Light-rail system is vital to Austin's development, Dallas transit expert says

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By R. Michelle Breyer

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Thursday, October 16, 2003

An audience packed with builders, developers, and other business and civic leaders heard a tough message Wednesday: Austin is losing out by not having light rail.

"You've got to get with this," said Kenneth Hughes, president of Kenneth Hughes Inc., a Dallas firm that specializes in transit-related developments. "Austin has more to offer a rail system -- and a rail system has more to offer Austin -- than any city in the United States today," he said at a luncheon sponsored by the Urban Land Institute.

Developers of major transit-related projects in Dallas said light rail there has been a major catalyst for development, despite the recent economic downturn. They said their projects would not have happened without light rail. The stations become nodes for development, attracting people who like the idea of being able to live, work and shop without needing a car.

Hughes recently built Mockingbird Station atop a Dallas Area Rapid Transit light-rail station, where a former warehouse complex now includes apartments, stores, a theater and offices. In Plano, light rail drew Amicus Partners to develop an apartment, theater and retail project that has awakened the downtown.

But major transit projects can be a tough sell. In 2000, Austin voters narrowly defeated a referendum on light rail. Some opponents argued that light rail wouldn't relieve enough congestion to merit the billions of dollars it would cost, while others feared it might bring unwanted development to their communities.

But in Houston, a new 7.5-mile Main Line light-rail system between downtown and Reliant Park will open Jan. 1. Next month, voters will decide whether to add 22 miles to the system, an issue that has become the hottest topic in the city's mayoral race.

Guy Hagstette, director of capital projects and planning for the Houston Downtown Management District, said city leaders see the Main Street system as a way to rejuvenate a major urban corridor. It has taken years to accomplish, but in the end, he says he thinks it will be worth it.

"At the end of the day, the story isn't about light rail so much as creating a great urban corridor: re-creating an urban city in the heart of Houston," he said.

Jim Skaggs, who ran the anti-rail campaign in Austin, questioned the feasibility of rail systems in light of what he said are a declining number of commuters.

Hughes and other developers who spoke at the luncheon disputed that claim, arguing that light-rail projects in other cities have attracted a legion of commuters who never used the bus system.

"I hear that statistic periodically, but if you test it against what's happening in the cities that have put in rail systems, you have seen an increase in transit usage in all those cities," Hughes said.

Rather than fighting efforts to create a rail system, Austin should work for a rail system that meets the needs of the city and its residents, Hughes said. He urged city leaders to begin with a small starter system rather than do nothing.

"The message here is to get yourself together and decide what you want your (transit) system to do," Hughes said. "But start it, because you won't be sorry."

mbreyer@statesman.com; 445-3641.