00972160

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org.../circulars/ec058/ec058.pdf

The introduction of the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) line on the Hudson River waterfront in April 2000 was the result of a long planning and construction process that largely started in the mid-1980s. The system has both benefited from and helped shape an even longer cycle of economic recovery, redevelopment, and expansion in Jersey City, New Jersey, and on the waterfront. Development activity in the area, key HBLR project milestones, and some lessons learned along the way are described. While it would be unreasonable to directly attribute the many economic successes on the waterfront to the development of the light rail line, clearly there is a symbiotic relationship between the two that has existed over the past 15 years as the system has been planned, constructed, and implemented. Major development projects were constructed on the waterfront in the late 1980s and through the 1990s because of factors such as the proximity to New York City and the access provided by Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), the aggressive upfront planning process, and the available tax incentives or other economic benefits that could be realized. Now, as light rail has been implemented, the pace of development appears to have quickened, and the expansion is beginning to move away from the core waterfront areas developed first. Developers have begun to shift away from the PATH stations hubs. They are investing in properties along the light rail alignment, they are showing more attention to the residential market, and they are "selling" the amenities and connectivity that the light rail line provides.

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E-C058

English

p. 205-214

2003-11

Transportation Research Circular

Experience, Economics, and Evolution--From Starter Lines to Growing Systems. 9th National Light Rail Transit Conference

Figures (6)

Economic development; Light rail transit; Urban renewal; Waterfronts

Hudson-Bergen Light Rail

Jersey City (New Jersey)

Economics; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation

TRIS, TRB

Apr 5 2004 12:00AM