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Transit Priority Corridor planned for San Francisco estimates to amass $227.4 million in safety benefits from 2020-2050.

22 Fillmore Project, the first of many transit priority projects for San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), demonstrates the viability and benefits of rapid transportation networks .

Date Posted
07/31/2017
Identifier
2017-B01152
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Urban Transit Priority Corridors - a Rapid Red Lane to Benefits

Summary Information

This study examined a proposed 2.2 mile transit priority corridor in San Francisco that would incorporate many features of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) including transit only lanes, transit priority signals, reduced stop frequency, and other bus stop and pedestrian improvements.



The 22 Fillmore Transit Priority Project included both service changes and capital investments on 16th Street, from Church Street to Third Street. The transit priority and pedestrian safety improvements included transit-only lanes, transit bulbs, new traffic and pedestrian signals, and new streetscape amenities. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) planned to paint the transit-only lanes with red paint to clearly delineate the lanes. The proposed corridor also included extending the overhead contact system (OCS) on 16th Street from Kansas Street to Third Street to allow for zero-emission transit service into Mission Bay.

A Benefit-to-Cost-Analysis (BCA) was applied that compared the "build" and "no-build" scenarios. The methodology estimated both costs and benefits for a 30-year period (2020 to 2049) and was discounted to present values using real discount rates of 3 and 7 percent (per OMB guidance).

The project used SF-CHAMP – the official travel-forecasting tool for San Francisco – to run models for 2020 and 2040 to compare the Baseline Corridor Scenario (no build) to the Full Build-out forecast. The project incorporated the findings of three transportation models in the benefit-cost analysis to estimate trips, mileages, travel time saved, travel time reliability improvements, passenger hours, etc. The analysis estimated data for the years between 2020 and 2040 and from 2041 to 2049 through simple straight-line interpolation and extrapolation.

Estimated Results

  • The net discounted quality of life benefits are approximately $56.5 million (3 percent discount rate) and approximately $66.5 million (7 percent discount rate).
  • Net present values of travel time savings benefits were estimated to be approximately $139.6 million (3 percent discount rate) or $74.8 million (7 percent discount rate).
  • Net present values of reliability benefits were estimated to be $49.9 million (3 percent discount rate) or $26.7 million (7 percent discount rate).
  • Auto travel cost and transit travel cost savings were summed and discounted to 2015 dollars. As a result, operating cost savings of $79.9 million (3 percent discount rate) and $43.1 million (7 percent discount rate) from 2020-2050 were estimated.
  • Net present values of safety benefits were estimated to be $227.4 million (3 percent discount rate) or $121.1 million at 7 percent from 2020-2050.
  • No-build capital and maintenance costs of each year from 2015-2050 were discounted to present values (i.e. 2015 dollars). The total discounted costs are approximately $22.4 million using a 3 percent and approximately $13.7 million using a 7 percent real discount rate. These values represent the cumulated state of good repair benefits.
  • Environmental benefits from reduced emissions were estimated to be about $2.3 million (3 percent discount rate) and about $2 million (7 percent discount rate).
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