TAMC picks light rail for Monterey, advances commuter rail for Salinas

From the Californian: The Transportation Agency of Monterey County chose light rail over rapid buses Wednesday for a 16-mile transit corridor between Monterey and Castroville. 

TAMC also voted to move ahead with a commuter rail line linking Salinas to San Jose in 2012.

The Monterey light rail corridor runs along publicly owned tracks adjacent to Highway 1. The 15-2 vote by the TAMC board ended a review of the comparative merits of light rail and bus rapid transit that's been going on for a few years.

"Light rail was selected based on its ability to provide superior transportation in the long term while best meeting the vision and future plans for each of the [Monterey] Peninsula cities," said Kristen Hoschoer, project manager for TAMC. "Light-rail vehicles hold more riders than bus rapid transit vehicles and, unlike bus rapid transit, have the ability to add train cars at a nominal operating cost, which will be beneficial when ridership increases in the future."

Plans for project

The start of light-rail service is planned for 2015, and construction could begin as soon as 2012, said Don Bachman, TAMC deputy executive director.

Rail service could eventually run from Monterey to San Francisco, Hoschoer said.

The project's first phase would run between Monterey and north Marina, with stations in Monterey, Seaside, Sand City and Marina/CSUMB. There will be connecting bus service to Pacific Grove, Carmel and Salinas.

Later phases would extend service to the planned commuter rail station in Castroville and increase the frequency of trains, Hoschoer said.

The capital cost for the project's first phase is $128.5 million. The cost estimate on the rapid bus system was $114.5 million.

Among the project's next steps will be the design of computer simulations of how light rail vehicles will look running on the corridor through Monterey and Marina.

For the Salinas commuter rail line, the TAMC board voted 17-0 to approve a $1.43 million contract with Parsons Transportation Group.

"This will move the project forward into preliminary engineering," Bachman said. Construction is planned to begin in 2011.

PTG will focus on preliminary designs for the Gilroy Yard, Pajaro Station, Castroville Station, Salinas Layover Facility and Salinas Intermodal Transportation Center.

Environmental studies are completed for that project, but it has yet to receive federal approval. The agency also doesn't yet own land for the planned Salinas railway.

Federal money will be sought for both rail projects.

The Salinas Californian staff writer Leslie Griffy contributed to this story.