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NARP Members Speak: We Want More Trains!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
For the past several months, NARP has been attaching a survey to some membership renewal forms. It asks members to tell us how often they travel by train, why they choose to do so, and how satisfied they are with their experiences. It also asks how rail service should be improved and what the government’s top priority should be when spending Recovery Act funds. We tabulated 317 responses from members across the country in all walks of life. The responses reveal that our members are solidly behind the goals for which NARP has striven since its founding: fast, on-time trains serving more cities and routes.
75 percent of respondents people surveyed use the train primarily for pleasure travel with an additional 20 percent riding the rails for both business and pleasure. The train appeals to both types of rider precisely because it offers an enjoyable ride, providing unmatched ability for passengers to either to conduct business or to relax, socialize, read, sleep, and listen to music while en route. 75 percent also travel on overnight trains, which are critical to a healthy national network. Faster and more frequent service, on both short and long-distance routes, would be a boon to both business and leisure riders.
46 percent report being very satisfied with their rail travel experiences, but 48% are only somewhat satisfied, which suggests significant room for improvement. When asked to rank some of our ideas for upgrading service, the top three vote-getters were “new routes and services to more cities” (79%), “better on-time performance” (73%), and “more frequent service” (71%). Majorities also favored more modern equipment, faster trains, and improved food service. These priorities will continue to be NARP’s goals: more frequent and on-time trains in the near term, with additional routes in the longer run.
On the question of how the Recovery Act’s limited resources should be allocated, the largest share of respondents (85%) chose “improve all rail equipment and infrastructure,” followed closely by “connect all Americans via rail.” Given that stimulus funds are limited only to “ready-to-go” projects, infrastructure enhancement will necessarily comprise the bulk of what is accomplished. We will continue to make sure that these investments result in significant advancements in existing service that will reduce travel times and boost reliability.
Gaining a clearer picture of our members’ preferences and desires has elucidated our mandate to make trains an even more desirable travel choice for all Americans. But without the support and involvement a growing membership, we lack the strength necessary to get it done. If you are not a member, please consider joining for as little as $35 for one year. If you are a member, please spread the word so that our grassroots movement may continue to grow. Now is the time for the United States to join the rest of the developed world in providing safe, dependable, enjoyable and Earth-friendly transportation that frees us from our yoke to the automobile. All it takes is time, persistence, and strength in numbers.
A sampling of member responses to open-ended questions after the jump…
—Malcolm Kenton
Special thanks to NARP volunteers Peter Roberts and Joe Lyons for their hard work in tabulating and analyzing these results.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: expansion, fast, frequent, improvements, membership, overnight, results, survey, trains, travel, upgrades,In Florida, The Fourth Time Could Be the Charm
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Reasons to hope for speedy improvements to make rail travel more convenient in the Sunshine State.
Hundreds were in attendance at the Florida Department of Transportation’s rail forum on December 2nd in Orlando, including every manufacturer of railroad vehicles in the world and many other industry professionals. The conference came in advance of the Florida legislature’s historic vote to invest in a new commuter line in the Orlando area and make a down-payment towards Orlando-Tampa-Miami high-speed rail. This is the fourth time that Florida has tried to jumpstart construction of a new system of fast trains, but the momentum seems to have built to a crescendo this go-round.
DOT officials speaking at the forum emphasized that these investments are only a first step. The state is looking eventually to buy new trainsets capable of 220-mph operation, though speeds on the initial line segment (Orlando-Tampa) will be limited to 168 mph. Though the DOT is currently operating under a less-than-desirable framework of running this segment down the median of Interstate 4, precluding downtown-to-downtown service to existing stations between Orlando and Tampa, the final routing will largely be determined by the contractor that makes the best bid.
Beyond the initial start-up, the state plans not to contribute a penny towards the service. The DOT wants future capital funding to come from federal grants, while the private sector covers the operating costs. It remains to be seen whether this scheme will prove viable once work begins.
Here’s hoping that the encouraging news out of the Sunshine State this month will lead to real results. Florida still lags far behind many states that have made serious strides in passenger rail over the past two decades, but its involvement is better late than never. While many aspects of the plan still need to be worked out, rail advocates cannot afford to make the perfect the enemy of the good. If this first phase is successful, we should begin to see incremental progress towards fast, frequent service connecting all the peninsula’s population centers that will begin to chip away at the state’s worsening traffic and suburban sprawl.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: fast, florida, florida dot, frequent, funding, high-speed rail, improvements, rail, results, sunrail, trains, travel,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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