NORFOLK

The Tide will return to full service this morning after work ended early on the installation of a new section of track.

Full service between Newtown Road and the EVMC/Fort Norfolk station is scheduled to resume at 11 a.m., according to a news release.

Hampton Roads Transit suspended service downtown on Friday to install a new section of track near the 400 block of West York Street.

Temporary bus service was providing access to downtown light rail stations while the construction work was going on.

With regular light rail service restored, the bus transportation to stations will be suspended.

NORFOLK

Hampton Roads Transit will begin a trial bus service to Norfolk International Airport today.

The hourly bus service will run from 5 a.m. to 11:47 p.m. seven days a week until March 10.

HRT officials hope to gauge customer interest in starting a permanent service to the airport.

The service, called Route 7, will connect riders with the downtown area and the Cedar Grove Transfer facility by way of Norview Avenue and Tidewater Drive.

Using the route will cost $1.50.

Also, HRT will install a new section of track for The Tide this weekend.

There will be no light-rail service between Harbor Park and the EVMC/Fort Norfolk stations, a news release said. Normal weekend service will run between Newtown Road and Harbor Park.

Normal weekday light-rail service will resume at 6 a.m. Monday.

For more information, visit HRT’s website.

VIRGINIA BEACH

Voters could be asked to weigh in on a proposed light-rail line as early as November, months before a federally funded transportation study for such a project is scheduled to be complete.

A majority on the City Council supports a referendum before moving forward with the project, and some, including Mayor Will Sessoms, said they’re willing to consider placing a question on the ballot this fall.

The presidential contest Nov. 6 will draw the largest and most diverse sample of voters, supporters say, and a light-rail question then would once and for all gauge whether the general public supports a light-rail line in the Beach.

Waiting could weaken the city’s ability to compete for federal transportation money, Sessoms said.

Opponents of a fall referendum, however, said it would be irresponsible to ask voters to make a decision without details. Even if voters signed off this year, the City Council couldn’t take action on light rail until the middle of 2013. That’s when Hampton Roads Transit is expected to complete its $6.6 million feasibility study; it will include ridership projections and cost estimates to extend The Tide from Norfolk to the Beach.

“I am not willing to support holding a light-rail referendum until we’re able to tell voters how much it will cost and how it will be paid for,” said Councilman John Moss, a skeptic on the issue.

Voters already have some of that information, said Councilman Jim Wood, a light-rail advocate and former HRT board chairman. An HRT consultant estimated it would cost $807 million to extend light rail to the Oceanfront, or $254 million to take it a shorter distance to Town Center, according to preliminary information released last spring.

The relative success of The Tide in Norfolk also serves to inform voters, Wood said.

He’s undecided on a fall referendum, he said.

The push for trains in the Beach hit a snag last spring, when HRT paused its feasibility study after Federal Transit Administration officials asked that it include actual ridership counts from Norfolk, where The Tide began running in August.

The Beach study is a critical step toward winning federal funding for light rail and is scheduled to restart later this year. It should be finished by the summer of 2013, HRT President Philip Shucet said.

The City Council initially hoped to take several months to review the study before holding a referendum this year. Some on the council had said a vote should wait until the study is finished.

There’s little appetite among council members for a referendum in an off-year election, when turnout is usually low. And waiting until the midterm election in 2014 or the next presidential cycle in 2016 could place the city behind other municipalities competing for transportation dollars, supporters said.

“Delaying it could kill it,” Sessoms said. “If the federal money dries up, that’s the end of it.”

Councilwoman Barbara Henley proposed wording a question to ask voters for guidance – “Should the City Council continue to pursue light rail?” for example – instead of asking for a direct yes or no on specifics. By law, any referendum outcome would be advisory; the City Council would make the final decision.

Councilman John Uhrin said he would support asking voters for general direction.

“Even if voters approved a referendum, it would still be the council’s responsibility to weigh the cost and make a decision.”

Council members Bob Dyer and Bill DeSteph oppose a referendum this year. Vice Mayor Louis Jones also said the vote should wait.

Before he was elected to the council last fall, Moss frequently spoke out against light rail as chairman of the Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance.

DeSteph said holding a vote before the study is finished is “political posturing.” He compared it to a child asking his mother if she would “consider allowing” him to have a cookie.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Jones, who hasn’t come out for or against light rail, said holding a vote too soon could backfire.

“I think you subject yourself to considerable criticism if you do it this way.”

Sessoms said he’s confident a light-rail question would pass.

“People around here are pretty smart, and I think they are supporters of it.”

In a 1999 referendum, Beach voters rejected light rail 54 percent to 46 percent. Opponents raised thousands of dollars and campaigned aggressively against the referendum, which asked voters whether they supported “an ordinance approving the development and financing” of a light-rail line.

At the time, estimates called for a $975 million light-rail network from downtown Norfolk to the Virginia Beach Pavilion (where the Virginia Beach Convention Center now sits), with a link to Norfolk Naval Station.

Since then, shifting demographics, the development of Town Center, and higher-than-projected ridership on Norfolk’s 7.4-mile light-rail line have shifted public perceptions, supporters say.

A recent poll by Christopher Newport University’s Wason Center for Public Policy found that three out of four Beach residents support extending light rail into their city.

Researchers interviewed about 800 randomly selected residents, split evenly between Norfolk and Virginia Beach. When asked whether they supported extending light rail, 15 percent of Beach residents said they disapproved.

The margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Political science professor Quentin Kidd conducted the survey and said a referendum question on light rail probably would pass. He said a vote in the fall, when President Barack Obama’s name is on the ticket, might further boost its odds of passage.

“If the electorate in November is made up of more young people and more minorities – the groups of people likely to come out for Obama – I think that probably does help supporters of light rail,” Kidd said. “Those are the people who like the idea of light rail but would be less likely to come out specifically for a referendum vote in other years.”

Even if a referendum question passed this fall and the City Council committed to light rail, HRT officials said, construction wouldn’t begin until at least 2019.

HAMPTON

Praising his regional relationships, budget management skills and business acumen, Hampton Roads Transit hired Chesapeake City Manager William Harrell on Thursday as its next president and CEO.

Harrell will step into the role April 2 and will be paid $235,000 a year.

To cover the interim, the HRT commission extended the contract of president and CEO Philip Shucet, which was to expire at the end of the month, for 60 days at his current salary of $28,000 a month. Shucet plans to return to his private consulting business.

The board, consisting of two representatives from each city council, voted unanimously for Harrell. Two voted “absolutely yes.”

Thelma Drake, director of the state Department of Rail and Public Transportation, said: “The key component of a successful transit agency is bringing all the local governments together. William Harrell has a good track record of working regionally, and he has the respect of all the local governments.

“We’re very lucky to get him.”

HRT serves Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach.

“When he comes to talk to the cities about HRT’s plans and needs, he’ll find a more receptive audience because he understands the various competing and conflicting issues in city budgeting,” Virginia Beach City Councilman Jim Wood said.

Harrell will take the helm of an HRT that’s very different from the agency of a couple years ago, when then-President Michael Townes was forced to retire amid light-rail cost overruns and construction delays, and allegations of mismanagement.

Shucet was hired in February 2010 as an independent contractor to control costs, launch light rail and restore credibility to the agency. He finished light rail under the revised budget, hired an in-house lawyer and auditor, replaced all but one of the senior-level staff, eliminated unpopular bus routes, and created a public records page on the agency’s website.

“We’ve been on sound footing and direction since Phil has been here,” Chesapeake Councilman C.E. “Cliff” Hayes said. “William will be able to continue that stability and credibility.”

Harrell also will lead the agency through a policy board change. In July, the commission makeup will change as a result of a new law pushed by Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, to improve agency oversight.

The number of representatives that each of the HRT-served cities can appoint will be reduced from two to one. A second citizen representative from each city will be appointed by the governor. The state public transportation department will continue to have a vote, while the two state legislative seats will be eliminated.

“I think it will be a vitally important job to unite what is going to be a new board as of July,” said HRT Chairwoman Patricia Woodbury, a Newport News City Council member.

Harrell, who has led his hometown of Chesapeake since 2007, describes himself as a hands-on leader. He said before he takes office in April, he plans to meet with staff, board members and citizen advisory groups. Once in charge, he said, he’ll give himself 90 days to learn about and evaluate the agency, then present his assessment and goals to the commission.

“With the excitement of light rail and with increasing ridership, I think there is a real opportunity to attract more choice riders to all of HRT’s services,” Harrell said. He cited rising gas prices and the upcoming Midtown and Downtown tunnel tolls as conditions that have created “a unique opportunity for HRT to capture a larger market.”

He wants to expand Shucet’s GoPass initiative, in which large employers and institutions pay HRT a fee to have their commuters ride for free. He also wants to explore “creative ways,” such as rail extensions or dedicated bus lanes, to connect light rail with activity centers in the region.

“I’m anxious to get started,” Harrell said.

NORFOLK

Hampton Roads Transit will begin trial bus service to Norfolk International Airport on Feb. 5.

The service will test customer interest in establishing a permanent service to the airport, an HRT news release says. The hourly bus service will begin at 5 a.m. and end each day at 11:47 p.m., seven days a week through March 10.

The route will serve the arrivals and departures terminals on the hour and connect riders with the downtown area and Cedar Grove Transfer facility by way of Norview Avenue and Tidewater Drive.

The route also will serve the Bromley, East Norview, Five Points, and Green Hill Farms neighborhoods along Norview Avenue, which are not  being served by HRT, the release says.

The airport stop will be located on Arrivals Boulevard near the pedestrian bridge and baggage claim.

Light rail customers can use the new service by catching the bus at the stop at Civic Plaza station.

The airport route, also known as Route 7, will cost $1.50.

When the test service ends, HRT will evaluate the number of riders per trip. If the service has at least 10 riders per hour, the transit agency could try the service again during the summer tourist season, said Ray Amoruso, HRT’s chief planning and development officer.

Chesapeake City Manager William Harrell is expected to be named Hampton Roads Transit president and CEO today by a vote of the HRT commission.

Harrell, who has led his hometown of Chesapeake since 2007, is the top choice of the transit agency’s executive committee from among 71 applicants. The HRT commission’s chairwoman, Patricia Woodbury, will call for a vote to hire Harrell at the board’s monthly meeting at 1 p.m.

“I don’t anticipate any problems,” said Woodbury, a Newport News councilwoman.

The fact that Harrell does not have transit experience has not weakened support for him.

“Look at what Philip Shucet did; he wasn’t a transit guy,” said Chesapeake Councilman Rick West, who headed HRT’s search committee.

Harrell would replace Shucet, who was hired on contract two years ago to control light rail cost overruns, open the system, and restore credibility in the agency following allegations of mismanagement.

“We talked about it early in the process, and the commissioners didn’t put transit experience on the top of the list,” West said. “A lot of people in the organization know transit. Leadership is more important. And willingness to learn.”

Virginia Beach Councilman Jim Wood said the agency’s problems came from a management team that had transit experience: “That management was unable to control costs or have adequate control over operations.”

VIRGINIA BEACH

Two former Hampton Roads Transit employees pleaded guilty Wednesday to embezzling nearly $50,000 in bus and trolley fare.

Karen Y. Watkins, 24, and Latasha Kiana Boyd, 24, took the money – mainly in $1 bills – after picking it up at a trolley station on Parks Avenue, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and a stipulation of facts filed in the case.

HRT discovered money was missing by comparing electronic data downloaded from the buses at the trolley station and the actual amount of money counted at a Norfolk facility, the stipulation said. Discrepancies were found when Boyd and Watkins were working without a security guard being with them.

On at least one occasion, HRT security personnel saw Boyd and a co-worker drive an HRT money van from the trolley station to a home before arriving at the Norfolk facility, according to the stipulation.

The investigation revealed the two women made frequent deposits of $1 bills into their bank accounts. Boyd, whose 2009 income was $16,850, took $24,414 and Watkins, who earned $18,827, took $23,969, the document said.

Sentencing is scheduled for April.

WVEC.com

Posted on January 23, 2012 at 3:48 PM

NORFOLK

Because of their safety concerns for students on campus, Norfolk State University officials forced a $7 million relocation of the light-rail station across Brambleton Avenue, to move it away from the school.

Now that station poses a different kind of safety issue – for students trying to get onto campus.

Students, who ride The Tide for free, often dash across six lanes of Brambleton traffic to get from the rail station to classes, instead of walking an extra block or two to use a controlled crosswalk. They cross in the middle of a busy block, between the Interstate 264 exit ramp and the Park Avenue intersection, which is traveled by nearly 50,000 vehicles a day.

“It’s really dangerous,” said Regina V.K. Williams, NSU’s interim vice president for finance and administration and the city manager when Norfolk agreed to build the station across Brambleton. “We want people using light rail, but we want them to be safe.”

Although no one’s been hit, there have been a number of near hits, Williams said. Which is why NSU and city officials have made some changes and are contemplating more to keep Tide riders safe.

Hampton Roads Transit statistics show that an average of 332 people use the NSU light-rail station daily. It’s the sixth-busiest of The Tide’s 11 stations, serving about 7 percent of riders, since the system began operating in August.

“If (the station) stayed where it originally was, it would have solved a lot of problems,” said Barclay Winn, Norfolk City Council member and HRT board member. “It cost a lot of money to make it the way they wanted.

“I obviously care about student safety, but this is a very sensitive subject for me.”

Since the station was shifted and light rail opened, there have been two new NSU presidents.

“The station is where it is now,” Williams said. “That’s history gone by the wayside. Students and faculty and staff are using it and love it.

“This administration is very open to the light rail and other modes of transportation coming and going from the campus.”

To block the shortcut onto campus, NSU has installed a fence next to Harrison B. Wilson Hall Administration Building across from where students cross. University security forces have been on site handing out fliers and advising students of the dangers of crossing midblock. Warnings also have been posted on the college’s website and sent via email.

Before the college broke for winter vacation, security officers handed out 200 fliers to students crossing midblock in less than two days, Williams said.

John Keifer, city public works director, said the crosswalk at Brambleton and Park has been repainted, pedestrian crossing signals have been installed, and signs that warn “No Pedestrian Crossing” and “Use Crosswalk” have been erected.

The city is considering widening the median to install a fence to prevent the dangerous crossing, Keifer said. But that would require widening the road and moving curbs.

Although Keifer and Williams said the measures already taken have reduced the jaywalking significantly, during about 15 minutes at lunchtime one day last week, about half of The Tide passengers crossing Brambleton cut across midblock instead of at the light.

Keith Smith, a sophomore from Virginia Beach who rides The Tide from Newtown Road to NSU, said he doesn’t have time to wait at the corner crossing: “It takes forever.”

He generally doesn’t make it all the way across and waits on the narrow median until it’s safe to finish crossing.

“Yeah, if cars don’t stop, I can get hit,” he said.

Jerrod Burwell, a senior who wound through traffic stopped on Brambleton, said: “I know how to cross a street safely.”

Burwell lives on campus and uses The Tide to get to work at MacArthur Center. He said he uses the crosswalk less than half the time.

“As long as I pay attention, I’ll be fine,” he said.

One worried driver wrote the newspaper to ask whether it will take a “major accident or even a death” before more safety measures are taken.

Williams said NSU has asked the city to explore more options, including construction of an elevated walkway across Brambleton or installing traffic-calming devices to slow drivers.

Keifer said the city has been focused on the short term and has not worked on long-term solutions yet.