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DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION/BUSINESS PLAN <br />Working Paper of September 30, 1998 -- Page 13 <br /> <br />First Tier Recommendation <br /> <br />A possible "First Tier" commuter rail program could comprise three of the six radiat routes <br />and the downtown connector. Conventional industry measures, comparative technical <br />factors and regional service considerations taken together support a First Tier composed of <br />Routes B and L (truncated) and N (together with T). Such a grouping appears to rank <br />better in deliverability and performance for the first stage than the other three routes. <br />Routes A, H and S, along with the outermost segments of Routes B and L, would be <br />candidates for a subsequent expansion study once the First Tier is constructed and operated <br />for a reasonable period of time. <br /> <br />Proposed First Tier System Capital Costs in 2003 Dollars: <br /> <br />Route B to Ramsey (23 Miles) -- $195 Million; <br /> <br />Route L to Lakeville (31 Miles) -- $ 282 Million; <br /> <br />Route N to Hastings (18 Miles) -- $178 Million. <br /> <br />Route T downtown Minneapolis to downtown Saint Paul (10 Miles) -- Costs in Above <br /> <br />Truncated Routes (82 Miles) -- $ 655 Million. <br /> <br />Note: These figures include base costs for each route, plus prorated amounts for Route T <br />capital facilities and common system elements, adjusted to account for three radial routes. <br /> <br />Deferral of the outermost segments of Routes B and L is again extremely cost effective. <br />Truncation of those two routes produces savings of l 4 % in capital requirements over their <br />fidl length inclusion in the proposed First Tier. Yet, truncation results in only a minimal <br />decrease in ridership Of abottt 1.5%. <br /> <br />Comparison with the full all-route system provides an overall perspectivefor thiv staging <br />approach. This initial implementation program would be about half the size of the :oral. <br />This proposed First Tier would entail capita[ expenditures equaling 48 % of the full system <br />development; reducing the initial program by $ 709 million. But it would carry 56 % of <br />the passengers forecast for the full Phase II route system, and provide a basis for <br />expansion. <br /> <br />Impacts on operations would also improve the revenue-expense relationship. The resulting <br />farebox recovery ratio would be 27.8 %for the proposed First Tier (compared to 22.3 % <br />for the fidl six-route system). <br /> <br /> <br />