On February 28^th, a group of 16 local transportation professionals and USC students traveled via Metro and Metrolink trains from the USC campus to the new Anaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center (ARTIC) for lunch and a tour of the multimodal transportation hub.  This was the first METRANS Transportation field trip of 2015, and was a joint effort of METRANS, and the generous sponsorships of Parsons Brinkerhoff and Metrolink.  Guided by John Lower, associate vice president at Iteris, Inc. and former transportation manager for the city of Anaheim, Samuel Sims, project director at Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Jamie Lai, transit manager for the city of Anaheim, participants were introduced to ARTIC from the perspective of transportation planning, transportation engineering, and government.

ARTIC is the premier transportation hub in Southern California serving multiple modes and providers including Amtrak, Metrolink, Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), and Anaheim Resort Transit (ART) in one location, and offers access to shuttles, taxies, bikes, tour and charter buses like Coach USA, and numerous other public/private transportation providers. “Our plan was to make it easy for our passengers to come, and we did it,” said Lower. “This is a hub people want to come to, are willing to come back to, and will keep coming back.” He emphasized that ARTIC is an “investment for the future.” 

The project includes a stunning, LEED Platinum Certified 67,000-square-foot transfer structure, three parking lots with more than 1,100 spaces, 15 electric vehicle-charging stations, and an integration system with the California High-Speed Rail which is now under construction.

“How does this huge area protect itself from fire?” Parsons Brinckerhoff’s Project Manager for the ARTIC project, Samuel Sims challenged the students, and then pointed out the state of the art laser smoke detectors positioned at various heights. Sims led the tour from inside the center to the exterior, explaining the specifications and purpose of the structural design and technical standards for a project which required its own building code.  “ARTIC has the nation’s largest ever freestanding glass wall, which stands 120 feet tall,” he noted.  A highlight of the trip was the opportunity for participants to access locked areas of the facility to actually touch and feel the innovative roof structure and covering.  “The inflated, vinyl-type roof is made of a fluorine-based plastic with the largest application of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) in the United States, both reducing gross weight and allowing for energy efficient lighting and climate control.” Sims explained.  “The roof is translucent, yet diffuses the incoming light, allowing it to lighten the interior while still controlling the temperature inside the center. ARTIC is not only designed for function, but also for aesthetics, Sims shared.  “All of the stations and street lights curve consistent with the curve of ARTIC roof.”

“Funding is a big issue for this project,” noted Jamie Lai, transit manager for the city of Anaheim.  For a $180 million transportation project like ARTIC, funding is challenging.  Most is from sales tax generated by Measure M. “Capital cost is where the majority of the money goes,” she added.  “We have plans for restaurants, bus station advertisements, and a digital billboard. These facilities are proposed to generate about $800,000 in annual income to help pay for the operating and maintenance costs of the facility.”

Andres Fernando Di Zitti, Transportation Planner at Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, found this trip “a wonderful one. I finally got myself down here to see this new station!” Ruixi Chen, a second-year master student in transportation engineering, USC, found the trip invaluable in helping him to move beyond his academic studies and from professionals in the field, to “understand the process of how a new public station can be designed and built.”

More information about ARTIC can be found at http://www.articinfo.com/.