High Capacity Transit System Study

Are Clark County’s roads and highways too congested?
Do you spend too much time in your car? 
How should Clark County address future high capacity transit needs? 

To begin to address these issues, the Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council (RTC) is partnering with local jurisdictions and agencies to study Clark County’s future high capacity transit (HCT) options. Through the Clark County High Capacity Transit System Study, Moving People – Connecting Our Community, RTC and study partners will gather input on a wide range of potential HCT modes and travel corridors from county residents, elected officials, community groups, and other transportation agencies. These ideas are crucial for identifying the most promising travel corridors and types of transit to connect the community with efficient and reliable HCT services. The study’s outcomes will provide county decision-makers with the knowledge they will need to provide additional transportation options that connect county residents with where they need and want to go.  Read more...

Major Study Milestones

In 2008, there will be important study milestones and the study team wants your feedback and ideas. The HCT study is completing analysis of the selected corridors and types of transit service under consideration for Clark County, and will be presenting selected combinations of corridors and transit types (or modes) for public input. For a history of the technical analysis and public comments that led to this point in the study process, we have several documents available for your review. Review the Current Study Status - Winter 2008, study goals and objectives, and results of our first public survey and second public survey. For more information and study history, you can also see our Study Information page.

Study News

2/28/08 - Seventh Steering Committee Meeting

The Steering Committee met on Thursday, February 28, to review the corridor technical analysis and discuss potential system plan scenarios. The study team presented an analysis overview of the I-5, I-205, and Chelatchie Prairie corridors that included summary information on land use, environment, transit market and ridership, and order of magnitude capital and operating costs. The team also highlighted differences in HCT and CRC methodology for determining cost and ridership figures. A corridor evaluation matrix, derived from the study goals and objectives, was used to compare the corridors.

The Steering Committee reviewed the Strategy Map developed by the Task Force. The map included mid-term and long-term corridor designations and modifications from the original staff recommendation. The Steering Committee provided additional recommendations but was generally supportive of the Task Force recommendation. The committee briefly discussed the Sounding Board and comments on the corridors from the public. Other issues included:

• The physical and practical opportunities and limitations of the I-205 Glen Jackson) Bridge in terms of accommodating different transit modes.
• Coordination with the Columbia River Crossing Project with regard to future transit connections. The committee wanted to avoid any gaps in analysis or service if CRC adopts a Minimum Operable Segment (MOS).
• Concerns about serving riders east of I-205.
  
  

At their next meeting, Steering Committee members will review findings from the analysis of the system scenarios. The meeting will be on Wednesday, May 28 at WSDOT at 4 p.m.

2/26/08 - Third Sounding Board Meeting

Thirty one people attended the HCT System Study Sounding Board open house on February 26th. The open house format gave visitors the opportunity to review findings from the corridor evaluations and “System Strategy” maps that presented different ways study alignments and modes could be combined to form a complete HCT system.

Visitors were able to view an introductory slideshow and background displays before reviewing the analysis of the five corridors under consideration: I-5, I-205, SR 500, SR 14, and Chelatchie Prairie. Each corridor station included maps of the alignments, a corridor evaluation matrix, and a bulleted summary of evaluation findings. The summaries included a number of considerations for each alignment, including:

• Overall ridership
• Service for intra Clark County trips
• Service to activity and job centers
• Station accessibility
• Travel times
• Adjacent density and land uses
• Park and ride considerations
• Relative costs

Attendees filled out comment forms based on the corridor evaluations. The forms indicated which alignments and combinations of alignments were felt to be the most viable. Respondents also noted what additional refinements might be necessary before the corridors could be carried forward into analysis as part of a system plan.

The comment form used at the open house will be available through this website until Monday, April 28.

More Study News...