 | NARP blogTRAINS: A travel choice Americans want |
» Visit the Official NARP Website
Southern Cities Discovering that Trains Mean Business
Friday, July 30, 2010
For the past few decades, city boosters in Charlotte, NC, have wanted the Queen City to become more like Atlanta—taking advantage of its location to become one of the Southeast’s premier business hubs. Now, when it comes to modern transportation, it’s Atlanta that is looking enviously towards Charlotte.
Both locales, like all medium- and large-sized US cities, had streetcar networks early in the 20th century. But while Atlanta does have the 30-year-old MARTA heavy rail transit system, it lacks modern streetcar or light rail lines. Charlotte, meanwhile, opened its first light rail line in 2007 and has plans to greatly expand the system. Just this week, Charlotte’s City Council agreed to accept a $25 million federal grant to build an east-west streetcar line to connect with the north-south LYNX light rail line. There are some plans afoot to build new rail transit lines in Atlanta, and a funding application was made in February for a streetcar on Peachtree Street, but Georgia has yet to receive any federal grants for transit.
And it’s not just transit—intercity passenger rail has a lot to do with it as well. Charlotte is connected to Greensboro and Raleigh by six daily Amtrak round-trips, with two daily round-trips linking it to the Northeast Corridor—a link that the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor aims to solidify. Credit for this can be given to the state of North Carolina’s decades of planning and investment, while Georgia has spent next to nothing on trains, the result being that Atlanta is served by only one daily Amtrak train in each direction and high(er)-speed rail is a much longer ways off.
This has Atlanta business leaders worried that the metro area, which is suffering from worsening traffic congestion and deteriorating transit service, may be losing jobs to cities like Charlotte. MARTA and its connecting suburban bus systems have the dubious distinction of being the only urban transit system not to receive state funds—they are funded primarily by a 1% sales tax levied only in the counties they serve. This left these systems particularly vulnerable to the effects of the recession on sales tax revenue, resulting major service cutbacks. Yet the Atlanta area remains far behind in the competition for federal transit dollars because its planning process is not as far along as those of Charlotte and other cities.
Hopefully the success of Charlotte’s rail transit investments in catalyzing smarter development—aided by better intercity train connections—will finally persuade Georgia’s political leaders to get serious about passenger rail. Not only are trains (and buses) an essential lifeline for those without access to cars, but they are the most proven way to combat crippling congestion while creating jobs and desirable places to live and work—places centered on people, not cars.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: atlanta, business, charlotte, economic development, georgia, jobs, light rail, metropolitan, north carolina, passenger trains, rail transit, southeast, streetcars, transit, transportation,Siemens Makes Jobs Case for Fast Trains
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
In a Bloomberg News report, Oliver Hauck, President and CEO of train builder Siemens’ U.S. division, makes a strong economic case for American high-speed rail. His is one of the companies bidding of the design-build-operate-maintain contract for a new bullet train line between Orlando and Tampa, Florida.
“We consider ourselves an American company,” Hauck explains. “We have more than 60,000 [employees] in the U.S., 5,000 of them in Florida. It is our home turf, and we want to bring this technology to the US. We think it’s a required technology for the United States to [stay competitive with other countries].”
Florida’s new trains are estimated to produce 27,500 new jobs, according to a study Siemens did for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. “We will see commercial, industrial and public investment going along those lines, and we estimate there will be 50,000 more jobs in greater Orlando because of this project,” Hauck says.
He also puts in a good word for bringing “higher-speed” service (120 to 150 mph maximum) to existing railroads.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: bloomberg, economic development, florida, high-speed rail, job creation, oliver hauck, orlando, siemens, tampa,Give Providence airport station time to realize its potential
Thursday, October 21, 2010
A Providence, RI local blogger has called the newly-opened train station at T.F. Green Airport in the Providence suburb of Warwick a “boondoggle,” saying that the fact that Amtrak won’t stop there makes it an “economic development white elephant.”
The truth is that the MBTA commuter trains that will soon serve the airport stop will help residents of Providence’s southern suburbs access downtown, as well as Boston and points in between. Furthermore, the station was designed with Amtrak access in mind; the main barrier being the lack of electrification of the station tracks. NARP Council member Steven Musen responds:
This station can be justified merely by the fact that it consolidates all of the rental car companies in one place. Patrons of those companies can access Route 95 via the Airport Connector which is almost out the Jefferson Boulevard Entrance of the Parking Garage. By not having to shuttle the cars from their former parking lots to the terminal building it is estimated that 10% of the existing traffic on that section of Post Road in front of the terminal will be eliminated, thus saving on gas use and local air pollution.
The commuter trains will be a great incentive to those persons working at the airport and nearby businesses as well a local residents who want to get to Boston. While the cost of parking may be higher than Attleboro ($4.00 a day), the savings in gasoline and having to fight route 95 traffic through Providence may make it competitive. Next year the train will be extended to Wickford Junction and an additional market from Hillsgrove will be available.
Amtrak can not stop at the Hillsgrove, because the siding (The FRIP or Freight Rail Improvement Project) is not electrified. However,eventual electrication was designed into the building along with reserving a vacant space on the second level of the garage as a waiting room. When the Coronado street bridge over the tracks is replaced it is possible to put in a fourth track under the station and electrify that as well. These things were not done now because it would have cost an additional $50 million at the very least and the state is limited in its resources.
Amtrak will eventually realize that it is missing an important market at Hillsgrove, and having most of the station in place will be a major help in correcting that ommission.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: airport station, commuter rail, economic development, narp council of representatives, passenger trains, providence, rhode island, t.f. green airport,Federal investment must precede private investment
Friday, June 24, 2011
Say you’re a looking to buy a home in a medium-sized city, and your choice is between two neighborhoods. Neighborhood A is a well-established, thriving, middle-class neighborhood with a stock of postwar-era homes that are generally in good shape. Its streets and sidewalks are well-maintained, its crime rate is low and it’s in a high-ranking school district. Yet there are no stores within walking distance, a fact that concerns you as the city has bad traffic congestion and gas prices are constantly rising.
 |
Neighborhood B is an historically working-class neighborhood of modest Victorian homes, many of which are in need of major repairs. It has had some crime issues, and its schools are ranked slightly below average. Yet there is a diversity of retail within walking distance, recent city government investments have fixed up the streets, crime is starting to go down thanks to a greater police presence, and a light rail line is planned to be built within blocks of the house you’re considering.
The city is offering mortgage assistance to homebuyers in neighborhood B, but not enough to make the decision a no-brainer. Meanwhile, a budget crunch is forcing the City Council to consider making cuts in public education, safety and infrastructure maintenance, making it highly uncertain whether neighborhood B will continue to improve.
Extrapolate this analogy to the national level, where Neighborhood A is the United States’ road and highway network and the many thriving car-oriented places it has generated, and neighborhood B is its passenger train network, and the walkable inner cities and small towns that once thrived on their rail connections but have fallen on hard times. Like a city trying to encourage people to buy homes in disadvantaged neighborhoods, Congressional leaders want to spur private investment in passenger rail. Yet most are unwilling to make the substantial public investments that any private contractor would require in order to enter the business. House leaders are even threatening to make devastating cuts to passenger rail just at a time when it is beginning to revive thanks to earlier federal investment (the Recovery Act and subsequent appropriations for High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail).
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: economic development, highways, neighborhoods, passenger rail, public-private, transportation investments, us infrastructure, walkability,On Light Rail, Maryland Looks to Phoenix For What’s-to-Come
Monday, July 11, 2011
Updated: July 12, 10:30 am
In an effort to understand what residents along the Purple Line—a planned light rail system that will connect suburbs in Maryland—the Washington Post looked to the changes affected by a similar line in Phoenix, Arizona.
What Phoenix now offers — more reliable public transportation, another alternative to gas-guzzling vehicles, new development rejuvenating areas around stations — is what the Maryland Transit Administration envisions for a 16-mile Purple Line between Bethesda and New Carrollton. State planners have said they expect to be granted federal permission this summer to do more detailed engineering on the $1.93 billion project. It’s still unclear where construction money would come from.
The message of the July 9 story was clear: if the Purple Line is anything like Phoenix’s—and it should be, with Maryland officials employing the consulting firm used by the City of Phoenix, a firm that wowed with their attention to detail and passenger comfort—residents will love the train, but can expect significant growing pains.
Those pains include extended construction work that will inhibit movement along busy urban corridors, which will hurt businesses along the corridor. There is also a safety issue, with light rail cars sharing road with automobiles unused to their presence. Finally, there is the cost of the line itself; Maryland transportation officials estimate that in addition to the $1.93 billion construction and engineering costs, there will be an $18 million annual operating costs.
Critics view these factors as reasons enough not to have built the line, pointing to buses as a cheaper alternative.
The public has a far different story to tell about the line, however, praising its efficiency and on time performance while voicing hopes for extension of the line. That story is echoed in ridership figures, with the line averaging 39,000 per weekday—a figure which exceeds projections by 51 percent. And businesses along the corridor that were able to weather the hassle of construction have seen their property values shoot up and residential development return to once economically desolate areas. Phoenix transit officials have also been able to dramatically reduce fender-benders along the route through a coordinated public awareness campaign, cutting collisions from 52 in the first year of operation to 25 the following year.
Perhaps the most telling testimony comes from an official who was the biggest detractor of the Phoenix light rail line in the planning and construction phases.
Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman (R) said he initially objected to taxpayer subsidies for light rail. But he said he changed his mind after seeing the transformation of a dilapidated stretch between downtown Phoenix and Tempe. The city of Tempe had spent “tens of millions of dollars” over three decades trying to attract the kind of investment that the light rail line drew in just a few years, he said… “As a transportation investment,” Hallman said, “the payment back to the community pretty well takes care of the investment.”
Posted by NARP
Tags: economic development, light rail, maryland, phoenix, purple line, safety, transit,Empire Builder annulment reveals train’s vitality to a local economy
Monday, August 01, 2011
Detractors often deride Amtrak’s overnight trains—which offer the only alternative to driving and flying for Americans in hundreds of cities and towns, but require operating support from the federal government—as land cruises for the wealthy and retired. The trains’ many riders who aren’t wealthy or retired would beg to differ, but the extent to which trains facilitate leisure travel is no objection to government support of overnight trains as economic development engines, since tourism is an important industry in many parts of the country.
 |
One of those is the region in northwest Montana surrounding Glacier National Park, and the effect that this summer’s month-and-a-half-long annulment of through operation of Amtrak’s Empire Builder due to flooding in Minot, North Dakota, had on tourism there is an excellent case in point. The Builder is the only form of intercity public transportation that goes directly to the park’s entrances, and allows visitors to arrive relaxed and refreshed. And, considering ever-rising gas prices and airfares, the Builder is often the most affordable way for Americans from across the country to experience this wonderous part of our national natural heritage.
My father and I were among the many vacationers who had booked a trip aboard the Builder from the East Coast for our first visit to the awe-inspiring park. We found out that floods would prevent our train from getting through North Dakota early enough to get a reasonable deal on a flight to the nearest airport (Glacier Park Airport in Kalispell, MT), but many similarly-situated would-be visitors decided to cancel their trips instead of enduring flights or long drives. Talking with the manager of the Izaak Walton Inn where we stayed, and with others, including Glacier Park rangers, we found out that visitation was down significantly compared to recent summers, almost entirely due to the train’s annulment. We also heard the stories of fellow guests who would have come by train, but were forced to undertake grueling drives of hundreds of miles, or (like us) had to take an inconvenient flight (ours arrived in Kalispell just before midnight—a flight at a more reasonable hour would have cost $200 more).
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, economic development, empire builder, glacier national park, local economy, montana, natural heritage, overnight trains, tourism, transportation investment,Kansas Rail Advocates Organize for New Amtrak Stop
Friday, October 07, 2011
The Northern Flyer Alliance, a grassroots organization of passenger train advocates in Kansas and Oklahoma whose primary goal is the northward extension of Amtrak’s Fort Worth-Oklahoma City Heartland Flyer to connect with the Chicago-Los Angeles Southwest Chief in Kansas, is also making inroads towards other, more modest but nonetheless significant, improvements to existing Amtrak service in the two states.
The Alliance co-organized a community forum in Emporia, Kansas, in late September to mount a campaign to rebuild the city’s depot, which was destroyed in the late 1990s, and get Amtrak to add the city as a stop on the Southwest Chief route. Emporia is located between Topeka and Newton on the route, which traverses the length of Kansas during the night on its two-day transcontinental journey. NARP wholeheartedly supports the Alliance’s effort.
About 50 people attended the the meeting, which discussed the costs and benefits of the new stop and possible locations. It received television coverage on WIBW Channel 13. Among the interviewees is Northern Flyer Alliance President (and NARP State Representative) Deborah Fischer Stout.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, amtrak funding, economic development, emporia, ks, heartland flyer, kansas, long-distance trains, national train network, northern flyer alliance, southwest chief,Senator Durbin Defends Amtrak at Normal, IL Transportation Center
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Dick Durbin, the senior Democratic Senator from Illinois, is quickly becoming one of the most vocal defenders of intercity passenger rail in the 112th Congress. At an event held at the work site of the new Multimodal Transportation Center in Normal, IL, Durbin had this to say about attacks on Amtrak’s funding:
Durbin speaks passionately about the critical role passenger rail plays in connecting and promoting economic development in the region. I was actually unaware of the “over 82% approval by Amtrak’s passengers” figure he cites, and this number is all the more impressive for coming at a time of record ridership demands on Amtrak staff and equipment.
Regardless, America needs more elected officials to help connect federal policy choices with the quality of the transportation systems people use every day. While the average Illinoisan may not be fully aware of how the U.S. House leadership’s proposals would affect them, decisions made in Washington will surely impact the transportation choices—and economic opportunity—available in places like Normal.
—Sean Jeans-Gail and Malcolm Kenton
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, dick durbin, economic development, illinois, multimodal transportation center, normal,A Field Guide to False Anti-Train Arguments
Thursday, January 12, 2012
If you’ve been reading this blog, getting NARP emails, or following the debate surrounding passenger train development, you’ve surely heard the worn-out, cliched barbs that defenders of the status quo repeatedly throw at proposals to ramp up investment in trains. If you’ve sometimes found yourself at a loss for short, effective, fact-based rejoinders, then you’re in luck.
 |
| Image: PennDesign |
Our partners at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) have developed a handy document called Inventory of the Criticisms of High-Speed Rail with Suggested Responses and Counterpoints. These can be applied not just to “true” high-speed rail projects like California’s, but also to as-important undertakings to make existing trains faster, more reliable and more frequent.
The common theme found throughout the document—one on which NARP and all our partners have been focusing our rhetoric—is that, while rail projects may look costly now, it will cost a lot more to accomplish (or leave unaccomplished) the same mobility and economic development goals later by other means later on. Remember: the purpose of transportation systems is not to be profit centers on their own, but to serve as the the bloodstream that keeps the rest of the economy going.
Criticism of passenger train development tends to focus on the fact that it won’t be profitable and will require ongoing subsidies. The returns on investment in modern passenger trains won’t be seen in the form of profits for their operators, but rather in the form of increased economic activity and profits for other businesses in the areas the trains serve—not to mention a cleaner environment, a better quality of life, and easier, safer, more affordable mobility for the people living in those areas.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: apta, balanced transportation, cost of inaction, economic development, federal transportation investment, high-speed rail, passenger train development, sustainability, train opponents,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
» Recent Entries
» Blogroll
» Terms of Service for Comments
You may register to post comments in response to NARP-generated postings on the Blog. By registering you agree 1) that all comments will be relevant to the respective posting and 2) not to post any messages that are obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, or that violate any laws. We reserve the right to permanently block postings from any user who does not abide by the above terms. NARP reserves the right to remove, edit, or move any messages for any reason.
» Monthly Archives
