11:13:00-04:00

A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Taoyuan Station from Mecanoo was recently held in Taiwan. The 656,598-square-foot transportation project supports the country’s transition to an underground rail network as part of the initial segment of a two-phase master plan.

Image courtesy Mecanoo

The station is designed in collaboration with Sinotech as a "large, covered plaza" that includes commercial spaces and a bus station forming its reference as an "origami aeroplane." Its roof canopy features three distinct volumes separated by two voids with heavy structural columns that divide further into slimmer forms. The site is informed by the city's central axis. A patterned soffit combines with linear lights to distract travelers with a dynamic and vibrant ceiling to complete the experience, which will premiere finally in 2033.

Image courtesy Mecanoo

SOM unveils new bus shelter designs for a more equitable future LA

2024-07-07T08:00:00-04:00

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has shared photos of its new bus shelter designs for the City of Los Angeles.

The LA STAP (short for Sidewalk and Transit Amenities Program) shelters are the first prototype designs for the initiative that will eventually install 3,000 shelters and 450 shade structures in need-based locations across Los Angeles over the next decade. Officials from the city's Bureau of Street Services (aka StreetsLA) met in Tarzana last month to preview the designs.

Image: James Michael Juarez © SOM

There, they bore witness to what will eventually be unique new additions to the city's visual landscape. Another 250 total are expected to be installed by June 2025.

Image: James Michael Juarez © SOM

The configurable designs are said to be inspired by the California Modernism movement and will display a digital art program and feature smart lighting technology.

Image: James Michael Juarez © SOM

Leading the contract for STAP is Tranzito-Vector, a joint venture between smart mobi...

New York’s MTA is hiring a director for its real estate portfolio

2024-04-17T12:16:00-04:00

Following last week’s look at an opening for a Technical Architect - US Government Work at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for a Deputy Director, Occupancy Management - Real Estate at the MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The role, based in New York City, calls for an individual from an architectural or real estate background to support the MTA’s real estate operations. Among the responsibilities for the position will be to “focus on focus on maximizing the efficiency and strategic use of the MTA’s substantial office space portfolio,” which encompasses up to 4 million square feet.

Related on Archinect: New public art commissions for NYC's soon-to-open Grand Central Madison expansion include mosaics by Yayoi Kusama and Kiki Smith. Image courtesy Metropolitan Transportation Authority - MTA/Facebook

Why the role interests us

The open role at the MTA offers us the opportunity to ...

Dodger Stadium gondola plan gains LA Metro Board approval

2024-02-24T08:00:00-05:00

The LA Metro Board of Directors has given their final go-ahead for a controversial gondola project in Los Angeles that would offer an alternative transportation route from downtown Union Station to Dodger Stadium to baseball fans by the start of the 2028 Summer Olympics. The board voted unanimously in favor of the final version of the plan’s Environmental Impact Report on Thursday.

As was pointed out by LAist, the proposal still needs approvals from Los Angeles City Council, Caltrans, and California State Parks to begin construction. The Metro’s decision came with a steep set of 31 conditions, which include a fund for affordable housing plus marketing opportunities and other concessions directed to small business owners in Elysian Park and Chinatown.

The proposal is marketed as being able to transport a total of 5,000 people per hour on a 7-minute ride with three stations along a 1.2-mile path. The Dodgers say this will reduce traffic by 3,000 cars for each of their 81 home games pe...

Polish transport center with tree-trunk inspired columns completed by Tremend Architecture Studio

2024-02-22T11:47:00-05:00

Warsaw-based Tremend Architecture Studio has completed a transport center in the Polish city of Lublin, described by the team as “one of the most environmentally friendly developments of its kind in Poland.” In addition to its signature canopied platforms for urban and regional bus transport, the scheme contains underground car parking, taxi bays, cycle infrastructure, and a public roof garden.

Image credit: Alek Malachowski

Located near the city’s historic 19th-century railway station, the design approach for the new transport center sought to “blend in with the urban and architectural context of the place” while also serving as an act of renewal for the post-industrial area. The resulting project was envisioned as a simple, modernist pavilion to contrast with the eclectic style of the railway station, “remaining unchallenging of it, thanks to its clearly different architectural language.”

Image credit: Alek Malachowski

Image credit: Rafal Chojnacki

The s...

Over $1 billion allocated to California’s transportation infrastructure

2023-12-19T12:11:00-05:00

The California Transportation Commission has announced the allocation of $1.1 billion for projects aimed at repairing and improving the state’s transportation infrastructure. The funding will be deployed to projects in areas including Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego.

In Los Angeles, $12 million will be used to upgrade bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure on an 18-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway between Redondo Beach and the Orange County line. Upgrades include Class II bike lanes, bus pads, crosswalk visibility enhancements, a rectangular rapid flashing beacon, and pedestrian push buttons, among others. Meanwhile, $6 million will be allocated to San Francisco BART expansion.

The single largest project to receive funding will be a $108 million development along Interstate 80 near the State Route 20 connector that will replace an...

Austin becomes largest city in the U.S. to dump parking requirements

2023-11-05T09:00:00-05:00

Austin on Thursday became the largest city in the country to stop requiring new developments to have a set amount of parking — a move aimed at both fighting climate change and spurring more housing construction amid the city’s affordability crisis. The Austin City Council voted 8-2 Thursday to wipe out minimum parking requirements for virtually every kind of property citywide. That includes single-family homes, apartment buildings, offices and shopping malls.

As noted by The Texas Tribune, housing advocates, developers, and climate activists have increasingly advocated for the erasure of parking requirements, which have been found to drive up housing costs and fuels a dependency on cars. Cities across the country in recent years, including Portland, Minneapolis, and San Jose, have taken similar actions to scale back requirements. In 2019, the L.A. City Planning Department released its Downtown Community Plan, called DTLA 2040, which included plans to eliminate parking requirements for all of downtown Los Angeles.

Previously on Archinect: Are vacant parking lots affecting the cost of housing? A new study in Boston sheds light on the issue

According to Austin City Council Member and the proposal’s author, Zohaib Qadri, keeping parking requirements contradicted the billions of dollars the city has set out to invest in its public transit system.

Opponents of the move worry that getting rid of parking requirements will redirect parking to near...

New York City MTA releases 20-Year Needs Assessment plan... sans price tag

2023-10-13T12:06:00-04:00

Some 400 miles of subway tracks, half of Metro-North’s Hudson Line and several Long Island Rail Road stations are in dire need of upgrades to stave off flooding and other extreme weather exacerbated by climate change, the MTA wrote in a report published on Wednesday. The report, called the 20-year needs assessment, is a breakdown of the agency’s $1.5 trillion worth of transit infrastructure, and details which equipment planners believe most urgently needs fixing over the next two decades.

The system, which is now (finally) on a more stable financial track, needs a litany of upgrades over the next two decades, according to the breakdown. A total of 350 of the 493 elevators operated by the MTA will need to be replaced in that timeframe. Another 6,300 rail cars and 100% of all 6,000 city buses will also need to be replaced. (The full assessment can be found here.)

The findings were published in advance of a five-year construction phase that begins in 2025, though an exact price tag for the slate of fixes has yet to be established by the agency.

Another audit from the state comptroller’s office released last week indicated that the MTA has not sufficiently used money from capital improvement projects to mitigate against the effects of climate change, as was made apparent by the September 29 catastrophic rain event.

New York's MTA will officially make 95% of subway stations ADA compliant by 2055

2023-04-11T15:25:00-04:00

A Manhattan federal judge on Friday approved a settlement to a class action lawsuit that locks the MTA into equipping 95% of subway and Staten Island Railway stations with elevators or ramps — with a deadline three decades away. The approval by Judge Edgardo Ramos caps one part of a long-running push by advocates for people with disabilities to improve access to a transit system where merely a quarter of the nearly 500 stations comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

As The City reported, the ruling makes the terms of last June’s landmark settlement official. Judge Ramos told plaintiffs that he knows the push would be a “very difficult thing to achieve.” MTA officials currently plan the upgrades in stages, with 81 stations affected by 2024 as part of the $50 MTA Capital Program; another 85 by 2035; 90 more by 2045; and the final 90 ready by 2055, bringing the total to 346 (or about 95% of the networks total stations).

Austin Transit Partnership names UNStudio, HKS, and Gehl to lead city's public transit expansion

2023-03-06T19:47:00-05:00

UNStudio, HKS, and Gehl have been selected by the Austin Transit Partnership (ATP) to lead the architecture and urban design of Project Connect, a major expansion of the city’s public transit system. The voter-approved investment includes new light rail, expanded bus routes, a subway, and more services across Austin.

Austin voters approved Project Connect in November 2020, followed by the formation of ATP, an independent organization created in partnership with the City of Austin and CapMetro. It will serve to oversee the finance and development of the project, which aims to improve access to essential jobs, health care, education, and entertainment in the city.

Video courtesy UNStudio via Vimeo.

“The design team brings both broad international expertise delivering transit and public realm projects at the highest level of design and an acute sensitivity to Austin’s specific culture and heritage,” said Peter Mullan, ATP Executive Vice President for Architecture and Urban Design. “P...

Chicago will receive $185 million for long-awaited CTA station accessibility upgrades

2022-12-27T13:40:00-05:00

Chicago will receive a total of $185 million in federal funding to make several of its Chicago Transit Authority and Metra stations accessible for disabled riders, officials announced Monday as part of a new program tucked into the bipartisan infrastructure law signed by President Joe Biden last year.

The money is part of the larger $1.75 billion provision set aside for accessibility improvements in various urban transit agencies by the federal infrastructure bill from last year. New York is the only city to receive more. Per the Tribune, a total of 42 of the CTA’s 145 stations are not currently compliant with the ADA’s design standards. Nationwide, the number is thought to be around 900.

“It’s a sorry state,” disabled Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth, an Army veteran who asked for twice the amount of funding before the bill was watered down in congress, told the paper. “I don’t take the ‘L’ in Chicago because I never know if a station is going to be fully accessible for my wheelchair or not.”

LA halts Metro Purple Line construction over worker safety concerns

2022-10-28T17:09:00-04:00

Work on the vast expansion of the Metro Purple Line in Los Angeles has come to an abrupt stop following dozens of worker injuries and safety concerns that officials say have not been addressed. “Metro has ordered its contractor to temporarily suspend all field work on the Purple Line Extension Section 2 Project due to the unacceptable rate of serious worker injuries,” Metro said in a statement. "The safety of those building our county’s transportation projects must always be protected.”

A total of nine serious incidents were recorded this calendar year alone, with several near-misses that could have been “more serious,” according to Metro’s letter to general contractor Tutor Perini. Parts of the project had previously accelerated thanks to Covid-related street closures. According to KTLA, the Metro has issued an order to Tutor Perini to produce a revised safety plan before work on the six-station project can resume.

New public art commissions for NYC's soon-to-open Grand Central Madison expansion include mosaics by Yayoi Kusama and Kiki Smith

2022-10-24T18:30:00-04:00

The terminal will also be an underground gallery of sorts, featuring enormous mosaics by two female artists with strong New York City connections, M.T.A. Arts & Design, which commissions art for the transit authority, is announcing Friday: Kiki Smith, a longtime resident known for her figurative work, and Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese sculptor and installation artist who lived in the city from 1958 to 1975.

The $11 billion transportation project opens in December after a lengthy 16-year construction period. Kusama’s past public installations have drawn the admiration of millions from outside the art and design worlds, while the German-born and New York-based Smith is considered a leading figure of the Downtown scene that was popular in the city throughout the 1980s and 90s. Both will be tasked with creating floor-to-ceiling mosaics covering 2,400 square feet total, according to the New York Times.

“Whether it’s the constellation ceiling or the Tiffany clock or the statue of Mercury — the art and design make the terminal a true landmark and a destination,” MTA CEO Janno Lieber said last week in a statement. “The new LIRR Grand Central Madison facility below the existing terminal carries this tradition forward with art that elevates the travel experience and creates a sense of place. These 2,400 sq. ft of floor-to-ceiling mosaics are permanent gifts to the people of New York.”

...

LA ART releases draft environmental report for proposed Dodger Stadium gondola

2022-10-20T12:45:00-04:00

According to the environmental study, maximum capacity on the gondola system would be 5,000 passengers per hour, with an estimated end-to-end trip of seven minutes. Admission to the system is intended to be free with a ticket to a Dodger game, and rides would otherwise be set at the same price as a Metro fare.

The 1.2-mile-long system will be supported by three 195-foot towers and include stops at the stadium, Chinatown, and its origin point in Union Station. The three proposed stations will vary between 74 and 98 feet in height and between 174 and 200 feet in length. Johnson Fain is reportedly one of the local companies that will be affected by the demolition project required to enable the system’s junction structure at 1201 N. Broadway. Construction is expected to begin as soon as 2024, with a 2026 debut likely to coincide with that year's opening day.

Many residents are still active in their vocal opposition to the $125 million project. The full Environmental Impact Report can be accessed here.

Plans for new San Francisco Bay rail tunnels inch closer to realization

2022-09-26T17:35:00-04:00

The effort to engineer new train tunnels across the San Francisco Bay is gaining traction after the planning body responsible for overseeing the massive proposed Link21 infrastructure project unveiled conceptual maps detailing a key segment of the rail network on September 21.

The maps offer a look at two separate plans that would either divide the tunnel along regional/local service lines or combine them both into one corridor that connects Oakland and Alameda County to the Salesforce Transit Center and Mission Bay. They also included references to a "possible extension" of the BART system leading away from downtown to the west.

Image: Link21 courtesy sanfranciscoexaminer.com

The details released last week hint at a number of key future projects that have made headlines in the region for a number of years. Other than enhancing links to the larger regional Caltrans system, plans show an addition of new BART service routes along the contested I-980 corridor, along with four added stat...

LA's divisive Dodger Stadium Gondola proposal gets new management and an updated look

2022-08-11T14:10:00-04:00

The group behind LA's proposed gondola project that would run from Union Station downtown and terminate at Dodger Stadium has revealed new images and a strategic partnership for a project many in the area fear could be used as a tool for gentrification.

Earlier in the week, the Los Angeles Aerial Rapid Transit (or LA ART) made an announcement that the scheme would be handed over to the local non-profit Climate Resolve and their newly-formed subsidiary called Zero Emissions Transit, which claims to deliver “emissions-free public transit solutions in the Los Angeles region.”

Proposed Union Station/El Pueblo station. Image courtesy LA ART

The group’s announcement included a new batch of updated renderings of the cable cars, station entrances, and elevated platform structures. Their update comes in the face of continued local opposition and the installation of a mockup cabin in the stadium’s parking lot G last week.

Mockup cabin of the proposed gondola. Image courtesy Climate Resolve.

“Be...

MTA to evaluate potential subway line to run west along Harlem's 125th Street

2022-08-01T09:00:00-04:00

The MTA will consider a transformative project that would extend the upcoming Second Avenue Subway even further by routing it west below 125th Street and then further uptown, the agency announced this week.

The Second Avenue Subway is currently set to expand from its phase 1 completion, which wrapped up in January 2017 with the opening of the 72nd, 86th, and 96th Street stations. The decades-old project, which was originally proposed in 1920, moved into the next stage of the federal funding process earlier this year, that would make way for the extension of the line up to 125th Street in East Harlem. Three new stations would be built along this route.

Now, according to documents released by the MTA this week titled the MTA’s 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment, the Authority will consider extending the Second Avenue Subway even further. The line would move westbound along 125th Street, adding two to four new subway stations. Listed possibilities include the route ending at Broadway and 125th Street, turning north below Broadway to a connection at 137th Street, turning north under Riverside Drive to a connection at 137th Street, or turning north under St. Nicholas Avenue and continuing ...

California high-speed rail project secures critical $4.2B for Central Valley line

2022-07-06T13:41:00-04:00

After wrangling over the future of California’s high-speed rail, state lawmakers plan to release a critical batch of money to finish a bullet train in the Central Valley while also establishing an inspector general to audit the beleaguered project and authorizing billions of dollars in new money for rail plans across the state.

Following a sizable $97.5 billion state budget surplus, California lawmakers last week agreed to allocate $4.2 billion in bond funds needed to finish the ambitious high-speed rail project's 171-mile Central Valley portion which is expected to connect Bakersfield with Merced by 2030, according to current estimates.

MTA agrees to make 95% of subway stations accessible by 2055

2022-06-24T15:50:00-04:00

New York has lagged for years behind other major American cities in making its subway system accessible to people with disabilities: Just 126 of its 472 stations, or 27 percent, have elevators or ramps that make them fully accessible. But on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it would add elevators and ramps to 95 percent of the subway’s stations by 2055 as part of a settlement agreement in two class-action lawsuits over the issue.

The settlement will see 81 subway and Staten Island Railway stations accessible by 2025. Another 85 stations will be made accessible by 2035, with 90 more by 2045, and an additional 90 by 2055. The subway stations selected for changes include nine that currently are partially accessible, where passengers who cannot use stairs only have access to trains traveling in one direction. The MTA will be required to allocate approximately 15 percent of the subway’s capital budget for the improvements.

Transit officials have pointed to engineering concerns, construction time, and costs as the factors behind the plan’s lengthy timeline. Even when complete, the subway will not be 100 percent accessible. However, despite this, the agreement, which still requires court approval, addresses an issue that has long prevented commuters with disabilities from accessing the city’s transit system.

MTA's fare-capping pilot program proves to be successful after first month

2022-04-05T15:10:00-04:00

In its first month, the MTA’s OMNY fare capping pilot had more than 168,000 people hit a 13th ride, earning an unlimited pass for the rest of that week. The agency said this group of straphangers had gone on to ride enough to save more than $1 million in fares. MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said at last week’s monthly MTA board meeting that these were the kind of results that could ensure the program sticks around after the four-month pilot is over.

Launched towards the end of February, the pilot fare program seems to be a win for both the MTA and its riders, which could prompt making it permanent. Data collected by the agency shows that 86% of people who got the bonus were subway riders, with the remaining reaching the 13th ride on buses.

More than half of the riders who got the bonus received it from a tap originating in Manhattan. The second and third most popular boroughs are Brooklyn and Queens, respectively. Riders in Staten Island only accounted for just 0.5% of the people who earned the weekly bonus, and the Bronx accounted for 5%.

Previously on Archinect: MTA announces the launch of fare cap to increase ridership

In addition, recent data shows that weekend subway ridership has hovered just above 60% pre-pandemic levels, with weekday ridership being a little below 60%. Bus ridership is also around 60% of what it was before 2020. The weekly fare-capping pilot program is set to end in July and would need widespread appro...

Decommissioned BART cars to be transformed into a variety of venues across the Bay Area

2022-04-04T14:18:00-04:00

Eight lucky winners have been awarded decommissioned BART cars, as BART announced these retired cars will be transformed into a retro video game arcade, a bike repair shop, and a beer garden at The Oakland A’s stadium.

In 2020, BART issued a request for proposals for the creative reuse of old train cars as they are taken out of service and replaced by their “Fleet of the Future” cars. The first of the BART’s 775 new train cars went into service in January 2018. The fate of the decommissioned cars, some dating to the original fleet in the early 1970s, is being stripped and recycled into scrap heap.

The eight recipients were selected after submitting a proposal to BART describing what they intended to do with the vehicle, including their plans for the cars’ retrieval and disposal once they’ve served their purpose. The remaining decommissioned cars, with approximately 531 still in service, will be mainly recycled over time.

The "Residence and short-term rental" proposal by Hernandez-Eli Architecture.

The winning proposals for the repurposed BART cars include the creation of a retro video game arcade, a craft beer garden at The Oakland A’s stadium, a bike repair shop, a multi-use social space, a muse...

Arup-supported $2.3 billion light rail project nears completion in the Greater Boston region

2022-03-25T18:29:00-04:00

The Union Square Branch opening of the long-awaited Boston Green Line Extension (GLX) marks a major milestone for the Arup-supported project.

The first of two segments as part of a 4.7-mile extension of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) regional transit system, the Union Square Branch comprises the new Union Square and Lechmere stations. The opening of the Medford Branch later this year will conclude the development of this decades-long project.

The GLX is expected to add 50,000 daily passenger trips to Boston’s transit network and bring much-needed service to the Somerville, Cambridge, and Medford communities. The project will also help bring the city closer to meeting its 2050 goal of carbon neutrality by significantly reducing vehicle-related emissions.

Arup is serving as the project’s Design Professional, supporting the MBTA with overseeing the design development, and testing and commissioning process. The firm was first tapped by the MBTA as a consultan...

California's high-speed rail project could be going in a new direction

2022-03-15T12:12:00-04:00

14 years after voters approved a nearly $10 billion bond to start building the rail system that would whisk riders from Los Angeles to San Francisco at speeds of more than 200 miles per hour, many California residents have long since lost track of what is being built where, and when or if it will ever be completed. “We’re teetering on the edge,” said Ashley Swearengin, a former mayor of Fresno who now leads the Central Valley Community Foundation. “We could get it right.”

The budget for the California high-speed rail project has now swelled to more than double its originally proposed cost of $40 billion from fourteen years ago. Construction on a 31-mile segment of the project has already begun near Fresno in the Central Valley.

The fight now is over whether or not to complete the segment, which would run through only three counties; or, as the state’s Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is calling for, to focus on the “bookends” (San Fransico and Los Angeles) in a cost-saving venture that would maintain at least some portion of the rail’s original intent and purpose to unite the two most populous nodes.

“The project is by all objective measures in distress,” Rendon told the Times. “Connecting the two largest urban areas in the state is the best thing we can do from an environmental standpoint and an economic development standpoint. To link two cities in the Central Valley would doom the project.”

...

Port Authority releases 14 alternatives to the LaGuardia AirTrain project

2022-03-04T12:47:00-05:00

One of Governor Kathy Hochul’s first moves in office was to pause her predecessor’s plans for a $2 billion AirTrain at LaGuardia Airport and ask the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to come up with other options. On Wednesday, the Port Authority released sketches for 14 alternatives, including light rail, bus routes and subway extensions. It’s now seeking community input before moving forward.

A questionnaire detailing the options and the factors being considered in evaluating the proposals was sent to more than 70 key stakeholders, including elected officials and community organizations. The alternatives include two potential subway extensions, five potential routes for fixed guideways for light rail connections, five potential bus routes, ferry service, and “emerging technologies.” At the end of their document, the Port Authority lists further potential options, such as “narrow tunnels with electric vehicles” and autonomous shuttles or buses.

Previously on Archinect: Port Authority officially halts the LaGuardian AirTrain project

There currently aren’t any listed costs for the proposals. In mid-March, two in-person public workshops will be held to gather input from the community.

New York City to prevent homeless people from sheltering in subway stations and trains

2022-02-19T09:00:00-05:00

Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Friday a sweeping plan to deploy teams of police officers and social workers into New York City’s subway, pledging to remove homeless people who shelter on trains and platforms, some of whom have contributed to escalating violence in the system.

According to the new plan, the police will have a direct mandate to enforce rules against lying down, sleeping, occupying more than one seat, littering, aggressive behavior towards riders, smoking, and open drug use. In addition, mental health professionals with the power to order involuntary hospitalization of people they deem a danger to themselves or others will be mobilized.

“No more just doing whatever you want,” said Mayor Adams at a press conference at the Fulton Street subway stop Friday morning. “No, those days are over…The system was not made to be housing, it’s made to be transportation.” The measures come following a spike in violent crime in the transit system, with riders saying it has led them to avoid the subway.

As noted by The New York Times, the plan lacked details on where evicted homeless individuals would immediately go. There was also little information on the cost of the plan and how it would be paid for.

Nowhere fast: California's High-Speed Rail project is now twice the size of its originally proposed budget

2022-02-16T20:50:00-05:00

The cost to build California’s ambitious but long delayed high-speed rail line has once again risen, with rail officials now estimating it could take up to $105 billion to finish the line from San Francisco to Los Angeles. The project’s price tag has steadily risen since voters first approved nearly $10 billion in bond money for it in 2008, when the total cost was pegged at $40 billion.

The additional need for money stems from necessary sound barrier upgrades and repositioning of the train away from the Central Valley’s Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, according to project officials. The state is confident it can raise the necessary funds from the new federal infrastructure bill, which includes about $55 billion in allocations for transit grants over the next four years.

The 500-mile-long project is still severely lagging in the area of public funding but has nevertheless managed to acquire about 90% of the land parcels needed to complete the project, according to an updated 2022 budget plan released by the California High Speed Rail Authority. A portion of the project is also being funded by the state’s cap-and-trade program, which has been itself been under-resourced as a partial result of the reduction in travel caused by the coronavirus.

Paris' first public transit gondola moves forward

2022-02-09T16:59:00-05:00

By 2025, commuters near the Paris suburb of Creteil should have a new way to get to work: the French capital’s first-ever public transit gondola. The new aerial tramway, which cleared its pre-construction feasibility studies this week, will be called Cable A, and will link several outlying but populous neighborhoods in Paris’ southeastern suburbs to the terminus of Metro line 8.

Cable A will travel a distance of 2.8 miles with five stations along its route. It was first proposed in 2008 as a cheaper and more practical alternative to conventional transit lines, which would require extensive engineering at the site. The gondola only needs space for the pillars that support the cables, which would keep the project’s cost at $149 million. In addition, because it’s powered by electricity, it won’t immediately contribute to local air pollution or emissions.

Despite some pushback from locals concerned about compromised privacy due to the presence of aerial transport, Bloomberg CityLab notes that this could be a final-mile solution that makes traditional transit more accessible. And, Cable A isn’t alone. It is reported that another five aerial tram plans are currently being considered for the Greater Paris Region.

MTA announces the launch of fare cap to increase ridership

2022-02-08T14:59:00-05:00

In an effort to encourage New Yorkers to get back on subways, buses, and trains -- particularly following the sharp decline in ridership due to the pandemic -- the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced a pilot fare program that is "more affordable, more flexible and more fair."

The fare capping pilot will feature free, unlimited rides after 12 OMNY taps, New York’s contactless fare payment system that will replace the MetroCard on the New York City subway in 2023. Under this program, no OMNY user would pay more than $33 per week, which is the current price of a seven-day unlimited-ride MetroCard. The pilot will last for at least four months starting February 25th for commuter rail tickets and the 28th for New York City Transit.

Previously on Archinect: Newly signed infrastructure bill halts MTA fare increases and service cuts

This move is a major shift from a beleaguered MTA, which has faced service cuts and proposed fare increases throughout the pandemic. The MTA will evaluate the program’s impact and customer experience, and if successful, the agency may extend or even make the fare cap permanent.