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On Demand Webinar: Achieving Optimized Capital Planning and Asset Reliability

Sponsored by:
Bentley

Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Time:   2:00 pm EST | 11:00 am PST

Utah Transit Authority (UTA) and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) provide a collective learning experience of applying modern techniques and technologies to address typical State of Good Repair (SGR) challenges in this 60-minute webinar. Register Now to View Webinar On Demand >

Webinar Speakers
Andy Off, P.E., PMP
  Kevin Moore
  Kyle Stockley
  Daniel Hofer  
Andy Off
 
Kevin Moore
 
Kyle Stockley
 
Daniel Hofer
WMATA
Assistant Chief Engineer
(Civil, Track, Right of Way)
  The Net Consulting Group, Inc.
President
  UTA
Transit Asset Administrator
  UTA
Transit Asset Administrator

 

Daniel Hofer and Kyle Stockley, transit asset administrators for UTA, begin the discussion by reviewing the challenges it faces as a mid-size transit tackling the large scale task of achieving, and maintaining, an SGR system.

Andy Off, P.E., PMP, assistant chief engineer (civil, track, right of way), WMATA, and Kevin Moore, president, The Net Consulting Group, Inc., explore why track analysis and maintenance, and corridor planning is as much about managing and sharing data as it is about managing infrastructure assets.

All presenters highlight important take-away points for webinar attendees who are looking at developing or deploying their own asset management and/or railway analysis and maintenance system.

View the webinar on demand now: Achieving Optimized Capital Planning and Asset Reliability.

Dulles Rail aerial guideway complete

The Bechtel Corporation-led team building Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor extension project completed construction of the aerial guideway that will carry Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority trains and passengers over major highways and through

Loudoun County on board with Dulles rail

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to fund Phase 2 of the planned rail extension to Dulles Airport. The county’s estimated portion of the project, which will extend Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Silver Line from Reston to Loudoun, is $270 million.

Maryland’s Purple Line gets approval for next step

The Federal Transit Administration gave its approval for Maryland’s Purple Line to move forward and enter the Preliminary Engineering phase. The Purple Line is a proposed 16-mile east-west light-rail project that will operate between Bethesda in Montgomery County to New Carrollton in Prince George’s County with connection to four branches of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority system. FTA approval means that work on the project now moves to preparation of more detailed plans, schedules and cost estimates, as well as completion of environmental studies.

"In order to create jobs, a modern economy requires modern investments. The Federal Transit Administration’s approval today will help us continue to create jobs and expand rapid and reliable transportation in the Washington suburban region," said Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley. "The Purple Line will connect citizens to jobs and economic opportunities throughout the region. Today’s approval affirms that federal and state investments create jobs and promote economic growth. Together, with our federal partners, we can secure the future of transit in Maryland and continue to move the Purple Line forward."

The FTA review of the Purple Line proposal focused on the project’s high daily ridership and many significant benefits as well as the state’s financial commitment and technical capacity to build and operate the project. By granting permission to begin preliminary engineering, the Purple Line becomes one of a small of number of projects nationwide that are eligible for federal funding.

As proposed, the Purple Line will connect major employment and activity centers in Bethesda, Silver Spring, College Park and New Carrollton with residential and commercial areas located in between, including the Takoma-Langley Park community and Riverdale Park residents whose many transit dependent riders today are only served by buses. It will link both branches of WMTAT’s Red Line at Bethesda and Silver Spring, the Green Line at College Park and the Orange Line at New Carrollton. The Purple Line will also connect all three MARC commuter rail lines, Amtrak and local bus services.

The 16-mile Purple Line will play a critical role in the economic vitality of the corridor, with a projected increase of over 27,000 jobs per year and nearly $10 billion in additional federal, state and local revenues through the life of the rail line. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is establishing a workforce development task force to assist with the creation of a state wide policy towards providing training programs for employment opportunities along the rail line.

The Purple Line will be a pedestrian-friendly system with 21 stations that are projected to handle 60,000 riders a day by 2030. On the western end, it will operate along the former Georgetown Branch railroad right of way, currently an interim hiker-biker trail. The project will be built simultaneously with the construction of a permanent trail separated from the rail line with a landscaped buffer. Different than WMATA, light rail is powered by an overhead wire, can operate at-grade and is compatible with pedestrians and automobile traffic.

The Purple Line will largely run on the surface with one short tunnel section, one aerial section and several underpasses and overpasses of busy roadways. It will operate mainly in dedicated or exclusive lanes, allowing for fast, reliable transit operations. Purple Line riders will generally access the line on foot or by existing bus and rail services since it directly serves local communities.

Irene’s impact on Northeast transit varied

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, transit service availability on the East Coast is varied, from regularly scheduled service, to reduced service and even terminated service.

WMATA
Washington Metropolitan Area Tranist Authority is currently operating rail service on a regular schedule. Other than expected delays due to weather, WMATA ran its schedule throughout the weekend. Customers needing elevator access are advised to check wmata.com before they travel for the status of their local station elevators. Elevator and escalator availability may be temporarily impacted by local power issues.

Metrorail ridership was down about 67 percent Saturday, August 27, as compared to last Saturday.

WMATA’s Operations Control Center is continuing to monitor the system for any storm-related after effects.
Customers are encouraged to check wmata.com for service updates and follow @wmata on Twitter for the latest service information.

MBTA/MBCR
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority service is operating on a regular weekday schedule, effective August 28. Having already removed more than one hundred trees or large branches from track rights-of-way August 27, MBTA and Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company personnel worked throughout Saturday night, clearing the rails and restoring power to signal systems and overhead wires.

Normal service has resumed on the Red, Orange, Blue, and Green lines. Minor delay delays on the D branch due to ongoing signal system repairs between Riverside and Newton Centre Stations. In the event that the signals remain down at the start of service personnel will be in place to institute manual operation.

All downed trees have been removed from the D Branch. However, due to ongoing tree removal activities being conducted by the Town of Newton and NStar, the Riverside Parking facility will remain closed. Customers are urged to seeking alternative parking at other facilities such as Woodland Station. Transit Police will be on scene to assist and direct customers.

On commuter rail, minor signal problems continue on the Worcester and Fitchburg Lines, but are not expected to result in significant delays.

Amtrak is conducting tree removal activities on the Providence line, with no significant delays expected.


NJ Transit
New Jersey Transit rail service is suspended until further notice as a result of residual impacts of Hurricane Irene, except for the Atlantic City Rail Line. NJ Transit will operate bus and light-rail service on a modified schedule on Monday, August 29. Crews worked around the clock August 28 to assess storm damage and make necessary repairs.

"We only cancel service when we absolutely have to and Irene has forced us to do so on most of our rail lines," said NJ Transit Executive Director James Weinstein. "Our crews will work around the clock to clear trees, restore power and repair flood damage. We will get the trains running again as soon as we can.

"The transportation system throughout the state has been severely stressed. Our goal is to resume service as quickly and safely as possible, however, customers should not expect a normal weekday Monday for transit services as crews continue to assess damage around the state, particularly on the railroad," said Weinstein.

MTA
The New York Metropolitan Transit Authority is providing limited service August 29.

New York City Subway- With very limited exceptions, service has resumed across the subway system on all lines, including service to and from Far Rockaway. However, service will be less frequent than normal and customers should expect longer waits and more crowded trains. Frequency of service will improve over the course of the day.

Staten Island Railway- Staten Island Railway service resumed regular service early August 29 between St. George and Tottenville.

Long Island Rail Road- The Long Island Rail Road is operating near-normal service this morning on six of its branches, but customers are advised to expect some cancellations and some trains operating with fewer than normal complement of cars. The morning rush service is being restored to and from:

• Babylon
• Hicksville (on the Huntington/Port Jefferson Branch)
• Ronkonkoma
• Port Washington (half-hourly service west of Great Neck; no service east of Great Neck)
• Hempstead
• West Hempstead

Service remains suspended to and from:

• Oyster Bay
• Port Jefferson
• Long Beach
• Far Rockaway
• Montauk (east of Babylon)
• Greenport (east of Ronkonkoma)

Metro-North Railroad- Metro-North Railroad cannot operate regular service on any of its three lines. There is still significant damage to many portions of the Metro-North system. Local streams and the Bronx River continue to overflow their banks and crews are working to clean up three mudslides.


HRT
Hampton Roads Transit in Virginia re-introduced limited transit services on Sunday, August 28 after a check of local conditions found no significant damage to HRT systems caused by Hurricane Irene.

Light-rail service began at noon Sunday. Ferry service across the Elizabeth River also began at noon.

Sunday HRT enforced a fare-free period for light rail, but starting Monday, August 29, HRT will begin collecting fares on The Tide.

Dulles Metrorail building bridges for rails in Tysons Corner, Va.






Construction will begin
soon on what can best be described as "bridges" over Tysons. One will
begin in May on the Dulles Connector Road (Route 267) and cross over Route 123
to the northwest side of southbound Route 123. Another will cross I-495.
Another will be built in the median of Route 7 from just west of Route 123 and
into the median of the Dulles Airport Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road.

D.C. Metro and its Board committed to strong safety oversight






Washington, D.C., Metro
Board Chairman Jim Graham and Metro General Manager John Catoe issued the
following joint statement: "The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and
its Board of Directors are committed to working with all safety oversight
agencies that have jurisdiction over Metro and its operations. Regionally, that
oversight comes from the Tri-State Oversight Committee, which was created by
Congress and then implemented through an agreement among the District of
Columbia, State of Maryland and Commonwealth of Virginia.