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Capon Praises Grants on NBC
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
This segment featuring NARP President & CEO Ross Capon appeared Saturday evening (Jan. 30) on NBC Nightly News:
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: grants, high-speed rail, nbc news, passenger trains, ross capon,Capon’s Statement to House Transportation Committee
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
Below, reconstructed from notes and memory, is what I said when Chairman Mica invited me to speak at his roundtable in the MTA Board Room on Thursday, January 27. (I did not quote all the numbers in the table, only the average speeds. The top speed in the UK is 125 mph; the only exception is the Eurostar London-Channel Tunnel route (185 mph).
Petra Todorovich, whose testimony I seconded at the outset, serves as Director, America 2050, on the staff of Regional Plan Association, and was representing the Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility.
We strongly endorse the testimony of Petra Todorovich, and join her in emphasizing the importance of continuing to progress the existing Northeast Corridor to a state of good repair and beyond, as provided for in the multi-agency Northeast Corridor Infrastructure Master Plan. The country will not be well served if the Corridor fails apart while we are talking about the vision of a brand new railroad.
One immediate concern is replacement of the elderly Northeast Corridor bridge over the Hackensack River (“Portal”) a few miles west of here. This was to have been replaced in conjunction with the now-defunct ARC project. We are not sure but fear that the Portal project died with the ARC, which will present a huge problem if what is supposed to be a movable bridge stops moving.
Passengers want reliability, attractive trains, and—especially for business travel—reasonable speed. It is worth noting that the highly-regarded Virgin trains in the UK have relatively modest average speeds, as does the Keystone Corridor which has received much favorable comment today.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, average speeds, british passenger trains, high-speed rail, house transportation & infrastructure, john mica, keystone service, narp, northeast corridor, passenger trains, portal bridge, ross capon, testimony,NARP’s Capon appears on CNBC to promote investment in passenger rail
Friday, February 18, 2011
NARP’s President Ross Capon debates the Cato’s Daniel Mitchell about investment in high-speed rail.
Posted by NARP
Tags: airlines, cnbc, congestion, gas tax, highways, passenger trains, price of oil, public investment, ross capon, transportation funding,Mostly good news from high-level presenters at D.C. membership meeting
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
NARP members from Maryland, D.C., Virginia and West Virginia gathered at Washington’s Union Station on Saturday for a very informative 5-hour annual meeting. NARP Director and Mid-Atlantic Division Leader Jim Churchill and Outreach Director Malcolm Kenton put together this report:
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Our first guest was April Maguigad, head of operations for commuter train operator Virginia Railway Express (VRE). Her presentation covered the smooth transition from Amtrak to Keolis as the contractor operating VRE trains, improved on-time performance, new cars and locomotives being delivered, and planned station improvements including allowing passengers to board a train from either side boarding.
VRE remains challenged by growing ridership running into limited capacity, adding service to Stafford County on the Fredericksburg Line (Stafford just became part of the compact that manages VRE). VRE is considering additional reverse commute service on both Manassas and Fredericksburg lines (there is currently one reverse-commute Manassas Line trip and none on the Fredericksburg Line), partly to alleviate crowding of stored equipment in Washington. VRE is also improving track at L’Enfant to facilitate storage of trains there, and building a direct pedestrian tunnel between Alexandria’s VRE/Amtrak station and the King Street Metrorail station.
Michael Testerman, President of the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons and Vice Chair of Rail Solution, presented an overview of the work of the North American Steel Interstate Coalition. Rail Solution’s mission is to vastly expand and upgrade Norfolk Southern’s Shenandoah Valley line to take trucks off of I-81, one of the country’s most heavily-used freight corridors. The Steel Interstate Coaltion wants to expand this concept to other corridors designated by the U.S. military during the 1973 energy crisis, but that have never received major federal investment. The vision includes elecrtifying many main lines to accommodate longer, faster freight trains as well as 110 to 125-mph passenger trains.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, dc streetcars, jim churchill, joseph boardman, marc, narp membership meeting, rail solution, ross capon, union station, vre, washington dc,Responding to Critics, Educating the Public
Monday, April 04, 2011
NARP President Ross Capon sent the following letter to the Wall Street Journal’s editors, responding to a March 29 op-ed piece by Ronald Utt of the Heritage Foundation:
President Obama’s High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Program is improving both passenger and freight train services. It is not the “extravagant Amtrak bailout” that Ronald Utt claims.
For example, 28 miles of second main line will be added between Greensboro and Charlotte so the entire, 82-mile segment will again be double tracked. These tracks will be there 24/7. Passenger trains will not, so Norfolk Southern’s freight operations will benefit.
Utt makes much of Amtrak’s 2009 ridership decline. He should have acknowledged the 11.2% ridership jump in 2008 caused largely by Americans seeking to avoid rising gasoline prices.
Those prices are rising again. So is long-term world demand for oil, and the amount of revenue Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget. Utt’s endless trashing of passenger trains betrays a rear-view mirror focus that makes for bad public policy. Department of Energy figures indicate that Amtrak is 30% and 20% more energy efficient than automobiles and domestic airlines, respectively. Trains are an important travel choice that Americans increasingly want.
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: greensboro news & record, high-speed rail, malcolm kenton, north carolina, passenger train critics, ric killian, ronald utt, ross capon, state legislation, wall street journal,Radio show features NARP President and Amtrak V.P.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
NARP President Ross Capon, along with Amtrak Vice President for Policy and Development Stephen Gardner, discussed what it will take to give more Americans an alternative to the ever-rising costs and hassles of driving on Midday with Dan Rodricks on WYPR, Baltimore’s public radio station.
Listen to the entire show (50-minute MP3)
Capon’s main argument, which Gardner largely echoed, is that policymakers’ decisions in where transportation money is spent have led to the car being the mode of choice for the vast majority of trips in the United States. If there were a better balance between trains, roads and aviation, then the train would be the most sensible choice for many trips, and ticket prices and service levels (frequencies and travel times) would reflect this. Our current situation is mainly because of “public policy ... practically bribing people to drive.”
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“Some of the rhetoric that’s been used has created the image of TGV [French high-speed] trains going everywhere,” Capon said. “And the money [the US government] has invested is not enough to do that. It is enough to make a lot of improvements that have been badly needed. ... The problem we see now is, with some people in America wanting to cut everything they see in terms of spending.”
Multiple callers and online commenters complained about high ticket prices on the Northeast Corridor. Capon explained that Amtrak’s capacity is limited by the number of cars they have, and that the federal government requires Amtrak to charge what the market will bear to minimize the amount of operating assistance needed. Amtrak continues to fill its trains despite the high prices, making it difficult to justify lowering fares for what many consider to be a superior product. In California and the Midwest, however, fares are very reasonable since the states have policies of providing enough operating support to Amtrak so that attractive fares can be offered.
Gardner followed by saying that Amtrak is a victim of its own success, but is in the process of buying new equipment to increase capacity and is offering special low fares on Northeast Regional trains for 14 or more days’ advance purchased tickets.
Towards the end, another caller asked what the average person can do to push for better train service. Besides becoming one of the growing number of NARP members, Capon said “Let your Governors know that you support investment in trains, and the same thing with your two US Senators and your Congressman, and perhaps also your Mayor and local business leaders, ask them to send the same message to top political figures. Because we still live in a democracy.”
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: amtrak, baltimore, northeast corridor, passenger trains, radio interview, ross capon, stephen gardner, ticket prices, transportation, us public policy, wypr,Short-haul airlines in decline, and passenger rail is the solution
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
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| Northeast Alabama Regional Airport |
In his appearance before the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure today, NARP President Ross Capon made an important point about the state of the short-distance aviation market, and what industry trends mean for intercity travel.
With air carriers’ profit margins eroded by rising fuel prices, there has been a spate of stories in the past few weeks about airlines getting out of the business of short-haul flights. In his statement, Capon identified two such pieces:
- The Associated Press reported on November 27 that “[t]he little planes that connect America’s small cities to the rest of the world are slowly being phased out. Airlines are getting rid of these planes — their least-efficient — in response to the high cost of fuel. Delta, United Continental, and other big airlines are expected to park, scrap or sell hundreds of jets with 50 seats or fewer in coming years. Small propeller planes are meeting the same fate. The loss of those planes is leaving some little cities with fewer flights or no flights at all… [Jet fuel prices are] at $3.16 per gallon today, up from 78 cents in 2000. That’s changed the economics of small planes…”
- Two days later, the AP reported that “US Airways’ round-trip fare from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia will jump nearly 500 percent early next year once Southwest Airlines drops its nonstop service between the two cities. The nonrefundable round trip fare, not including taxes and fees, is now $118, but will jump to $698 after Southwest ends its service on Jan. 8, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday [Nov. 29]
The private sector is confirming something NARP has long warned of: rising fuel prices are irrevocably changing the way Americans travel. So think about this: Department of Energy statistics show that even undercapitalized Amtrak is 14% more energy efficient per passenger-mile than domestic airlines (Amtrak uses 2,435 British Thermal Units per passenger-mile, compared to airlines 2,826 BTUs). As Capon pointed out, these trends mean “unless passenger rail development is strangled by inadequate funding, demand for trains will continue to rise.”
Kevin Brubaker, Deputy Director at the Environmental Law & Policy Center, came to the same insight in a briefing he circulated. By piecing together a number of disconnected reports, Brubaker was able to provide an analysis of the vulnerability of small and mid-sized cities reliant upon a single airline’s bottom line:
Regional jets and turbo props are no longer economical, reported the Washington Post [on November 25]. “Airlines are getting rid of these planes—their least-efficient—in response to the high cost of fuel. Delta, United Continental, and other big airlines are expected to park, scrap or sell hundreds of jets with 50 seats or fewer in coming years. Small propeller planes are meeting the same fate. The loss of those planes is leaving some little cities with fewer flights or no flights at all.” [C]ities with strong passenger rail connections are far better equipped to deal with this trend.
- Travelers on the Northeast Corridor can take Amtrak from cities like Providence, RI, Trenton, NJ, and Wilmington, DE to Baltimore-Washington or Newark International Airports for international and long distance flights.
- Places like Springfield, IL, Bloomington/Normal, IL; and Kalamazoo, MI are less vulnerable, since they will soon have 110 mph higher speed service to major hub airports like Detroit, Chicago, and St. Louis.
Capon and Brubaker are both identifying the same fact: overreliance upon a single mode creates inherent instability in a transportation network. There is a hard fact that critics of government investment in infrastructure fail to recognize: if transportation networks are left entirely to the free market, thousands of rural and suburban communities—lacking the population density to allow for profitable operation—will be stranded. That outcome would be a disaster for the Americans who make those towns their home, especially seniors and people with disabilities, who rely on intercity public transportation to a higher degree.
Posted by NARP
Tags: airlines, chicago, detroit, kevin brubaker, philadelphia, pittsburgh, ross capon, rural, short-distance, travel,Opponents push differing lessons on high-speed and intercity passenger rail
Thursday, December 08, 2011
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| Keystone Corridor [Image: Centpacrr] |
The presses have been churning following a contentious hearing on high-speed rail before the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Tuesday, featuring Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and NARP’s own president, Ross Capon. The hearing was titled “The Federal Railroad Administration’s High Speed Intercity Passenger Rail Program: Mistakes and Lessons Learned”. Judging from the statements put out following the inquiry, however, the program’s supporters and detractors walked away with an entirely different set of lessons in hand.
[Click here for archived video of the hearing]
On the DOT’s Fast Lane blog, LaHood continued the vociferous defense of the program he initiated in response to animated questioning during the hearing:
Since 1991, Presidents and Congressmen—Republicans as well as Democrats—have had an American high-speed rail network on their agenda, in good economic times and bad. What’s changed today is that we have a President and Vice President who are backing up their words with actions. We’re not just writing reports and filing them away; we’re hiring workers, we’re laying track, and we’re building stations.
…
From here, the future is bright. During the next six months, more than $1.1 billion of new job-creating construction projects will begin. We’ve invested in increasing the Acela’s speed from 135 to 186 miles per hour. We’ve invested in bringing 110 mile-per-hour service to the Midwest. We’ll soon break ground on a new line between Portland and Seattle. We continue planning for a southwest network that connects Dallas to Houston and Oklahoma City.
And we’re committed to helping the people of California achieve their vision for high-speed rail, too. It’s not a cheap project, but it’s an essential one. And we are in it for the long haul.
Over on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee website, the view from Chairman John Mica (R-FL) was much dimmer:
We’re funding slow-speed projects all over the country, most of them for Amtrak, that will not result in high-speed service. $3.6 billion – more than one-third of the $10.1 billion that has gone to projects – was turned back by states. The one project funded that offered the most hope for achieving high-speed, the California project, appears to be in disarray. In fact, the Committee will hold a hearing specifically to review this project next week.
We need one high-speed rail success, and our country’s best opportunity to achieve high-speed rail is in the Northeast Corridor. Now that federal funding for this program has been stopped, we have an opportunity to learn from those mistakes and make the needed changes to develop at least one truly successful high-speed rail corridor in this country.
Political media outlets seemed split on how to interpret what transpired. Politico’s piece, “High-speed rail has a bad day”, focused on the tongue lashing that House Republicans gave the program, and transposed the hearing with news of a Field poll that claims a majority of Californians would like to see the high-speed rail bond resubmitted to the voters on the 2012 ballot. Streetsblog Capitol Hill and The Hill chose to highlight the back-and-forth between LaHood and critics of the program, with pieces titled “LaHood Defends High-Speed Rail Program At House Hearing” and “LaHood squares off with critics of high-speed rail”, respectively.
Streetsblog captured that interplay nicely with a paragraph on a contentious exchange between LaHood and Representative Bill Shuster (R-PA), who chairs the T&I Subcommittee on Railroads:
When LaHood said that the HSR vision isn’t “Ray LaHood’s vision”—it comes from the states themselves—Shuster said yes, but his daughter wants a luxury SUV and he don’t have the money for it, so she’s not getting it. “I’m glad you didn’t think that about the Keystone Line,” LaHood shot back. He said Shuster asked for the money for that line and the DOT gave it. “Right,” Shuster said, I believe in rail investment “where it makes sense.” But, Shuster noted, he didn’t ask for help funding rail improvements between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh—and that line goes right through his district. But it’s not a strategic investment priority for the country.
Now, to my knowledge, no one is advocating for a 220 mph train between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh in the near-term. Rail advocates—like the Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail, whose efforts we reported on in November—are advocating for a plan to reduce total trip time from 5 hours to 4 hours, and add an additional frequency (from one daily to two), so business travelers could use the service.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that U.S. Airways’ round-trip fare for business travelers from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia will increase by almost 500 percent next year, due to Southwest Airlines’ decision to drop its nonstop service between the two cities. With a few simple upgrades, trains could begin to dominate the air-rail market between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to the extent they do in New York City-Washington, D.C. (69 percent) and New York City-Philadelphia (93 percent). That’s the kind of simple improvements to our transportation network this country should be looking at: a strong business case paired with a low public cost to high public benefit ratio. And with interest rates as low as they are, construction projects can be financed extremely cheaply.
Capon made a similar point in his presentation, using the restoration of the Downeaster service between Portland, Maine and Boston as a case study: although many critics predicted in advance that the train would flop, the service had more than 519,000 riders in fiscal year 2011, up 8.6 percent from 2010.
The limited availability of government funds is an argument for a national rail program. If there the resources aren’t available to fund the $117 billion plan to bring 220 mph service to the Northeast Corridor, or to fund California’s $98 billion Los Angeles-San Francisco corridor, policy makers need to look at how best to use the limited money at their disposal> growing population will need to travel one way or the other, and providing the same level of mobility in the absence of world-class passenger trains will be far more costly than developing our rail network.
NARP President Capon sums it up:
We understand Chairman Mica’s strong support of the development of the Northeast Corridor (NEC). We also support that development both in the Northeast Corridor and elsewhere. Richard Harnish, Executive Director of Midwest High Speed Rail Association and a member of our board, testified before your Railroads Subcommittee on April 20, 2010, “At 220 miles per hour, we can achieve a transformative tipping point where journeys become commutes and business travelers can spend a productive day in a distant city and still be home for dinner.”
[But w]e believe that the HSIPR program must be national, regardless of how few states are currently ready for very high speed trains. Only 18% of the US population lives within 25 miles of an NEC Amtrak station. If the HSIPR program had been focused solely on the NEC, national support for and enthusiasm for the program could not have been sustained and many projects elsewhere would not have been funded. Moreover, the needs of the NEC greatly exceed the totality of the funding that has been provided, thereby limiting the impact the program could have had on the NEC.
Posted by NARP
Tags: bill shuster, downeaster, high-speed rail, john mica, keystone corridor, pittsburgh, ray lahood, regional rail, ross capon,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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