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Counting Our Blessings
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Thoughts in light of yesterday’s Washington Metrorail disaster.
Our thoughts are with the families of those who lost their lives and those who were injured in yesterday’s horrific Metrorail crash in Washington, DC. We are also keeping in mind the Metro employees who received a shocking reminder of just how important their jobs are and the awesome responsibility that is in their hands. That yesterday marked only the second train accident causing passenger fatalities in Metrorail’s 32-year history should remind the traveling public how safe mass trasit is. The National Transportation Safety Board has begun its investigation into the exact cause of the tragedy and, as with all such incidents, what we learn from their findings will make Metro and other transit systems even safer in the future.
My experience getting home from NARP’s Washington office yesterday, while harrowing, made me count my blessings. My plan was to take the 5:35 PM MARC Brunswick Line commuter train from Union Station. After almost half an hour waiting at the station hearing only that the track ahead was blocked, I learned via my mobile phone of the accident and determined that my train was not going to depart. I informed my fellow passengers and proceeded to find other means of transport. It took me two and a half hours, two bus rides and a lift from a kind stranger, but I made it home. Had I decided to leave only 15 minutes earlier, though, it could have been a lot worse, and I was lucky to be alive and unharmed.
Yesterday, I saw firsthand just how much a large city relies on its transit network. With a key segment of Metrorail and commuter service out of commission, the number of people forced into buses, cars and taxis, created huge traffic jams. If Metro’s trains and buses did not exist, there is no way the city of Washington would be able to function as it does. The subway network has only been around for three decades, but it literally consitutes the arteries that keep the city’s lifeblood flowing. When one of those arteries gets clogged or fails, the entire body is thrown into disarray.
This should serve a reminder of how indespensible our work is at NARP and throughout the rail and transit industries. We must continue our work to make trains—intercity, commuter and metro—a reliable, convenient, comfortable, and above all, safe travel method available to all Americans.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by NARP
Tags: commuting, disaster, metro, mobility, railroad, safety, tragedy, transit,Washington looking to expedite infrastructure projects
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Image: Metro
President Barack Obama has identified 14 infrastructure projects to be fast-tracked in a Presidential Memorandum, a move recommended by his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. As a result of this order, the permitting and environmental review processes under the supervision of federal authorities will be expedited, allowing these high-priority projects to begin construction and start employing Americans.
One of the projects the Obama Administration identified would extend Los Angeles Metro’s light rail system, bringing it closer to the Los Angeles International Airport.
The White House has this to say about the project:
The Crenshaw/LAX project will extend the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (LA Metro) existing Green Line light rail nearer to the Los Angeles International Airport and connect it to the Expo Line light rail. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is providing additional targeted technical assistance to shorten the approval time for this project by several months. In addition FTA and LA Metro will pilot FTA’s new streamlined risk assessment approach for major transit projects to ensure risks and associated mitigation measures are identified and addressed promptly.
I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of Metro’s transit-rail system today as part of NARP’s Council of Representatives meeting taking place this week in Los Angeles. We rode along the Green Line while listening to Metro planners narrate their vision for Los Angeles’ transportation future. I even noticed a few commuters eavesdropping, leaning in to soak up the unexpected information being provided by these peripatetic lecturers. I certainly couldn’t blame them; the forethought displayed by these Metro employees was wonderful to listen to, and hinted at a Los Angeles no longer bound by highway gridlock.
What was clear, though, was that Metro wasn’t being dictated to by the Obama Administration. To the contrary, Los Angeles’ transportation officials had impressed upon the White House that they could do more than the current federal surface transportation authority allowed. This echoes other stories I’ve heard from transit planners, who chafe under a federal transportation framework that favors road-building over rail-laying. While not many cities have a mayor with the national profile on infrastructure that L.A.’s Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has, I can’t help but wonder how many transportation agencies across the U.S. are chafing for the opportunity to revitalize American cities.
Metro is confident that they can lead the way in showing how to build efficient transit, quickly. And now, we know Capitol Hill is paying attention.
Posted by NARP
Tags: american jobs act, los angeles, metro, obama, transit, white house,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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