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Case for Trains and Public Transport Grows Stronger

Friday, May 30, 2008

This week saw three particularly good media boosts to the case for sensible transportation or Americans’ readiness for such. First, the Outlook section of Sunday’s (May 25) The Washington Post carried a column by author James Howard Kunstler, “Wake Up, America. We’re Driving Toward Disaster.”

The paragraph of most direct interest is this:

Fixing the U.S. passenger railroad system is probably the one project we could undertake right away that would have the greatest impact on the country’s oil consumption…If we don’t get the passenger trains running again, Americans will be going nowhere five years from now.

Kunstler has been saying similar things for some time, but it is good to see his views get aired in The Post.

If anyone doubts his comment about airlines, consider that AP’s David Koenig reported May 22 that “even though most of the big airline companies have large cash stockpiles, analysts suggest they could burn through their cash and go bankrupt by early next year.”

The Washington Post had a May 27 front-page story about the explosion in transit ridership around the nation’s capital, including car-dependent outer suburbs. The top-of-page-A1 headline was “Stung at the Pumps, More Hop on a Bus; D.C.’s Outlying Transit Systems Rush to Add Capacity; Metro Worried.”  (The worry is about trains being “overwhelmed” if gasoline hits $5 a gallon.)

Finally, also May 27, the radio program To the Point had an excellent discussion of the energy situation in which most of the panelists (including the Wall Street Journal’s reporter) said Americans need to drive less and use public transit more. Listen to “The Future of Energy: Is the U.S. Prepared?” here.

The panelists were:

• Neil King: Diplomatic Correspondent, Wall Street Journal
• Juli Niemann: Oil Analyst, Smith, Moore & Company
• David Sirota: author, ‘The Uprising’
• Robert Manning: Professor of Finance, Rochester Institute of Technology

Panelists agreed it was outrageous that the U.S. with less than 5% of world population is responsible for about a quarter of world oil consumption. Interestingly, Ms. Niemann, the principle advocate for expanding oil exploration and drilling within the U.S., said this should only be allowed under strict government regulations which would significantly increase costs. Mr. King said the U.S. consumes roughly 20 million barrels a day and produces only five. He said it is widely believed in the industry that, if the U.S. started taking advantage of all domestic oil opportunities, by 2020, we would still be producing only about five MBD because new production would simply offset declines in existing fields.

—Ross Capon

Posted by NARP

Beautiful Visual Tour of California HSR

This rendering summarizes in two-and-a-half minutes the experience of traversing California by high-speed rail, both inside the train and out the window.  Notably, it also shows dense, guided development around the stations, which will be positively transformative to the state’s landscape once the system is built.

—Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

Four Ways to Consider Intercity Passenger Train Expansion

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

(1) Provide service to the largest metro areas currently without it. The eight largest, in descending order of population are:

• *Las Vegas, NV
• *Columbus, OH
• *Nashville, TN
• *Louisville, KY
• Tulsa, OK
• Allentown-Bethlehem, PA
• Baton Rouge, LA
• McAllen-Edinberg, TX

* Indicates Amtrak formerly provided service. Las Vegas service lasted through May 10, 1997; Columbus, Nashville and Louisville lost service at the end of October, 1979, although Louisville briefly regained service with a painfully slow train to Chicago. That train ran Chicago-Jeffersonville, IN starting December 17, 1999, was extended across the river to Louisville December 4, 2001, and discontinued July 8, 2003.

(2) Route study requests in S. 294 (which passed the Senate in October):

• restore Amtrak’s Pioneer that linked Seattle-Portland with eastern Oregon, Boise and Salt Lake City. (Towards the end, its financial viability was compromised by running as a separate train all the way across Wyoming to Denver, rather than serving SLC and connecting there with the California Zephyr.)
• restore Amtrak’s North Coast Hiawatha in southern Montana and southern North Dakota – well used train until its demise in 1979.

(3) Maps in the National Surface Transportation Policy & Revenue Study Commission report, at chapter four:

The 2015 vision is at page 4-22 and notably includes

• Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati
• a long-discussed Meridian-Jackson-Dallas link among existing Amtrak routes, and
• closing the Bakersfield-Los Angeles gap.

The 2030 vision is on the next page and adds several routes including

• Atlanta-Florida,
• Dallas-Houston,
• Oklahoma City to both Newton/Kansas City and Tulsa/St. Louis,
• Cheyenne-Denver-Trinidad-Albuquerque-El Paso
• the above-referenced Pioneer, and
• service to Las Vegas from both east and west.

The 2050 vision is on page 4-24 and adds many more routes including Chicago-Atlanta.

The Commission recommends annual capital expenditure of $9 billion, much of which would support “genuine” high speed rail projects such that planned in California. 

(4) NARP’s 40-year vision, which is more aggressive than the Commission’s although North Carolina DOT’s vision is more aggressive than ours!  Read more about our Grow Trains Campaign and Vision Plan including regional “zoom-in” maps.

—Ross Capon

Posted by NARP

National Streetcar Conference in Los Angeles

Thursday afternoon at Los Angeles’ historic Orpheum Theater, myself and 250 others attended the National Streetcar Conference.  Sponsored by Reconnecting America, The Seaside Institute, and a local Los Angeles City Councilmember, the conference brought engineers and other experts from around the country together to discuss bringing back streetcars to America’s towns and cities.  (For more coverage, see BlogDowntown and Streetsblog LA).

Streetcars, trolleys, or trams were a familiar part of cities and towns in America before World War II.  They are making a comeback, however, in places as diverse as small Kenosha, Wisconsin to Portland, Oregon.

Streetcars, unlike their close cousin light rail, are designed for “place making” (as one panelist called it) as much as they are about “through” transportation.  Streetcars help create walkable, sustainable, and attractive communities.  They help integrate people with other transportation resources like intercity rail (Amtrak or commuter rail), rail transit, car-sharing, or bicycling.  They allow people the option of having only one or no cars in their households and using them far less often and otherwise encouraging “transit-oriented development”.

What impressed me most, however, was how much local businesses and residents were involved in the planning and financing of their streetcars.  In the various case studies that we went over, stakeholders elected to assess themselves special fees to pay for a part of construction.  And given innovative construction techniques such as using a very light sub-base for the track structure (therefore no underground utility relocation is necessary) and running in existing streets and mediums, construction costs are very low, in the range of $10 to $25 million per mile.

Are streetcars a good idea for your community?

Dennis Lytton
Member, NARP Board of Directors

Posted by NARP

Texas National Train Day Events

Friday, May 16, 2008

Information about the National Train Day Event held in Marshall, TX is available on the East Texas Corridor Council web site.  The event was focused on the following agreement which made the event not merely symbolic, but a catalyst for future train service in the region:

In the spirit of the 139th anniversary of the joining together east and west of the Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, an historic signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding took place bringing together the East Texas and North Central Texas Council of Governments with the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments.

This MOU is designed to build interstate support for a strengthened passenger rail service in the Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas (Ark-La-Tex) region, envisioning a future east-west connection between Marshall to Shreveport/Bossier and on to Meridian, Mississippi (as well as a connection between Little Rock and Memphis), thus creating a southern rail route to the Atlantic seaboard.

Volunteers also organized events in Dallas and Fort Worth, and Texas Rail Advocates has information on those events.  The two major cities in the DFW Metroplex, plus Grapevine, issued proclamations for National Train Day.

Thank you to NARP Board Members Christina Anderson and Tim Geeslin for their dedicated work in Marshall, and to Board Member Peter LeCody for organizing the DFW events!

—Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

Report on Emeryville National Train Day

NARP Treasurer and Board Member Bob Glover worked with the City of Emeryville and the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) to plan and execute the National Train Day event in Emeryville’s popular and modern station.  One of the highlights of the event was the presentation by CCJPA, Caltrans, and Amtrak of the first ever California Golden STAR (State Advocate of Rail) award “to honor advocates from California who are dedicated to the cause of passenger rail” (according to a CCJPA news release).  The honor was bestowed upon Emeryville resident Doras Briggs, a former NARP Board Member who founded the successful, all-volunteer California Station Host Program.  At 89 years old, she still greets and assists passengers most mornings at the Emeryville station, where she began the Station Host program in 2001.  Congratulations, Doras, and thank you for your tireless service on behalf of railroad passengers!

From left to right:  CCJPA Chair Forrest Williams; City of Emeryville Mayor Ken Bukowski; Award Recipient Doras Briggs, Amtrak Assistant Superintendent Anthony Chapa; William Bronte, Chief, Caltrans Division of Rail; and CCJPA Managing Director (and NARP Board Member) Gene Skoropowski.  (Photo is courtesy CCJPA; the following photos are courtesy Bob Glover.)

The band set up and ready to go.

City of Emeryville Community Preservation Officer Nancy Templeton at the popcorn machine, with crayons and coloring sheets.  She also gave out train whistles, fans, and other goodies.  Station owner Wareham Properties sponsored raffle prizes during the event.

The balloon team at work creating hats for the kids.

Emeryville Mayor Bukowski reading the City’s Proclamation of Train Day.

General view of attendees.

Jumping house shaped like a train. —Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

Report on San Luis Obispo National Train Day

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Volunteer Station Host David Weisman almost single-handedly organized Saturday’s National Train Day event in San Luis Obispo, CA with Amtrak’s cooperation.  He got Trader Joe’s to donate food, volunteers to donate their time, and garnered local media coverage.  The SLO Model Railroad Association also participated.  David writes, “I wish to extend my sincere and heartfelt thanks to all of you who made the first National Train Day in San Luis Obispo an enormous success.  We collected over 175 names on our petitions, which means at least 175 adults passed through (who took the time to sign) plus dozens of children, and undoubtedly adults who didn’t sign, which means over 200 people passing through the station.  A tremendous turnout!”

As you can see from David’s photos below, the event attracted the young and the young at heart!

Volunteers Alice, David, and Barbara.  Thank you for your efforts!

Posted by NARP

Report on Tampa National Train Day

NARP Vice President Robert Stewart reports that the entirely grassroots-organized event at Union Station in Tampa, FL was a great success.  He writes:

It was a wonderful day and one of the highlights was the Amtrak coach for touring.  This [Amfleet II] car and [P42] engine were in fantastic shape and [Amtrak’s] staff was wonderful with the visitors.  As a matter of fact everyone there from Amtrak was a big help and had a great attitude. They were excited about the special day and being able to show off one of the passenger cars and engine. 

We had 600-800 people during the exhibition time. Besides the Amtrak coach we had various model railroad layouts, operation lifesaver display, other displays, a guitarist and 3 gals that sang and pretended to be the Andrews Sisters from the 1940’s.  We also cut a cake.

CSX did a good job of getting both [Silver Star trains] 91 and 92 on time into Tampa.  Between both trains we were able to greet over 400 passengers.

The mayor of Tampa could not make it but she sent Elaine McCloud, Transit Manager, who read a proclamation from the city for National Train Day. Radio Disney did a live on site broadcast from the station.

Here are some photos he sent, along with captions (NARP Board Member Jackson McQuigg also posted a set of photos on Flickr):

Inside Tampa Union Station.

The Andrews Sisters performing on stage.

A nice looking Amtrak engine and coach. The inside was in immaculate condition.

E.M. Jones, Judy Loving, Ray Nunes, Israel Stallings, and Rick Hurst are all ready to greet the guests of National Train Day. (missing from the photo was Tom Fortune and Norma Johnson who were working elsewhere).

Three guys who worked very hard to make this a successful day: Steve Sayles (President of FCRP), Jason Sanford (VP of FCRP), and Jackson McQuigg, (Secretary of FCRP and NARP Board Member). —Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

Report on Los Angeles National Train Day

Monday, May 12, 2008

This past Saturday, May 10th the first annual National Train Day was celebrated at train stations across our country.  It was 139 years ago on May 10, 1869 that the first trans-continental railroad was completed.  National Train Day is conceived as a way to bring this heritage into the future by celebrating and rediscovering train travel.  It’s a mode that people and policy makers are increasing turning to in this age of airport and highway congestion, declining oil reserves, and awareness of the effects global climate change.

I saw several thousand people come out to Los Angeles Union Station on Saturday for the festivities that included live music, tours of Amtrak train cars, tables from various organizations, art by train photographer John Acurso, and various kids’ activities.

Fellow NARP board members Paul Dyson, Ryan Stern, Ed Von Nordeck, and I represented NARP at our table along with the other train groups such as the Rail Passenger Association of California, the California High Speed Rail Authority, Metrolink, and Los Angeles Metro Rail.  We were assisted by volunteers, especially 17 year old Justin Walker, who’s leading the Coast Starlight Communities Network, a grassroots coalition to advocate for the Coast Starlight service between Los Angeles and Seattle that originated from NARP’s initiative to form citizen teams to support the long-distance routes.

The event was opened in Union Station’s old ticketing room by Emmett Fremaux, Amtrak’s Vice President of Marketing & Product Management, and Will Kemptom, Caltrans Director.  Los Angeles City Councilmember Tom LaBonge presented Fremaux, on behalf of the City and the Mayor of Los Angeles, a proclamation declaring Saturday, May 10th National Train Day in Los Angeles.  He also gave Fremaux a large loaf of pumpkin bread, a trademark of Councilmember LaBonge.

Later I got a chance to tour some Amtrak train cars, including the recently restored Pacific Parlour car for the Coast Starlight train.

On the restored Pacific Parlour car, I got a chance to talk to Fremaux about the days’ events and Amtrak.  By brining together local stakeholders and the community on National Train Day across America, Amtrak was able to do far more good with their limited advertising dollars than would be possible with by just buying conventional media advertising, Fremaux said.

He was also quite proud of the upgrades to the recently restored Pacific Parlour cars.  Fremaux and Amtrak President Alex Kummant have committed to improving the product and growing the business.

Judging from what I saw in L.A. and heard from others around America, Amtrak is going in the right direction with National Train Day.  Let’s celebrate our country’s great and continuing passenger train heritage.  But let’s also begin building a consensus that we need passenger trains for America’s future!

Dennis Lytton
Member, NARP Board of Directors

Posted by NARP

Liveblogging National Train Day, Part 3 of 3

Saturday, May 10, 2008

The exceptionally large crowd has trickled out of Union Station and the displays are gone, but we sincerely hope that the first annual National Train Day events here and elsewhere have raised citizens’ (especially young ones’) consciousness about passenger trains.  Certain events in the country were designed to focus primarily on the advocacy angle, but Jim and I were grateful to speak with the countless folks who came by our table to find out how they could join the fight to increase train service.  Some of the recurring themes we heard included the high price of Amtrak fares on the Northeast Corridor (necessitated by political realities and market demand), the need for dedicated rights-of-way for very-high-speed passenger service wherever feasible, and incredulity at the fact that it has taken so long for politicians to catch up with the traveling public’s demand for more train travel options.  Several visitors from foreign countries also praised the fact that the US has not privatized or dismantled Amtrak, including the long-distance routes.

Thanks again to all our volunteers across the country for their great efforts leading up to today!  We look forward to hearing more about the other events, and to building upon this year’s success for the second annual National Train Day in 2009.

UPDATE, 4:06 PM:  Click here to read about a Jacksonville, FL event from Jerry Sullivan of the Sunset Marketing and Revitalization Team (SMART).  NY1 has coverage of the New York Penn Station event.

Several folks have already uploaded photos to Flickr from today’s events!

UPDATE, 10:52 PM:  Click here to see Andy Smith’s photos and commentary from the event at Los Angeles Union Station.  News coverage of events continues to trickle in via Google News.  We’ll have more photos and commentary from our volunteers on Monday!

—Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

Liveblogging National Train Day, Part 2

Singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles just finished her concert in the Great Hall here at Union Station, playing to an enthusiastic crowd following Al Roker’s introduction.

Here are some more shots of the exhibitors, followed by a view of the line to tour the Acela train and private cars (which stretched back for several hundred feet).

NARP Board Member (and Virginia Association of Railway Patrons President) Mike Testerman sent the following report from the event in Richmond:

The VARP, VHSR, DRPT and City of Richmond event at Main Street Station was a first-time-out success. Counting passengers and event guests, there were close to 50 participants. Remarks were delivered by Vickey Badger and her husband Chip, on behalf of the city and DRPT, respectively. Marc LaFountain read Mayor Wilder’s NTD proclamation. VHSR executive director Danny Plaugher gave a vision of Main Street Station’s future in the new Golden Age of Rail, coming to Virginia and the nation. NBC Channel 12 TV showed up after the ceremony, but in time to interview Vickey Badger and film #194 running about 50 minutes late. (# 67 was about 40 minutes late.) There was a 20 foot banner, poster of NARP’s Grid and Gateway map for Virginia, and posters with watercolor renderings of high speed trains at Main Street Station. The Executive Summary of the Passenger Rail Working Group’s report was among the many handouts. Amtrak furnished National Train Day badges and stickers, which children of all ages enjoyed. VHSR provided refreshments with a special National Train Day cake from Ukrop’s and punch.

Posted by NARP

Liveblogging National Train Day

The first annual National Train Day is underway at stations all across the country today.  Amtrak originally conceived the event to make a marketing splash in four of their biggest cities, but thanks to the tireless work of rail advocates and civic boosters working on the local level, communities all across the country are celebrating National Train Day as a call to action to increase train travel options in cities large and small.  Google News current shows 255 articles on the event, a sign of the great interest it has generated.

NARP Vice President Jim Churchill and I are staffing our table at Washington Union Station today.  I’ll be updating this entry as the day progresses.  If you’re in the area, please feel free to stop by!  And if you have photos or tidbits from other events, please feel free to e-mail me at mmelzer (at) narprail.org.

UPDATE, 10:32 AM:  Amtrak President and CEO Alex Kummant opened the event with a brief speech thanking the event partners, including NARP.  AAR President Ed Hamberger remarked on the environmental need to move more goods as well as passengers by rail.  But the crowd was mostly anxious to get a photo with Al Roker!

UPDATE, 11:19 AM:  The turnout so far is great, with many families who are not traveling.  The line to tour an Acela trainset and private cars is stretching well into the station.  Amtrak’s ARTE environmental mascot and Screech, the Washington Nationals mascot, are greeting fans.  Amtrak also has computers with Microsoft Train Simulator in Acela mode set up.

—Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

Oil consumption since 1980: U.S. way up; Europe down

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

To quote again from that April 20 New York Times article, “Barreling Along: The Big Thirst” [the following quote picks up at the end of the quote in Ross Capon’s April 21 blog entry]:

The United States is the only major industrialized nation to see its oil consumption surge since the oil shocks of the 1970s and 1980s. This can partly be explained by the fact that the United States has some of the lowest gasoline prices in the world, the least fuel-efficient cars on the roads, the lowest energy taxes, and the longest daily commutes of any industrialized nation. The result: about a quarter of the world’s oil goes to the United States every day, and of that, more than half goes to its cars and trucks.

An accompanying graphic showed the following changes in oil consumption from 1980 to 2007: Denmark -33%; Sweden -32%; Germany -20%; Switzerland -18%; France and Finland -14%; Italy -13%; Japan +0.2%; U.K. +2%; United States +21%.

Last night, Stephen Colbert addressed the various proposals for a summer holiday on the federal gas tax (see last week’s Hotline) through The Wørd, “proposing” free gas for everyone:

Colbert remarks:

I’m sure you’re asking, folks, “How will we pay for unlimited free gas?”  Well, the answer is simple:  I don’t care!  Besides, have you forgotten about a little thing called ‘our grandkids’?  Because they are very generous, even though they don’t know it yet.  They can be the generation that walks to work or uses public transportation!  They’ll have to, because without a gas tax to pay for infrastructure, there won’t be any roads.

—Matthew Melzer

Posted by NARP

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