**Pioneer Parkway EmX BRT**

**Springfield, Oregon**

(November 2007)

The Lane Transit District (LTD) proposes to construct and operate a
7.8-mile extension of the Franklin corridor Bus Rapid "EmX" Transit
(BRT) "Green Line" currently under construction in Eugene Oregon. The
proposed Pioneer Parkway EmX BRT project extends service from the
eastern terminus of the Franklin corridor route north along the Pioneer
Parkway to existing and new residential and employment areas in
Springfield. The project includes 14 new stations, traffic signal
priority, and the purchase of four low-floor, branded, hybrid-electric
vehicles. The proposed service would operate at-grade with 10-minute
headways during weekday peak- and off-peak periods.

The primary employment center in the Eugene-Springfield region is
downtown Eugene, with employment of approximately 15,000. While downtown
Eugene is not part of the Pioneer Parkway corridor, it will be served
with a direct connection to transit service via the Franklin corridor
BRT. The Franklin BRT line will also serve the 295-acre campus of the
University of Oregon and its total enrollment of just over 20,000
students. Major employment centers along the Pioneer Parkway BRT route
include Symantec, Royal Caribbean, PeaceHealth, and the North Gateway
Mall. Total employment within one-half mile of the BRT route is expected
to be 15,500 jobs by 2010, over 10 percent of the metropolitan area's
total forecasted employment.

+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Summary Description**            |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Proposed Project:**              | Bus Rapid Transit               |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| ** **                              | 7.8 Miles                       |
|                                    |                                 |
|                                    | 14 Stations                     |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Total Capital Cost (\$YOE):**    | \$36.99 Million                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Section 5309 New Starts Share    | \$29.59 Million (80.0%)         |
| (\$YOE):**                         |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Annual Operating Cost (\$YOE):** | \$1.07 Million                  |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **Opening Year Ridership Forecast  | 3,700 Average Weekday Boardings |
| (2010):**                          |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| ** **                              | 450 Daily New Riders            |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **FY 2008 Local Financial          | # Medium                        |
| Commitment Rating:**               |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **FY 2008 Project Justification    | **Medium-High**                 |
| Rating:**                          |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+
| **FY 2008 Overall Project          | **Medium**                      |
| Rating:**                          |                                 |
+------------------------------------+---------------------------------+

**Project Development History and Current Status**

A study of the feasibility of urban rail in the Eugene/Springfield area
conducted in 1995 concluded that projected ridership in the region over
a 20-year period was too low to be competitive for New Starts funding.
Instead, the study identified BRT as a less capital-intensive way to
provide efficient transit service for the region. In 2001, BRT was
identified as a strategy to combat congestion in the adopted
*Eugene-Springfield Regional Transportation Plan*. In this plan, the
initial Franklin Boulevard BRT route was identified as the first phase
of a potential 60-mile regional BRT system. BRT service in the Franklin
corridor commenced in January 2007.

LTD completed an environmental assessment on the Pioneer Parkway EmX BRT
project in November 2006. FTA approved the project into project
development in December 2006. The project rating included in this
profile is based on conditions as of November 2006.

**[Project Justification Rating: Medium-High]{.underline}**

The project is rated *Medium-High* for project justification based on a
*High* rating for cost effectiveness coupled with a *Medium-Low* rating
for transit-supportive land use.

####### *Cost Effectiveness Rating: High*

The *High* rating is based on the level of travel-time benefits (650
average weekday hours) relative to the project's annualized costs.

+------------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| **Cost Effectiveness**                   |                           |
+------------------------------------------+---------------------------+
| Cost per Hour of Transportation System   | **[New Start vs.          |
| User Benefit                             | Baseline]{.underline}**   |
|                                          |                           |
|                                          | \$7.52\*                  |
+------------------------------------------+---------------------------+

####### \* Indicates that measure is a component of Cost Effectiveness rating.

####### *Transit-Supportive Land Use Rating: Medium-Low*

The *Medium-Low* land use rating is based upon the *Low* rating assigned
to existing land use, the *Medium* rating assigned to transit supportive
plans and policies, and the *Medium-Low* rating assigned to the
performance of plans and policies.

**Existing Land Use: Low**

-   The Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area has a forecast population
    of 261,000 and employment of 132,000 in 2010. Total employment
    served by the BRT project is low at 15,300, including the small
    downtown of Springfield which contains 1,300 jobs. The Pioneer
    Parkway project will indirectly serve downtown Eugene (15,000
    employees) and the University of Oregon (20,000 students) via the
    Franklin Boulevard BRT, which is under construction as of 2006.

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-   Downtown Springfield is a traditional downtown with street-fronting
    mixed-use buildings typically of one- to three-stories in height.
    Elsewhere, development in the corridor includes a mix of
    single-family homes and apartment complexes at densities ranging up
    to 20 to 30 units per acre, as well as low-density neighborhood
    commercial, a regional shopping mall, light industrial uses, and
    some one- and two-story office buildings.

-   Most development includes sidewalks although some pedestrian
    connections are missing in the outer portions of the corridor. There
    is some undeveloped land in the northern section of the corridor.
    Parking is free in all locations.

**Transit-Supportive Plans and Policies: Medium**

-   Per state planning law, the cities in the Eugene-Springfield region
    have adopted urban growth boundaries. A jointly developed regional
    plan as well as municipal planning documents call for concentrating
    development in pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use "nodes." Three of the
    six nodes designated in the City of Springfield are in the proposed
    BRT corridor, and small area planning has been undertaken for each
    node. However, only the two downtown nodes would be truly "urban" in
    character, and the third node, at the RiverBend suburban location,
    is being developed with a more campus-like environment. The other
    major employment and growth area in the corridor, the Gateway area,
    has not been identified as a node and has not undergone
    transit-supportive planning.

-   Refinement plans for downtown Springfield and the Glenwood Urban
    Renewal District (directly across the river from downtown) call for
    a fine-grained mix of uses in two- to four-story, street-fronting
    buildings. There are no parking requirements in downtown
    Springfield, and reduced parking requirements are proposed for the
    Glenwood district.

-   Zoning in downtown Springfield has recently been revised to
    eliminate height restrictions and require a minimum of two-story
    development, and there are no off-street parking requirements in
    this area. Mixed use and nodal overlay zoning districts are
    available in city code and have been applied to downtown Springfield
    as well as the RiverBend area.

-   Zoning elsewhere in the corridor typically allows for residential
    development of up to 10 units per acre ("low density") or 10 to 20
    units per acre ("medium density"), with some pockets of 20 to 30
    units per acre ("high density"). In commercial areas, height limits
    vary from 20 feet to unrestricted while lot coverages are typically
    restricted to 35 percent. Minimum setbacks of 10 to 30 feet apply.
    Parking requirements are on the low side compared to typical U.S.
    suburban areas.

-   Planning at all levels, as is typical in Oregon, has included a
    significant focus on growth management and other land use issues.
    The City of Springfield and LTD have reached out to some developers
    to increase the transit-supportiveness of new development and add
    pedestrian improvements to existing development in the corridor. The
    city has recently adopted financial tools and incentives to promote
    redevelopment in the downtown area, although their effectiveness
    remains to be demonstrated.

**Performance and Impacts of Policies:** **Medium-Low**

-   Recent examples of transit-supportive development in the corridor
    are limited to one mixed-use project downtown and two or three
    smaller redevelopment projects, all involving public support. The
    PeaceHealth complex, the most significant corridor development, is
    an improvement over traditional suburban development but nonetheless
    mixed in terms of its transit-supportive character. With the
    exception of pedestrian access improvements, efforts have not been
    made in the Gateway area to create a more transit-supportive
    environment.

-   Some opportunities for infill and redevelopment exist in downtown
    Springfield and a major opportunity for mixed-use,
    pedestrian-friendly development exists in the adjacent Glenwood
    redevelopment area. There is some vacant land in the north part of
    the corridor but for the most part it is not yet being planned for
    transit-supportive development. While the Eugene-Springfield region
    is growing, a strong market for transit-oriented development has not
    yet been demonstrated in this relatively small metropolitan area.

# [Local Financial Commitment Rating: Medium]{.underline} 

####### The project is rated *Medium* for local financial commitment, based upon LTD's acceptable financial condition; a reasonable plan for funding for the non-New Starts share of capital costs; and evidence that operations and maintenance costs of the proposed project are less than five percent of the agency's operating budget.

+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| **Locally Proposed      |                       |                    |
| Financial Plan**        |                       |                    |
+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| **[Source of            | **[Total Funds        | **[Percent of      |
| Funds]{.underline}**    | (\$mi                 | To                 |
|                         | llion)]{.underline}** | tal]{.underline}** |
+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| **Federal:**            | \$29.59 million       | 80.0%              |
|                         |                       |                    |
| Section 5309 New Starts |                       |                    |
+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| **State:**              | \$5.40 million        | 14.6%              |
|                         |                       |                    |
| ConnectOregon --        |                       |                    |
| Lottery Bond            |                       |                    |
+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| **Local:**              | \$2.00 million        | 5.4%               |
|                         |                       |                    |
| LTD Capital Fund        |                       |                    |
+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+
| **Total:**              | **\$36.99 million**   | 100.0%             |
+-------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------+

**NOTE**: The financial plan reflected in this table has been developed
by the project sponsor and does not reflect a commitment by DOT or FTA.
The sum of figures may differ from total as listed due to rounding.

MAP