Briefs
by John Temple Ligon
Charleston commuter rail feasible Charleston has found the cost of widening the interstate from Summerville by two lanes could cost $45 million per mile, which comes to $1 billion for the 21- mile connector. The cost of installing a commuter rail for the same segment is estimated at $75 million.

Walkable and not very walkable Prevention magazine has rated American cities for walkability. Out of the 501 municipalities rated, Mount Pleasant is ranked 497, one of the worst. The worst, rock bottom, is Oklahoma City, Okla. The most walkable city in the U.S. is Cambridge, Mass. In S.C., while Mount Pleasant is the worst, Greenville is the best, rated nationally at 36. Charleston is 102, and Columbia, 360.

Safe and not so safe According to CQ Press, S.C. is the fourth- most dangerous state in the U.S. CQ Press studied FBI data from 2005 and 2006 on six different crimes: murder, rape, aggravated assault, burglary, robbery, and automobile theft. The safest state in the country is New Hampshire, and the most dangerous is Nevada.

BP Barber scores Jafza contract Jafza South Carolina LLC is developing a 1,300- acre parcel near Orangeburg. Columbia- based BP Barber, a civil and environmental engineering services firm, will help Jafza with site surveying and wetland and additional environmental studies. Jafza's operation is expected to create 10,000 jobs over the next 10 years and to invest almost $2 billion. Jafza International has formally established its North American headquarters in Charleston near the South Carolina Aquarium.

Duke CEO collects Jim Rogers, head of Charlotte- based Duke Energy Corp., was paid $9.9 million for 2007, down from $12.9 million the year before.

What Columbia would like to see Premier Inc., a health- care alliance, needs 250,000 square feet of office space in the Charlotte area for its relocation. Premier engaged The Staubach Co. to handle the search. Premier has 640 employees in 180,000 square feet at LakePointe Corporate Center, and the lease expires in February 2010.

And also worth emulating.... ...is the gain in transit ridership in Charlotte, up 34.4 percent last month from February 2007. Averaging 79,000 daily rides, Charlotte Area Transit System customers took more than two million trips last month, which is about 25 million for the year. Besides its bus fleet, CATS has a 9.6- mile light rail corridor, which began operating Nov. 26. The line has 15 stations between uptown Charlotte and I- 485 at South Boulevard. Out of the two million rides for the month, 387,000 rode the light rail line. A bus/rail one- way ticket costs $1.30 in Charlotte. In Columbia, it's $1.50 for a one- way ride on the bus. The Columbia bus system doesn't put ridership statistics on its website. However, in its 1992 annual report to its shareholders, Scana reported a combined annual bus ridership drop in Charleston and Columbia from 10.7 million (1982) to 5.8 million (1992), a decline of 46 percent, unprecedented in the nation.

Santee Cooper changes technology tune Santee Cooper, the state- owned utility, plans to spend $1 billion on a 600- megawatt coal- fired plant in rural Florence County to serve the Grand Strand's expanding population. It is seeking air permits for two 600- megawatt plants while it works on building the first one. President Bush's program to allow utilities to buy credits for emissions over standard levels was struck down recently, leaving Santee Cooper looking for cleaner technology. The utility will examine coal- fired plants elsewhere in the U.S. to find the best emissions controls.

Population gains Richland County gained 1.9 percent in its population, 6,570 new people, over the last year to 357,734. Lexington County gained 2.1 percent, 4,940 people, to 243,270. And Kershaw County's population rose 1.9 percent, 1,101 people, to 58,168. Greenville County gained 11,734 new people. The entire state gained 77,601 people, which was an additional 1.8 percent and which brought the total to 4.4 million people.

Take an architect to lunch The national architecture billings index fell about nine points in February.