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Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow
Thursday, April 30, 2009
So said Shakespeare centuries ago—and its still valid. Tomorrow, May 1, is my last day as Vice President of the National Association of Railroad Passengers. I begin work next Wednesday for the Maryland Transit Administration’s MARC Commuter Rail system. I will be the Penn and Camden Line Trainmaster, responsible for many things, including station maintenance, customer service, and the MTA Operations Center. I will be working closely with Amtrak and CSX Transportation—who operate the Penn and Camden line respectively for MARC—to ensure that our trains move safely and on-time.
I was thrilled that one of my final responsibilities was to help support our best Capitol Hill Day and Annual Congressional Reception ever, on April 21. It was also satisfying to see that the first meeting of the NARP Council of Representatives (April 20-22) was such a success, including both exceptional outside speakers and an outstanding series of “Hill reports” by Council members.
I asked our reception photographer, Charlotte Richardson, to take a picture of the NARP Staff:
The NARP staff (l. to r., back to front): Director of Finance and Administration Doug Kidd, Vice President David Johnson, Communications Director Sean Jeans Gail, Coordinator of Resource Development Tiffanie Childs, President and CEO Ross Capon, and Amtrak Customer Advisory Committee Administrator Kate Warr.
While I am excited about my new opportunity with MARC, it is with “sweet sorrow” that I leave NARP. The NARP staff are the best co-workers anyone could ask for. They are hard-working and dedicated to our cause. Ross Capon is not only a “living legend” widely respected and quoted here in Washington, but an exceptional boss and good friend. I will miss all of you very much!
It’s a bit ironic that I am leaving on May 1. Not only is it Amtrak’s birthday, but Amtrak President and CEO Joe Boardman has declared it “Amtrak Employee Appreciation Day”. I think that’s illustrative of how far passenger train advocacy has come since I came back to NARP full-time in October 2003 (I interned twice in college). What at one time was an almost daily discussion of whether Amtrak will survive to see another day has been replaced by an optimism and goal by Mr. Boardman, President Obama, and others to grow and expand passenger trains in the United States.
Thank you, NARP members, for your financial support which makes our work possible and for the countless hours of volunteer work you do to advance our cause. I know that NARP has a bright future and look forward to watching it grow and prosper.
—Dave Johnson
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A Common Vision
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
A timely essay by David Schaengold for The Witherspoon Institute has received attention in recent days from our friends at Trains for America and Streetsblog. Schaengold’s piece illustrates the societal benefits that would come from a transportation system that gave people viable options for their travel needs other than the personal automobile, and argues that these benefits should give both sides of the political aisle equal reason to advocate for better transit and, by extension, better intercity trains. Here at NARP, we have witnessed the truly bipartisan support our cause is capable of drawing for 42 years.
NARP’s vision of a robust, interconnected network of fast, frequent, comfortable, and reliable passenger trains, connected with transit networks in the cities and towns it serves, should be seen as a key puzzle piece in a broader vision of a reconnected society of revitalized communities that should inspire both social conservatives and social liberals. By giving Americans more opportunities to interact with their neighbors and contribute to their local economies, instead of isolating ourselves from each other in our cars and fighting ever-increasing traffic to get from A to B, a more diverse transportation network forms a vertebra of the backbone of a healthy society.
For many of us, the “humble civic satisfaction that comes from a convenient, timely, and comfortable train trip” (to borrow Logan Nash’s elegant phrase) is a worthy goal in itself, but let us not lose sight of the broader ends to which getting transportation right can serve as a means. Given the daunting collective challenges we face, a shared vision for a vibrant, and green 21st-century America should link Americans of all political stripes in common cause.
—Malcolm Kenton
Malcom is a 23-year-old recent college graduate from North Carolina and a longtime political activist and passenger rail advocate. He will be joining NARP’s staff on May 26 as an intern. He says, “Expect me to contribute frequently to this blog.” We look forward to that and working with him! —Ross Capon
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President Obama: “Head in the Clouds, Feet on the Ground”
Monday, April 27, 2009
It was an honor after many years of hard work to be invited to President Obama’s unveiling of the high-speed rail strategic plan on April 16. As reported in our May newsletter released the next day, and in the general media, Vice President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood spoke before the President. Before the three of them arrived, we were given a briefing by new Deputy Federal Railroad Administrator Karen Rae (who is also Acting Administrator until Joseph Szabo’s confirmation). You can watch the presentation at WhiteHouse.gov, as well as read the transcript.
Those who dismiss high speed rail as “pie in the sky,” or who question the President’s commitment, should note that President Obama himself made clear that the new funding aims both to improve existing tracks and train services and to lay the groundwork for world class high speed rail. Hence the appropriateness of the quoted heading, a line from Meredith Willson’s “Music Man.”
As detailed in our March News lead story, funding can go through three different programs established under PRIIA (the passenger train authorization enacted in October, 2008). Only one of those programs has a speed requirement: “reasonably expected to reach speeds of at least 110 miles per hour.”
It is O.K. to be skeptical of whether the U.S. can produce world-class high speed rail. California, after all, is the only state with a serious plan and serious funding for such. However, don’t rule out the possibility of a huge paradigm shift. For example, Dr. Anthony Perl of Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, BC) believes the US will lose two airlines after the next oil price spike and that the result will be a widespread, frantic quest for more of what California is already planning.
—Ross B. Capon
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NARP on Air America
Friday, April 03, 2009
I was on the internet TV show The Money Message with Marc Sussman on March 25 talking about the future of passenger trains in America. The unedited show is archived at Mogulus.com—if it doesn’t start playing automatically, click “On Demand” at the bottom of the video player, and scroll down to the bottom of the side-bar to begin streaming my interview (Adobe Flash Player is required, and can be downloaded for free). Air America will broadcast an edited, audio-only version of the show at 9 AM EST, Saturday, April 4th, both online, through their affiliate stations, and on XM Satellite Radio channel 167. After it is aired, the show will be made available on the “Show Archives” section of the Money Message website.
—Ross B. Capon