Opening in 2013, the San Bernardino Intermodal Transit Center and Transit Village should serve as the model for preventing sprawl at all other California stations. The design is by Cooper Carry with engineering by Arup, and the project is based on the Vision & Action Plan developed by EDAW-AECOM.

The West side of E Street will initially include four Metrolink platforms accommodating eight trains within a dramatic open-air pavilion formed by giant ribbons of solar-energy collectors suggesting the prehistoric geological forces that shaped the valley.

The architects expect LEED Platinum certification for the entire complex.

These ribbons then extend across a linear “bus street” that will encompass 25 bays, mostly for commuter buses since Omnitrans plans to simplify its existing routes so that they feed into the new sbX B.R.T. systems, instead of converging in the city center.

Four tracks of high-speed rail would be accommodated below grade in a trench in order to allow the trains to cross the 215 freeway without having to use an elevated guideway that would have to be built fifty feet or so above the ground. The 215 freeway, incidentally, is currently undergoing an $800 million modernization that will also be completed in 2013.

Passengers will enter the terminal though the Great Hall, a multi-story concourse with ticketing facilities, escalators, and a green roof on the fourth level that will serve as a park offering dramatic views of the city’s mountains and skyline.

The first sbX station will occupy the median of E Street and will connect with an iconic, elliptical, and cable-stayed pedestrian bridge that will stretch from the first phase described above to the second phase, which will be located on the East side of E Street.

The pavilion on the East side of E Street will encompass: the light rail to Redlands; the fixed-guideway link to San Bernardino International Airport; and, the all-weather tramway to Big Bear Lake. The new and stylish San Bernardino International Airport, which will become the size of Burbank International, lies about a mile East of the station.

A new street will be created immediately South of both halves of the terminal to provide facilities for: taxis; shuttles; limos.; and, “kiss-and-ride”, while new mid-block streets and new street extensions will enlarge San Bernardino’s already sizable grid. Additional facilities will be provided for bicycles, as well as for car sharing and conventional car rentals. Most parking for private vehicles would be located off-site at a new parking structure that is just now breaking ground at the existing 1918 train station.

Additional sbX stations for the Route 66 Line and the Airport-to-Airport Line would be located on medians in the middle of Rialto Avenue in order to form a “T”-shape with the E Street station.

A Central Garden runs along the edges of all the at-grade tracks. Mixed-use development is seamlessly-integrated throughout the terminal with a residential emphasis South of the tracks and an employment emphasis North of the tracks. A generous amount of meeting and convention space is also included in the design. But, the complex does a remarkable job of amassing these facilities without creating a superblock since a network of interconnected streets are interwoven throughout the site.

The first phase occupies twelve acres, and the surrounding transit village consumes six large 600 x 600-foot blocks. The project’s Web site was just launched, although there are no renderings available there just yet: http://AreYouIn.Omnitrans.org

Pictures of the conceptual renderings that were presented during the February 23rd Community Meeting are available here: http://www.Flickr.com/groups/sanbernardino/pool

“Sustainable … inherently sustainable … careful siting … lifetime appraisal … holistic approach … pro-active sustainability … innovative design solutions … sustainable practice … Sustainable. Sustainabulous. Sustainastic. This is simply architectural correctness. There is no architect left on earth who fails to proclaim the mantra of sustainability, which means whatever you want it to mean. Green. So green it gives you verdigris. It’s a slogan of conformist unoriginality matched by the interchangeable, glossy, faux-mo structures nearly all these biddable people design.

The answer is connecting transit, and regional rail EMUs sharing HSR infrastructure. CA4HSR included that in their various scoping comments, and it makes a lot sense (serves more communities and increases utilization of expensive, high capacity, HSR infrastructure).

I’d rather Amtrak California refocus into areas of the state not served by HSR, and are disconnected from the rest of the state. Places like the Central Coast, the North Coast, the northern Central Valley.

Robert is correct. The only way to guarantee affordable TOD, is to make to make sure we have enough of it (simple supply and demand). The way to do that is to have more reasonable land-use/zoning that enables TOD, instead of the asinine zoning most of California has now (required segregation of residential from retail/commercial, low density single-family detached only, big lots and setbacks, etc). Look at BART and VTA light rail in the suburbs. There has been almost no re-zoning, to allow development around stations.

Portland has done a good job of building rail, and allowing development around them. It’s significantly more affordable than the Bay Area or LA.

As a couple of you pointed out, when we have done TOD, it’s often very expensive. A big part of that is the lack of supply of this type of housing here. But a lot of it is the process in getting through the red tape, and getting approved. It’s extremely difficult, can take years of negotiations, and cost a lot of money.

I remember reading a developers comments on high rise residential in places like NYC and SF (paraphrasing), “For the same amount of brain damage [dealing with city planning], I can do luxury and make more money. Or just go ‘affordable,’ get public money [i.e. Section 8, redevelopment funds, etc], and let the local government deal with any opposition [NIMBYs].”

The political and regulatory regime for land-use/zoning is such that the middle of the market gets squeezed out. We need to change that by reforming zoning rules, allowing and encouraging (i.e. make it easier) TOD around rail stations.