Passenger Rail Station Location Study TPO Board

March, 2016

Presentation Outline

Supporting the County’s Transit Vision

Passenger Rail in Brevard County

Passenger Rail Station Location Study

Led by Space Coast TPO and Port Canaveral

Selecting a Station Location

Station Location Candidates

Selection Criteria

Recommended Location

What’s Next?

2

Supporting the County’s Transit Vision

3

Miami

West

Palm Beach

Orlando

Fort Lauderdale

Brevard

Plan Adoption

4

Space Coast TPO adopted

2040 Long Range Plan

2016 Strategic Plan

Both contain goals to enhance public transportation, including passenger rail

Supporting the County’s Transit Vision

5

LRTP proposed system of regional and local transit corridors

Supporting the County’s Transit Vision

6

Multimodal and Intermodal Hubs

Identified candidate AAF stations can be possible candidates for these hubs

TPO Strategic Plan

7

Commuter Rail

8

Commuter rail stations will have different requirements

Most commuter rail projects funded largely with public money

Different station location criteria

Economic development

Local access (walk-up) ridership

Environmental benefits

Passenger Rail Station Location Study

Passenger rail expanding in Florida

Desire to have service in Brevard County

Space Coast TPO and Port Canaveral initiated a study for an AAF station location in Brevard

TPO hired Kittelson & Associates, Inc. (KAI) to study potential station locations and develop recommendations

AAF has agreed to consider one station location in Brevard

TPO and KAI worked with local municipalities to screen and rank candidate stations

9

All Aboard Florida (Brightline)

Privately funded passenger rail service between Orlando International Airport and South Florida

Potential extension to Jacksonville

Miami

West

Palm Beach

Orlando

Fort Lauderdale

10

All Aboard Florida (Brightline)

Market Assessment

Service designed for:

Travel

Leisure

Entertainment

Features

Center City locations

Custom designed coaches

Intermodal connectivity

11

All Aboard Florida (Brightline)

Service and Operations Details

Hourly northbound and southbound service

Train speeds between 79 and 125 mile per hour

32 additional trains per day

12 Image Source: www.gobrightline.com

Brevard County Alignment

13

All Aboard Florida

Rail infrastructure and service privately funded

Profit-driven enterprise with revenue from two sources

Passenger fares

Ancillary development

Anticipated opening in 2017

No current plans for Brevard station location

Feasibility of additional station will be based on revenue generating potential of station

14 Image Source: www.gobrightline.com

Selecting a Station Location

TPO will recommend a single location to AAF

Seeking consensus and broad support

Station Selection Process

1. Develop station evaluation checklist and scoring criteria

2. Solicit potential station locations from municipalities

3. Request data from proponents

4. Meet with local municipalities to review results

5. Recommend station location

15

Station Evaluation Checklist

Tier I: Parcel Requirements

Adjacent to Florida East Coast (FEC) Railway

Passenger loading platform on west side of tracks

Straight Railway Section

Minimum 3 Acres in Size

Developable Land

Utilities available

Planning Compatibility

Tier II: Evaluation Criteria

Development Potential

Potential Ridership

16

Station Evaluation Checklist

17

Tier II Criteria

Developable Parcel

Development Potential

Visibility

Incentives

Local street access

Access to Port Centers

Access to cultural destinations

Access to regional highways

Station Evaluation Checklist

18

Weighted to reflect importance of:

Developable land at and near the station parcel

Access to station to encourage higher ridership

Criteria Weight

Parcel Size 20%

Adjacent Acres of Vacant Parcels 20%

Vacant Parcels within ¼-mile 15%

Distance to I-95 or SR 528 interchange 10%

Distance to Port Canaveral 10%

Distance to Melbourne Airport 10%

Distance to KSC Visitor Center 5%

Daily Traffic Volume 5%

Linear Feet of Street Frontage 3%

Number of Tourist Sites 2%

Nine Candidate Station Locations

19

1. Palm Bay (Conlon)

2. Melbourne 1 (Main Street)

3. Melbourne 2 (Waverly Pl)

4. Melbourne 3 (Apollo Blvd)

5. Rockledge/Cocoa (Rosa Jones)

6. Cocoa 1 (Plaza Pkwy)

7. Cocoa 2 (Michigan)

8. Cocoa 3 (Clearlake)

9. Cocoa 4 (Beau Geste)

Cocoa 4

Cocoa 3

Cocoa 2

Cocoa 1

Rockledge/Cocoa

Melbourne 2

Melbourne 3

Melbourne 1

Palm Bay

Candidate Station Locations

20

Palm Bay

Robert J Conlon Boulevard

Municipality: Palm Bay

Size: 23 acres

Candidate Station Locations

21

Melbourne 1

Main Street

Municipality: Melbourne

Size: 3 acres

Candidate Station Locations

22

Melbourne 2

Waverly Place

Municipality: Melbourne

Size: 3 acres

Candidate Station Locations

23

Melbourne 3

Apollo Boulevard

Municipality: Melbourne

Size: 4 acres

Candidate Station Locations

24

Rockledge/Cocoa

Rosa L. Jones Boulevard

Municipalities: Cocoa and Rockledge

Size: 33 acres

Candidate Station Locations

25

Cocoa 1

Plaza Parkway

Municipality: Cocoa

Size: 8 acres

Candidate Station Locations

26

Cocoa 2

Michigan Avenue

Municipality: Cocoa

Size: 114 acres

Candidate Station Locations

27

Cocoa 3

Clearlake Road

Municipality: Cocoa

Size: 88 acres

Candidate Station Locations

28

Cocoa 4

Beau Geste

Municipality: Cocoa

Size: 117 acres

Station Location Evaluation

29

Criteria

Palm

Bay

Melb

ou

rn

e 1

Melb

ou

rn

e 2

Melb

ou

rn

e 3

Rockle

dg

e/

C

oco

a

Co

co

a 1

Coco

a 2

Coco

a 3

Coco

a 4

Parcel Size

Adjacent Parcels

Parcels within ¼-mile

Interchanges

Port Canaveral

Melb Airport

KSC Visitor Center

Traffic Volume

Street Front

Overall

High Medium Low

Highest Ranking Station Location

30

Clearlake Road, Cocoa

Good access to local highways

Plenty of developable space

Considerable land already owned by AAF

Relatively close to Port Canaveral

Location at future passenger rail junction

Suited for future AAF Jacksonville extension

What’s Next?

31

Recommend locations in North Cocoa near SR 501, SR 528 and US 1 and the former Cocoa passenger rail station site on US 1 for future All Aboard Florida station

Send formal request to AAF to conduct ridership study and work with AAF to plan and implement station

Include future passenger and commuter rail service in strategic plan action: Explore opportunities to expand transit services and funding

Resolution

32

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the SPACE COAST TRANSPORTATION PLANNING ORGANIZATION:

1. Approves the sites identified on Attachment A as “Potential Future Passenger Rail Station Locations.”

2. Approves a site in North Cocoa near SR 501, SR 528 and US 1 and the former Cocoa passenger rail station site on US 1 as the locally preferred AAF Station Locations.