Public transportation agencies throughout North America are moving forward on major projects in a variety of modes: commuter rail, light rail, heavy rail, modern streetcar, and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Here’s a preliminary list of new and expanded services scheduled to open in 2013.

New England
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Boston: Fairmount Line improvements, adding Four Corners and Newmarket stations to the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line.

Mid-Atlantic
MTA New York City Transit: Nostrand/Rogers Avenues Select Bus Service (9.3-mile BRT), operating from Williamsburg Bridge to Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn.

Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: Phase 1 of the Dulles Metrorail Project. This first component of the new Silver Line heavy rail runs 11.6 miles from the existing East Falls Church Station to Wiehle Avenue, incorporating four new stations in the Tysons Corner area.

District DOT, Washington, DC: H Street/Benning Road Streetcar (modern streetcar), which will operate between Union Station and Oklahoma Avenue.

Southeast
Atlanta Downtown Streetcar (2.6-mile modern streetcar line) is a cooperative effort among the city of Atlanta, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, and the business community. It will serve a corridor from the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site to Centennial Olympic Park.

Miami Central Station, overseen by Florida DOT, will provide a new interchange for Miami-Dade Transit vehicles; South Florida Regional Transportation Authority/Tri-Rail commuter rail; and AirportLink to Miami International Airport.

The Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority in Tampa, FL, is preparing to open MetroRapid North-South, a 17.5-mile BRT route from downtown to the Temple Terrace Park-and-Ride, via Nebraska and Fletcher avenues.

The Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s BRT North Corridor will cover 9.3 miles with 13 stops, running along Boulevard Street, Norwood Avenue, and Lem Turner Road from downtown Jacksonville to Armsdale Road, over the Trout River.

South
The Regional Transit Authority of New Orleans has announced its plans to open the Union Passenger Terminal (UPT)-Canal Street Loyola Avenue Streetcar Loop prior to Super Bowl XLVII, Feb. 3 in New Orleans. The double-tracked alignment will run between the UPT and Canal Street, where riders can connect with the existing streetcar system. It covers 0.8 route miles or 1.6 track miles.

Midwest and Rockies
Regional Transportation District, Denver: West Line, a 12-mile light rail line between Denver’s Union Station and the Jefferson County Government Center in Golden, CO. It is one component of RTD’s comprehensive FasTracks program.

Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, Aspen, CO: VelociRFTA (BRT), from Aspen to South Glenwood. The route will feature 14 stations at nine locations.

Utah Transit Authority (UTA), Salt Lake City, will open three new TRAX light rail lines as part of its FrontLines 2015 capital program:
* Airport TRAX is a six-mile route between the existing Arena Station in downtown Salt Lake City and Salt Lake International Airport, with five new stations along North Temple and one at the airport.
* The Draper TRAX extension will add 3.8 miles to the existing Sandy/Salt Lake TRAX line, running from the existing 10000 South Sandy Civic Center Station to Pioneer Road in Draper.
* UTA is partnering with South Salt Lake to build and operate the Sugar House Streetcar, a 2-mile modern streetcar line.

The Metropolitan Council in Minneapolis-St. Paul is preparing to open the 16-mile Cedar Avenue BRT. The route operates between 28th Avenue Station and Mall of America in Bloomington and 215th Street in Lakeville, via Eagan and Apple Valley, MN.

Pacific Northwest
Seattle’s King County Metro will launch two new RapidRide BRT lines during 2013. The RapidRide E Line will operate between downtown Seattle and Shoreline, while RapidRide F Line connects Burien to Renton via Tukwila.

Southwest
Sun Tran in Tucson, AZ, is building Sun Link, the Tucson Modern Streetcar, which will operate on a 3.9-mile route from the University of Arizona to downtown Tucson. The streetcar also will serve Main Gate Square, the Fourth Avenue entertaining and shopping district, and the Mercado District.

Susan Berlin, senior editor, assisted with this story.

An artist's conception of the Tysons West Station on WMATA's Silver Line.	An image of UTA's Sugar House Streetcar.