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National Association of Railroad Passengers: www.narprail.org
To Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. MinetaJune 13, 2006
While you are right to target congestion as a serious and growing national problem, we are dumbfounded that you failed even to mention rail in National Strategy to Reduce Congestion on America’s Transportation Network. We hope that your report will trigger a wide-ranging dialogue about the need for federal transportation policy reform, and urge you personally to exercise leadership to help the federal government—and, for that matter, the railroad industry—catch up with the American people who, according to polls, clearly understand how vital improved rail transportation is to our future. The Association urges you to expand the dialogue to include all forms of transportation, especially rail. Federal policy has ignored the nation’s rail infrastructure needs for so long that you have an opportunity to harvest a large amount of “low hanging fruit” – projects where comparatively modest public investments would produce large and immediate payoffs in transportation quality and capacity. Private ownership of the nation’s rail infrastructure does not render it less valuable to the American people, place it beyond the purview of federal transportation policy or make it ineligible for public funding. Consider, for example, the freight benefits of passenger-inspired projects in California, including the Los Angeles Metrolink (commuter rail) system, capacity improvements on BNSF’s San Joaquin Valley line, and restoration of double-track west of Sacramento on Union Pacific. Modernizing the nation’s rail system can be done quicker and at far lower cost than building more highway lanes. There is a growing consensus supporting this strategy. More than half the states have joined The States for Passenger Rail Coalition that supports federal investment in rail. In 2003, AASHTO’s Standing Committee on Rail Transportation, then chaired by Joseph Boardman—now your Federal Railroad Administrator—outlined the needs in two reports: Intercity Passenger Rail Transportation and Freight-Rail Bottom Line Report. Most importantly, survey after survey shows that the American people in every geographical area strongly desire a national network of modern passenger trains. The Harris Poll released in February makes clear that that interest extends also to freight rail. Investment in passenger rail will provide Americans with new travel choices that offer opportunities to avoid congestion - both on the ground and in the air. Moreover, investments that improve the nation’s rail infrastructure for passenger trains also would benefit freight service – enabling us to divert a larger portion of commerce from highway to rail. Four years ago, NARP issued Modern Passenger Trains: A National Necessity, a white paper that explained why an integrated national rail passenger network was essential to America’s future. The conclusion in your statement could very well have been taken from our report. Yet your report’s failure to mention - much less propose - rail as a solution for passenger or for freight congestion and delay suggests a tunnel vision that, by failing to consider solutions that are effective, is at odds with common sense, what the public wants and what our energy and congestion problems demand. We have lost four years. Let’s not lose another four. We urge you to take the foundation laid out in your report and build upon it to include the concept of improving passenger and freight rail service together with - for the first time - the creation of a stable, secure and ongoing mechanism to fund rail improvements. America’s future mobility, economic development and quality of life demand it. In this regard, our Association stands ready to serve you as a resource. I would welcome an opportunity to meet with you personally. Sincerely, George Chilson |