WALLY commuter rail car to make special appearance at Mayor's Green Fair Friday
Editor's note: This story was updated at 12:30 p.m. with cost information.
A passenger train car from the future WALLY commuter rail line will make a special appearance at the Mayor's Green Fair this Friday, city officials announced Tuesday morning.
The Washtenaw and Livingston Line, or WALLY, would run from Ann Arbor to Howell with stops in between and is in the planning stages.
Steve Sobel of the Michigan Association of Railroad Passengers captured this shot of MDOT's newly refurbished rail cars during a test in November. A similar passenger rail car will be at the Mayor's Green Fair Friday.
Courtesy photo
The city of Ann Arbor, in partnership with MDOT, the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority and the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority worked to bring the passenger car to the Green Fair.
In its 13th year, the annual event will shut down three blocks of Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor Friday and will have a number of other new offerings in store: A zero-waste beer tent and a chalk art competition.
From 6 to 9 p.m. the public is invited to browse about about 150 exhibits ranging from environmentally sustainable product vendors to information on alternative energy and commuting.
A locomotive will haul one WALLY passenger rail car into Ann Arbor and stop on the train tracks between South First and West William streets, said Eli Cooper, the city's transportation program manager.
It's a major effort on the part of the railroad, Cooper said, as the rail line has to be completely shut down so the passenger car can sit on the tracks in downtown Ann Arbor.
The train car's appearance costs approximately $7,500 and will be split equally between the city, the AATA and the DDA.
"The state and the railroad companies have volunteered a lot of rail-based staff," Cooper said.
The double-decker car will arrive about 5 p.m. and will be open for people to tour Friday evening. There will be a fully accessible lift available for people who need it.
“This is the first real experience for the public to have the real up-front engagement with this train,” Cooper said.
The train car won't be the only new item at the Mayor's Green Fair this year.
Four finalists from a chalk drawing competition coordinated by the Huron River Watershed Council will compete Friday for a cash prize.
Roan Rominski, of Ann Arbor, rides a bike-powered blender to make smoothies at the 10th Annual Mayor's Green Fair in Ann Arbor in 2010. The fair will return to Main Street once again for its 13th year Friday.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com file photo
The chalk art will be judged in part by David Zinn, a local chalk drawing artist known for his small, whimsical green creatures that pop up on streets and sidewalks around Ann Arbor.
Arbor Brewing Company will also be hosting a beer tent on Washington Street for the first time this year.
The tent is also zero-waste -- all of the disposable items will be able to be composted and recycled. Live music will be provided by Root Stand.
Staples of the event will return this year, including organic food offerings from Silvio's Organic Pizza and Pilar's Tamales, recycled art crafts for children, live birds of prey demonstrations, free valet bike parking, the conference bike, fuel-efficient and electric cars, a solar-powered tractor and an AATA bus will be on-site for people to tour.
Live music at the corner of Liberty and Main streets will be provided by the band Kevin & the Glen Levens, which will run their operation using solar power.
The event is free and open to the public. Main Street will be closed about three hours before the fair begins for set up.
View Mayor's Green Fair in a larger map
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.
Comments
Larry Krieg
Thu, Jun 13, 2013 : 2:57 a.m.
@Veracity - funny you should ask for ridership information. These figures just came out today; they are provided by Amtrak to MDOT which released them to the public. The Wolverine line (3 trains each way daily, Pontiac to Chicago) carried 326,846 people between Oct. 1, 2012, and May 31, 2013. That's up 7.4% over the same period in 2012. Revenue from tickets was $12,436,173, up 12.3% over 2012.
Connecting Dots
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 11:03 a.m.
Upgraded trains and tracks are the way to go! After attending meetings about transit services for the past several years, it's good to know that there are trains in sight. I travel to Chicago often and the coaches on that train could use some upgrades; also five hours is way to slow. The tracks need to be upgraded. On the last several trips I noticed most seats are filled...and almost always Business class is filled. There could be an added business coach. It would be heavenly to make a Business class a quiet car--not everyone has the social skills to know that no one wants to listen to them talk on their cell phones for five hours.
Veracity
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 12:47 p.m.
Actually, I would like to see actual usage figures of Amtrak from Detroit to Chicago. A Ryan Stanton article a year or two ago included an interview with a commuter who noted that six other passengers disembarked the train in Ann Arbor after the train started in Detroit. These other passengers were considered commuters as well. In addition about 130 other passengers continued further west. These numbers are not huge and support the need for subsidizing the rail transportation. Our city government acknowledges that local funding will be needed to sustain rail travel from Detroit to Ann Arbor and onto Chicago. In fact the city has determined that building a new railroad station, at Fuller Road or elsewhere, will cost local tax payers up to $66 million. Maintenance and operating expenses could run in the six figures as well. Voters will have a chance to express their value for increased emphasis on rail transportation when they are asked to pay for all of it.
northside
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 10:57 a.m.
The amount we spend on our wasteful auto-based transportation system is almost too high to calculate. Most of us buy $20,000+ cars every few years. Roads cost hundreds of billions to build and maintain. There's the cost of gas, car repairs, etc. Yet people are outraged when it comes to spending a few thousand to demo what an alternate transportation system might look like.
Larry Krieg
Thu, Jun 13, 2013 : 3:05 a.m.
Northside, you got that right. We pay so much for our cars, roads, and parking structures. Speaking of parking structures, a good example is the new Library Lot. Each individual parking space cost about $72,000. Got to build it anyway! We *must* have a place put our shiny, expensive cars, with their expensive gas and through-the-roof insurance - cost is not an issue when it comes to our autos!
Orangecrush2000
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 4:11 a.m.
There should be local rail travel, everywhere. For the Ann Arbor area, in addition to WALLY, that should include, from west to east, Chelsea, Dexter, Ypsi, Willow Run and Bellevlle. Maybe even out to Metro. WALLY should actually extend to south to Saline and Milan. I'm getting so tired of travelling to other towns by car and bus, in traffic jams, etc.. I'd just rather take a local train, subway, street car or light rail, or whatever it is you want to call it, to whatever city or village I'm trying to get to; and then take local transpo, which would include walking, if not local bus or cab, to get where it is I want to go, like work, or home, or where ever. Our area - Michigan - is so far behind. The car companies want everyone to drive as many cars as possible. Why don't they adjust their focus, and build trains, also?
ahblid
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 12:23 p.m.
Veracity, Well at least based upon the evidence from the rest of the country, the size of those millages will be smaller than the ones for the other alternatives, namely buses and the roads themselves. It's interesting how it is OK to subsidize all other forms of travel, yet somehow trains are supposed to cover all their costs without subsidies.
Veracity
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 4:42 a.m.
Sounds great, Orangecrush2000! Care to explain how much such a broad system of railway tracks will cost to construct and operate and how these expenses will be paid? The few passengers that would use each railway line will provide only a miniscule amount of usage fee revenue necessary to pay costs. Voters will have to approve sizable millages to subsidize the railway.
a2grateful
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 9:40 p.m.
*Ignore the (exorbitant-cost) torpedoes. Full steam (folly fountain, folly Wally, folly leadership) ahead! This is at the "Green Fair" because it'll take a lot of "green" to fund and operate this boondoggle. *Expletive deleted
Larry Ryan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 10:43 p.m.
You should tell that to the Governor and the President, they are putting up the money for the train and the new stations.
motorcycleminer
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:31 p.m.
" Thomas " would be more appropriate....
Dog Guy
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:02 p.m.
Three weeks ago Greenfield Village had Thomas the Tank Engine, but all Ann Arbor gets is a car being hauled to the crusher by WALL·E.
Veracity
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8 p.m.
The display of the WALLY railway car is most assuredly an attempt to create a favorable impression among Ann Arbor tax payers who will be asked to approve a millage to pay for the maintenance and operation of the WALLY line that will not be supported by passenger usage fees (maybe $1.5 million or more) alone.
Veracity
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 7:27 p.m.
Do not get your hopes too high for the WALLY. As I understand only about 1100 commuters will use the train route when completed. The revenue generated from passenger fares will fall at least $1.5 million short of what will be required to operate the railway line annually. The federal and state governments will not assist financially in the maintenance and operation of the WALLY. Any shortfall in revenue needed to run the the train must be provided by Ann Arbor taxpayers, probably in the form of a new millage.
craig stolefield
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:52 p.m.
Can't wait for the headline: Ann Arbor Tea Party joins Troy in Rejecting Federal $$$ for Transit Station! After Troy did this the largest employer in the city threatened to leave and the Tea Party elected council members had to reverse themselves.
Larry Ryan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 10:41 p.m.
So, you should be scolding the Gov. (MDOT is driving the train) and the President for putting up the federal $$ to pay for the rail upgrades and the new station.
lou glorie
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 7:32 p.m.
We already have a train station. When the time comes for a new station, our community should decide where to locate it. A congested intersection is probably not the best location. Ever been to a large train station? They need lots and lots of land. And they're usually not constructed in parks. Trains aren't made of Brio blocks and Thomas the Tank was a kid's book. This is for real. Thoughtful people should be able to disagree with policies without being slandered as reactionary. Not one municipality in this country has the resources to squander on fantasies. We need clean public transit, but at this stage to insist it must be rail, seems as dogmatic any other unexamined imperative.
Larry Ryan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:42 p.m.
Interesting that you are putting this on the Mayor, not that he is not a proponent of rail and it is his green fair. But, the train belongs to MDOT and I doubt they bought it and refurbished it for $12 million on the Mayor's advice.... They intend to run it as a commuter train, most likey on the east/west line. All the capital improvements will be paid with the federal funds. This is the first mention I have seen of Wally in awhile. Interesting that MDOT is still interested in that but if Livingston is out it won't work. So what, there are way more riders on the east/west. As to a new station, Ann Arbor would be foolish to turn down millions in federal money. Ala the Tea Party in Troy!
Jack Eaton
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:32 p.m.
The fundamental problem with commuter rail service is cost. The Wally would not require installation of the rail bed, but would require some upgrading of the existing tracks. That cost would likely be covered by a combination of federal, state and local money. The unanswered question is who will pay for the operation of the rail service after the capital costs have been covered? Recently, the State created a Regional Transit Authority (RTA) that includes Washtenaw, Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. One of the reasons the RTA was created was to help implement the Woodward Avenue M-1 rail line. The federal department of transportation provided a $25 million grant to develop that service. More recently, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) completed an analysis of methods for providing rapid transit on that Woodward corridor. They announced "After extensive analysis and community input, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has emerged as the preferred modal option for rapid transit along Woodward." http://www.woodwardanalysis.com/ It appears that the cost and inflexibility of fixed rail made the use of buses more appealing. These same factors have led some local transit advocates to warn that commuter rail is too expensive for communities in our area to afford. In spite of these warnings and in spite of the complete failure of its attempts to "plan" a county-wide transit authority, our AATA continues to spend large sums of local transit millage funds on planning regional commuter rail for communities, such as Livingston County, that do not want to contribute to the very high cost of operating such service. Please use our local transit millage to fund local transit service. Regional transit requires financial participation by the whole region.
Jack Eaton
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 4:41 p.m.
@Larry Ryan - The AATA spent about $1.4 million dollars on the County Wide planning over the course of three years, 2010-2012. Of that, about $955,000 was federal money. About $460,000 was not federal grant money. See this report: http://localannarbor.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/aata-tmp-expenses-2010-to-2012-1.pdf Even though most of the funding for the "plan" was federal and not local money, it was still wasted money. No one at AATA thought to ask those other communities how much they would be willing to contribute to the cost of operating a county wide plan. While the study for Wally station location was funded by a state grant, the AATA also spends considerable "staff time" on the pursuit of the Wally service. Again, this planning is being done without any financial commitment from other communities for the actual, considerable cost of operating the Wally service. Planning and capital costs are often covered by federal and state grants. The expense of actually operating the service will likely fall on local sources.
ahblid
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 2:20 p.m.
hawkhulk, Not only are you correct regarding the dedicated bus lanes, but one of the fatal flaws of that study was that they only looked at the startup costs. Additionally they failed to account for the fact that buses last 10 to 12 years while railcars last 30 to 40 years, meaning you need to keep buying new buses in the coming years. They also heavily weighted things based upon that "community input", but that's another matter. But while LRT would have cost more to build than BRT, it costs less to operate than BRT and it can move more people. According to the 2011 data from the National Transit Database, on average in this country it costs transit agencies 60 cents per passenger mile to operate light rail. It costs transit agencies 90 cents per passenger mile to operate BRT. So over the life of the asset, long term light rail would have cost less than the BRT that they're now getting in the Woodward corridor. It's also interesting to note that LRT isn't dead and gone from the corridor either, they're still proceeding towards building a much shorter system. One that eventually will probably be expanded to replace the BRT, effectively wasting that money.
hawkhulk
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 1:44 p.m.
Bus rapid transit, while cheaper on the surface, requires tearing up roads install dedicated bus lanes, which leads to only more traffic congestion. Not exactly a panacea if you ask me.
lou glorie
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 7:13 p.m.
Federal planning dollars can also be used to plan improvements locally. Also, the city is supporting rail by "loaning" a full time employee to the AATA (Eli Cooper). Cooper spends a lot of time chaising rail. Again, Rail is not the problem. The problem is that our city is not in a position to create the little train that could. We still have a long way to go in maximizing service to local residents. Larry do you have a problem with locals being able to hop a bus from Newport and get to Pioneer High without first going to Blake? I maintain that the best way to gain support for regional transit is to make local transit work! Instead of jumping on Eaton for pointing out that BRT has won, we can start where we are and use buses as a means to determine where ridership really is, then build a rail system from there. This is not the wild west where we can just build a rail system and people will come. There are no more frontiers. what we need to do now is build, dev elop transit systems that truly serve the people paying for them.
Larry Ryan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:46 p.m.
The AATA spent federal planning money, not local millage money on the county wide plan. Gee, they spent federal planning money on actually planning, who would have guessed! They received an MDOT Grant to study a station location for Wally, they are not using local transit $$. You should check your facts.
lou glorie
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 5:58 p.m.
AATA has not yet found a way to fix the huge gaps in service--both geographic and scheduling. Until those gaps are covered, it has no business spending even one dime on rail. Rail is fine but it must be done on a scale that involves Fed and State funding as it covers so many jurisdictions. It is wacky for a city the size of Ann Arbor to expend money on this effort. It's one thing for the mayor to be promoting his love of choo-choos, any of course he is going to be doing it at this "green" fair, but it is wrong to spend our money on this effort--too much Ann Arbor money has already been spent on his pet project. If the gov is so into choo-choos, he can spend state transportation money on them. It is a damn shame that the auto industry and the federal government conspired to destroy our interurban rail systems. If we are going to rebuild it, we can use bus lines to determine where rail lines should go. If you read the history of how the major rail lines were build and subsidized (read Railroaded) you'll not want to repeat some of the costly errors of that era. Much of the degradation of forests are a by-product of rail ownership of massive swaths of land. We now have an opportunity to rebuild in a much more environmently and community friendly manner. As for a new train station...oh dear the FITS floggers are at it again. Let Amtrak build one if needed and it should probably not be located at one of the most congested intersections in town.
Firefly
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 5:55 p.m.
Kids, get in the car. We're going to Wally World!
Amy Biolchini
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 4:36 p.m.
I've just updated the story with cost information for the WALLY train car's appearance: Approximately $7,500. Payment will be split equally between the city, the AATA and the DDA.
northside
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 11:02 a.m.
I wish that the people complaining about the $7,500 being spent to demo this train would give at least a few seconds of consideration to the cost of our remarkably inefficient and wasteful auto-based transportation system. I'd bet that the cost of gas wasted by the thousands of cars stuck in traffic jams on M-14 and US-23 this morning exceeds $7,500.
DJBudSonic
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 11:14 p.m.
In other words, we are directly paying for $6000 of this train appearance.
Brad
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 7:34 p.m.
Evidently the mayor doesn't exactly understand that "zero waste" concept. And the carbon footprint? How long will that kid have to ride the bike-o-blender to offset the PR stunt?
deb
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:47 p.m.
That is a Joke!!! what a waste of money. Dont have $100,000 for leaf pick up or xmas tree pick up but we can spend 10% of that to park a train car
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 4:49 p.m.
In other words the taxpayers. Some of the money comes out of our front left pocket, some out of the right rear pocket..... All 3 are heavily subsidized by we the people.
rs
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 4:25 p.m.
Based on my previous experiences with trains, something tells me it will be about 3 hours late to the fair.
Robert Hughes
Thu, Jun 13, 2013 : 2:03 a.m.
Good thing it's not an airplane!
uabchris
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 4:21 p.m.
Amy, the public should be encouraged to participate with theiir electric cars so the public can get direct user knowledge.
Gale Logan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:41 p.m.
Actually Mistify, rail concentrates people around the stations in urban areas, it's the opposite of sprawl.
Gale Logan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:37 p.m.
I don't agree with the governor on much but I appreciate his support of rail. Three cheers for the GOV! I think these are the same cars MDOT put $12 million into fixing up. With the state ready to go and the feds putting up big money to fix the tracks and build new stations this is all coming together. AMTRAK ridership is going up every year and Ann Arbor's station is already overwhelmed some days. With all the upgrades going in a new station will really be needed.
leaguebus
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 5:12 a.m.
On Sunday with the Gandy Dancer doing brunch, there is hardly any parking in the lot next to the station. So people picking up rail riders double park in the lot.
DJBudSonic
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 11:12 p.m.
We had 140 kid on the train the other day and that platform and station was fine - that station is not yet overwhelmed.
deb
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 6:45 p.m.
Passengers traveling through the Amtrak at the Ann Arbor station is just reaching the same levels that it was at in the mid to late nineties. Was the station overwhelmed and inadequate then too? Or do you just support every one of the mayor's ideas and policies blindly on here when you decide to comment GL?
demistify
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:32 p.m.
The Mayor sold us on a Greenbelt millage to counter urban sprawl. Now he seeks to subsidize urban sprawl to Howell.
Gale Logan
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:39 p.m.
This is MDOT's train. Gov. Snyder is a big rail proponent.
craig stolefield
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:10 p.m.
It is fantastic to see MDOT pushing this and they own a train! Gov. Snyder is on board with rail! It's a new age of rail! The feds are putting $500 million into the east/west rail line plus paying for new stations in Dearborn and Ann Arbor. With AMTRAK going 100 MPH plus a commuter train people will be moving from cars and planes to take a seat on the train. It will free up space on I-94 for those who still commute via auto. This is great news!
TinyArtist
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 11:19 a.m.
Vivienne, Any time the words Governor Snyder are followed by a celebratory exclamation point, the safest bet is to assume sarcasm.
ahblid
Wed, Jun 12, 2013 : 2:39 a.m.
Nicholas, You have to be kidding with that population density argument. According to the US Census Bureau, Ann Arbor's population density is 4,093.9 people per sq/mile. Salt Lake City's population density is 1,678.0 people per sq/mile. SLC has 4 light rail lines and an 80 mile long commuter rail line; and they just broke ground on a Streetcar line. If anything, Ann Arbor is way behind the 8-ball. As for being expensive, yes rail isn't cheap. But then neither are the alternatives either. Out in SLC it cost them 49 cents per passenger mile to move people on both their light rail system and their commuter rail system in 2011. It cost them 87 cents per passenger mile to move people by bus. It cost AATA $1.01 per passenger mile to move people by bus.
Vivienne Armentrout
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 8:27 p.m.
I've read this comment several times and have not yet succeeded in determining whether or not it was meant to be satire.
Nicholas Urfe
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 7:25 p.m.
Get ready for more taxes, because trains are incredibly expensive and we don't have the population density here.
Amy Biolchini
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 2:37 p.m.
This story will be updated as more information is available -- MDOT is expected to issue a press release on the train car's appearance today.
Brad
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 2:25 p.m.
Any idea how far that empty train is traveling for this PR photo-op?
Usual Suspect
Tue, Jun 11, 2013 : 3:19 p.m.
If it's coming from where I've seen them parked, it's about 200 miles. But that doesn't mean a special trip is being made to bring it here. It's probably hitching a ride on a train that's already coming here.