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As Promised: Transportation Advocates Statement to the Candidates

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Following up my post from yesterday, here is the statement to the Presidential candidates that I referenced… --DRJ

To the Candidates for President and the Party Platform Committees, we submit:

The St. Louis Statement
on the Crisis in American Transportation
At The Carmichael Conference*

The silence of those now running for the office of President on the growing crisis in our nation’s transportation infrastructure is deafening. We have all heard about the crisis in the economy, and changes in the earth’s climate brought on by global warming, but we have heard nothing about one key element that underlies both of those issues: the movement of goods and people, our very freedom of mobility. Yet, few national issues offer a greater opportunity for imaginative change.

We speak to those candidates now, today. We are from both political parties, and from no political party. We are from New England, and California, and Louisiana, and Illinois, and places in between, gathered this day in St. Louis for the inaugural Carmichael Conference* on the Future of American Transportation, to advocate for the renewal of that infrastructure. We respectfully ask each one of you:

  • Do you understand that transportation must be treated as a system, not merely a collection of competing modes, when setting and executing policy
  • How do you propose to restore our transportation system to health?
  • What are you going to do, specifically, to obtain the funding needed to do that?

As both advocates and professional executives, as both elected and appointed officials from around this country, as American citizens, we call on you to engage this issue, and make it an integral part of your campaign. As former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall said in his very powerful address to us: “It’s late in the game, and we are far past the time when our national leaders should have laid out, debated, and implemented an integrated, carefully thought-out and effective national plan for developing and deploying an optimized national transportation system.”

The American people need rational choices when it comes to transportation, and those choices must be adequately and intelligently funded and maintained to make it all work. In particular, an efficient transportation system and robust rail, air, coastal/riverine, port, and highway components will sharply reduce both our dependence on foreign oil, and the high price we pay for it. Highly fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly transportation modes, such as rail, should especially not be overlooked.

You are asking us to select you as the leader of our country. Very well: we ask you to lead. Seize this issue, and make it central to your campaign, as it is to every American’s life. Thus far it has been virtually ignored.  We ask that to change, starting now.

* Convened January 28-29, 2008, at St. Louis, by the National Corridors Initiative with the help and support of the Sierra Club, The National Association of Railroad Passengers, and the following organizations: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, American Public Transportation Association, American Road and Transportation Builders, Association of American Railroads, Association for Public Transportation, Bombardier Transit, Connex/Veolia Transportation, InTrans Incorporated: A New Direction in Transportation Advocacy, Midwest High Speed Rail Association, Providence & Worcester Railroad, The Surdna Foundation, Train/Riders NorthEast, Victoria Transportation Policy Institute, Virginians for High Speed Rail, and named in honor of former Federal Railroad Administrator Gilbert Carmichael, one of America’s leading transportation advocates who continues actively to champion transportation intermodalism.

Posted by NARP | (4) Comments

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Comments


The St. Paul Pioneer Press asked the presidential candidates and actually got answers to a question about improving the nation’s transportation infrastructure. Their responses can be found here http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_8142125

Only Obama mentioned rail, saying he will “support the development of high-speed rail networks across the country.”

Comment by James Toy  on  02/04  at  05:44 PM

It is a safe bet that Hillary or McCain will be President. Neither one are really big fans of Amtrak.

Comment by Jason A Sanford  on  02/05  at  02:49 PM

“The silence of those now running for the office of President on the growing crisis in our nation’s transportation infrastructure is deafening.”

Transportation in the U.S. has many problems.  It always has been and always will be the case.  But to describe them as a crisis is a bit over the top. 

The problems need to be addressed in a measured and rational manner.  Fixing them requires cool heads, not crisis reactors, to identify and implement the best solutions.  In some instances passenger rail will be the best solution, but in many others it is not a cost effective fit.  There are better options.  A key element in the process will be a cost benefit analysis.  And the answer to the question what can the U.S. afford?

The media, as well as many special interest groups, tends to extrapolate the problems of a few trouble spots to the whole country.  For example, much has been said about air traffic delays due to congestion. To hear some people describe it, our whole air transport system is about to grind to a halt.  But a closer look at the problem suggests that the congestion is concentrated in a few areas of the country and, in many instances, is a function of bad weather or poor scheduling practices. 

I have flown on more than 350 flights within the U.S. during the past 25 years.  I have experienced only three notable delays.  One was due to equipment failure; the other two were weather related.  In addition, from 1999 to 2007, I flew 22 trips between Texas and Australia via LAX.  I never encountered a significant delay.  Admittedly, my experience cannot be generalized, but most of my associates, as long as they were not flying into or out of one of the major congestion areas described above, have had few problems. 

The FAA is updating its air traffic control system.  This will help reduce delays.  In addition, it is forcing the airlines to cut back on their flights into and out of JFK, which is a bottleneck.  This will reduce the JFK cascading impact on the system.  Other steps are planned to rationalize the system. 

The U.S. needs an integrated transportation policy that optimizes transport options, i.e. air for long distance travel, trains for high density corridors, as well as commuting in large metropolitan areas, light rail and rapid buses for local transit, and buses for lightly populated areas. 

Transportation planners must recognize that most people will opt for their personal vehicle to get around.  This is a fact of life.  People all over the world want cars.  And once they have a car, they want a better one.  They will only use public transport, i.e. trains, buses, local transit, when the cost and inconvenience of driving become prohibitive.  Or they simply cannot afford a car. 

Optimization of transport options is the key to better transport in the U. S.  NARP could take a positive step toward achieving this goal by urging the discontinuance of long distance passenger trains.  They account for a disproportionate of Amtrak’s losses (more than $500 billion) whilst servicing a miniscule per cent of the traveling public.

Comment by Paul J. Smith, Jr.  on  02/08  at  07:32 PM

Still there is space for long distance trains, A long run isn’t just for people traveling from end point to end point. The problem at hand is a lack of trains over all. Also for track occupancy/crew costs one idea might to to revive some mixed trains in some places.

Comment by Andrew Dawson  on  03/11  at  11:49 AM



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