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Reporter Liveblogs a Pere Marquette Trip
Friday, December 07, 2007
On Monday, Grand Rapids Press (MI) reporter Ken Kolker liveblogged a round-trip to Chicago on the Amtrak Pere Marquette, three days after the train was involved in a serious read-end collision with a Norfolk Southern freight train outside of Chicago that caused 60 injuries. Kolker shows his lay credentials, referring to a couple boarding the train as, “climbing aboard the locomotive.” More notably, he also collected anecdotes from two passengers who were on the ill-fated train the previous Friday. 78 year-old Louisa Vargo, who still had a black eye to show for her troubles, nonetheless returned home by Amtrak as a vote of confidence in the safety of rail travel:
Despite the crash, she did not hesitate to ride Amtrak home. She takes this trip several times a month.
“I don’t even think about it,” she says. “It’s just another trip, I’m not apprehensive at all.”
Members of the traditional news media are beginning to embrace technology as a means to expose the public to the rail travel experience. At the vanguard of this phenomenon is Rafi Guroian, Director of Technology & Online Content Manager for Cox Newspapers Washington Bureau, whose Rafi on the Rails feature includes regular insights from his experiences on Amtrak. Guroian even went so far as to have a live webcam and GPS tracking during a recent two-week cross-country trip!
Hopefully, this is a trend that will expand. Not only do these “new media” ventures by traditional outlets provide greater exposure for the rail travel alternative, they can lead to greater accountability for the bad apples at Amtrak who the correspondents encounter, as Guroian did on a recent trip.
—Matthew Melzer
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, news media, pere marquette, safety,Holland Sentinel Readers Confident in Amtrak
Thursday, December 20, 2007
In an unscientific readers’ poll, the Holland Sentinel (MI) asked, “How has the Amtrak [Pere Marquette] train crash in Chicago November 30 impacted the likelihood of you riding the train in the future?”
Check out these astonishing results:
Not only are the majority of readers confident that the train is safe, there are more folks who would ride Amtrak after the crash than those who would avoid it! As they say, all publicity is good publicity. And for the safe mode of train travel, good publicity is well-deserved, even if the rare incident is regrettable.
While commercial aviation is also, for the most part, a safe mode of travel, I submit that a scary, non-fatal situation in the air is much more likely to draw strongly negative reactions. On Sunday, my return trip from Miami was on American Airlines. As we descended towards Reagan National Airport, strong winds in the area contributed to severe turbulence, the kind that makes the wings visibly flap and causes even iron stomachs to drop. Perhaps a hundred yards from touchdown, the captain engaged full throttle and we aborted the landing. At this point, several people were crying, a few were vomiting, and a woman behind me was in the grips of an uncontrolled panic attack. We circled around for another landing attempt; the captain threw in the towel at about 1,000 feet and announced that dangerous 40-knot crosswinds were not worth the risk for our Boeing 737-800.
We were diverted to Dulles International Airport, where we landed nearly an hour late. However, we parked on the tarmac and awaited paramedics to board to treat the sufferer of the panic attack. Passengers were eventually allowed to exit onto the unique IAD people movers (“moon buggies”), which incidentally will soon be replaced in normal service by an intra-airport automated train system. American chartered coaches to get everyone back to DCA, and by that point we were two-and-a-half hours late.
The incident with our flight apparently made the local news, along with an earlier MIA-DCA flight that day which was also diverted to IAD, due to mechanical reasons.
Even if air travel is safe, the perceived perils are rightfully greater than that of train travel. Let’s also not forget that over 45,000 people die each year on the road; 15.5 deaths per 100,000 population is greater than the murder rate in many major cities.
It bears repeating: However you may be traveling this holiday season, stay safe out there!
—Matthew Melzer
Posted by NARP
Tags: air travel, airlines, amtrak, news media, pere marquette, safety,Malaise in the Airline Industry: Safety, Fuel, and the Economy
Thursday, April 10, 2008
This lead in today’s Financial Times says it all:
Chaos gripped US airports for a third straight day on Thursday as the government’s top transportation watchdog called for changes to airline safety oversight, citing an “overly collaborative” relationship between airlines and their regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration.
Calvin Scovel III, the US transportation department’s inspector general, made his comments before Congress as American Airlines cancelled 900 flights to perform safety checks, stranding thousands of air passengers.
American has canceled over 2,400 flights and counting this week due to potentially faulty wiring in its MD-80s, which comprise one-third of its fleet and form the backbone of its medium-haul domestic fleet. At least 250,000 passengers have been affected, far more than when Southwest Airlines grounded dozens of 737s last week. Disruptions are afflicting other airlines as well, and further groundings are likely as the FAA responds to the harsh light being shone on its inspection standards.
On Tuesday, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show responded aptly:
Stewart’s money quote:
It’s all sort of ironic, when you think about it. When you fly, you are inspected quite thoroughly, whereas the plane itself is, perhaps, occasionally vacuumed. See, with this administration, if a passenger blows up a plane, it’s a failure in the War on Terror. But if the plane just blows up on its own, eh, that’s the market self-regulating!
Yes, that’s hyperbole (Jon Stewart is a comedian). But if the aviation system is generally safe, why on earth would federal regulators start down the dangerous slippery slope of cutting corners, glossing over potential problems, and creating the appearance of impropriety in dealing with the airlines they’re supposed to regulate?
Meanwhile, external economic factors have eviscerated the viability of several airlines, while many survivors are trimming their capacity (for more coverage, see last week’s Hotline). Yesterday oil prices (Nymex West Texas Intermediate) surged to a record $112.15 a barrel before settling at $110.87, even though US demand over the past four weeks was 0.4% below the same period a year ago. Oil was $52 a barrel in January 2007. Here is a quick list of airlines that are now history, a list that is bound to grow:
December 26, 2007 – Maxjet Airways (offering London-USA business class service) files for bankruptcy protection
March 31, 2008 – Aloha Airlines ends passenger services after more than 60 years
March 31, 2008 – Champion Air (Minneapolis-based charter operator) announces flights will end from May 31
April 3, 2008 – ATA Airlines ends service, files for bankruptcy protection
April 5, 2008 – Skybus, start-up low-cost carrier which had 65 new Airbus A319 jets on order, ends service
April 9, 2008 – Oasis Hong Kong, budget carrier, ends service after 17 months
So far, Amtrak revenues do not appear to have been hurt by the economic downturn (or recession), and fuel prices probably are driving some business to Amtrak. This will likely hasten as airlines are forced to raise fares and further reduce capacity to stay in the black.
Intrepid blogger Aaron Donovan has noted that passengers trapped in the current nightmare at American’s hub at O’Hare have the option of Amtrak’s hub at Chicago Union Station, an easy ride away on the CTA Blue Line. Even taking a leisurely-paced long-distance train would be a faster option for many people than waiting for the next available flight, whenever that might be. And some passengers are indeed taking advantage of the train option.
[Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy] Connell says ridership has gone through the roof out of the Chicago area because of all the cancellations at O’Hare Airport. Some of its trains have seen up to a 60 percent boost in riders.
Amtrak has seen a spike in passengers since the flight cancellations began earlier in the week, especially in the Northeast, spokesman Cliff Cole said.
“Our ridership was heavy yesterday, is heavy today and is likely to be heavy tomorrow, based on our reservations,” Cole said Thursday.
Once again, Amtrak is proving its value and relevance by providing redundancy in a fragile transportation system.
—Matthew Melzer
Posted by NARP
Tags: air travel, airlines, amtrak, multimodalism, news media, oil, safety, the daily show,NARP On the Air Following Chatsworth Tragedy
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
In the wake of the tragic Metrolink-Union Pacific freight train collision in Chatsworth, CA last Friday, NARP staff have been interviewed by several media outlets. NARP’s overall message has been strongly in favor of industry-wide installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) or any other collision-avoidance system that prevents accidents like Friday’s.
On Saturday, NARP Executive Director Ross Capon and NARP Board member Ken Briers (a rail operations expert and former locomotive engineer) were interviewed on KPCC, Southern California Public Radio, as part of their “Off-Ramp” program. An archive is available both in Real Audio and Podcast format here. Capon’s interview occurs about half way through the program, starting at 25:45, and Briers’ starts at 44:05. (Note that despite the program’s name, it is not usually about transportation.)
Last night, NARP Director of Communications Matthew Melzer was on “Which Way, L.A.?” on KCRW, another Los Angeles-area NPR affiliate, advocating for collision-avoidance technology such as PTC. Streaming and Podcast archives are available here.
Sunday and last night, Capon also briefly appeared in segments on NBC Nightly News, pointing out that most of the nation’s passenger trains operate in shared-trackage situations, comingled with freight trains, and that Congress and regulators will need to examine the costs of implementing PTC.
—Dave Johnson
Posted by NARP
Tags: briers, capon, kcrw, kpcc, melzer, narp on the air, nbc nightly news, news media, positive train control, safety, tom costello,Senate Politics Impeding Rail Safety and Reauthorization Bill
Friday, September 26, 2008
On Wednesday, the House passed by voice vote H.R. 2095, which combines the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 and the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 (the latter incorporating provisions from S. 294). Yesterday, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) placed a hold on the bill, preventing an up-or-down vote in the Senate without cloture.
In a Wall Street Journal article posted yesterday afternoon, “Senator Holds Up Bill on Train Safety Device,” Sen. Coburn is quoted saying “Amtrak loses $2 billion a year subsidizing food.”
This is an absurd figure, since Amtrak’s total operating grant is under $500 million—$490 million in the FY 06 and 07 appropriations bills, and $475 million this year.
No one thinks operations generate a $2.5 billion profit that mostly goes to offsetting food losses, yet that’s what Coburn’s math implies.
While Amtrak has reduced food losses since the June 9, 2005 House hearing on this issue, it is important to remember what Amtrak Senior Vice President—Operations William L. Crosbie said in his testimony then: “Amtrak’s food and beverage service is a fundamental part of the service that we offer on board the majority of the trains that we operate on a daily basis. Its primary purpose is to enhance ticket sales and ridership, not serve as a profit center.”
It would be nice if Senators could get the facts right, especially ones who are trying to deny the Senate the chance to vote on this bill.
—Ross Capon
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, amtrak reauthorization, news media, safety, senate action, wall street journal,Good Week for Trains
Thursday, October 02, 2008
On Monday, the Senate voted 69-17 to cut off debate, clearing the way for the long-sought up-or-down vote on the Rail Passenger Investment Act (now named for and including the rail safety provisions). On Wednesday evening, the Senate gave final approval to the bill 74-24 (actually, one vote stronger than the financial overhaul bill that followed, which passed 74-25).
The roll call of how senators voted Wednesday night will be of great interest. It can be viewed here.
The members-only section of our web site has a more user-friendly version of the roll call, alphabetical by state, and side-by-side with other Senate votes of interest to us. (Update: It also has a stand-alone chart for the Senate vote on H.R. 2095.)
On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Mary Peters traveled to Richmond on the train with Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Boardman to announce the $30 million in grants to 13 states, the first-ever such set of grants. She also emphasized strong ridership growth on trains and transit, and the decline in driving. Details, including list of the grants, are available here.
—Ross Capon
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak reauthorization, fra, safety, usdot,Lytton Op-Ed: CAHSR “Would Save Lives and Fuel”
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Kudos to NARP Board Member Dennis Lytton, whose op-ed piece, “High-speed rail would save lives and fuel,” the Daily Breeze (Southern California) published yesterday. Dennis does a fantastic job bringing into focus the long-term safety and environmental benefits the California High-Speed Rail project would bring. For more analysis, see the CAHSR Blog.
—Matthew Melzer
Posted by NARP
Tags: california high-speed rail, california proposition 1, california proposition 1a, dennis lytton, oil, safety,“Miracle in Rockville” a teachable moment wasted
Friday, May 15, 2009
On Friday, May 8, around 4:50 PM, a car was stopped in traffic at the Randolph Road crossing in Rockville, Maryland. A MARC train (the first one after Amtrak’s Capitol Limited) hit the car, forcing it into a crossing gate which impaled the car through the rear and front windows, coming within inches of the pregnant driver’s head (see link below for dramatic photo). Media attention apparently focused exclusively on the fact that the driver was miraculously unhurt (except for minor air-bag-related injuries):
She didn’t think to jump out of the car—although, if she had, she might have been hit by the train, Valencia said. It all happened in a matter of seconds, and when she opened her eyes after the collision, the gate arm was touching her head.
Here was an opportunity to avoid future accidents by imploring viewers not to enter a railroad crossing until the next vehicle ahead if far enough to let you clear the tracks quickly.
Motorists who fail to use common sense in this regard risk their own lives and their passengers’ lives. Such accidents also traumatize the engineer (incorrectly referred to here by NBC Channel 4 as a “conductor”) and wreak havoc on the schedules of (in this case) 3,000 MARC train commuters, many of whom have day care pick-ups and other commitments, as well as any motorists whose normal route takes them across this crossing.
It is wonderful that the woman and her unborn child were so lucky. But the fact that her driving error caused the accident, and that it is an all-too-common error, obligates the media to make use of this teachable moment rather than to focus exclusively on one lucky motorist.
—Ross Capon, NARP President
Posted by NARP
Tags: crossing, marc, safety,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,Southern Mobility: North Carolina Leads the Way
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Unlike many states where the DOT is little more than a highway department, the Tar Heel State certainly isn’t stuck in the mud when it comes to passenger trains.
A third-daily round-trip between Raleigh and Charlotte will commence operation [PDF] in four weeks, adding a mid-day run to the existing morning and evening departures in each direction. The line should also see a fourth daily round-trip in the next two years. The state continues to invest in its stations, with Durham’s new depot having opened in December and plans in the works for modern multi-modal hubs in Raleigh and Charlotte to complement Greensboro’s crown jewel. (Full disclosure: I grew up and went to college in Greensboro.)
The NCDOT Rail Division, led by Pat Simmons, has made tremendous progress in modernizing the rail lines used by Amtrak trains, with the goal of nearly consistent 90-mph operation between Raleigh and Charlotte within the next five years. Thanks to the Sealed Corridor Program, spearheaded by Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award honoree and NCDOT Director of Engineering & Safety Paul Worley, grade crossing collisions (such as the this morning in Mebane, NC) will be largely prevented. Station and track work has also been completed in hopes of returning passenger trains to Asheville via Salisbury.
In addition to the Rail Division’s exemplary work, the North Carolina Rail Road (NCRR)—the quasi state-run owner of the tracks between Charlotte and Goldsboro—has completed a study [PDF] of potential frequent commuter service between Greensboro, Burlington and the Research Triangle area (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill). NCRR found that ridership on such service would be significant: possibly 3 million annual passengers by 2022. This would place it at number 13 amongst current US commuter rail systems by ridership, slightly below the Miami area’s TriRail and the South Shore Line between Chicago and South Bend, IN.
It took two decades of building capacity and expertise in railroading and a culture of intermodal thinking at NCDOT. Now, North Carolina offers an outstanding template for other states to follow. Fast, frequent intercity service, plus expanded light rail and bus networks (like those in Raleigh/Durham, Charlotte, and Greensboro/High Point), equals real travel choices. If all Americans are to benefit from such connectivity, work must be done at the state “highway department”—and in Washington to give states the financing and policy tools to get there.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: connectivity, dot, frequency, highway, intermodal, north carolina, planning, safety, trains, transportation,Trains: Enhancing Freedom of Mobility
Friday, August 13, 2010
Washington Examiner editorial page editor Mark Tapscott claims that we train and transit advocates want to use “government power to force the rest of us to accept less mobility and convenience.” On the contrary, expanding train and transit service gives people more mobility and convenience by not tethering them to one mode of transportation. Many prefer not to have to worry about where to park or having to go get gas when out on errands or taking a leisure trip across town or across the country. Taking public transportation also saves money, and may even save your life—over 42,500 people are killed in car accidents each year, 50 times more than die on railroads and 180 times more than die on transit annually. But those of us who would rather leave the driving up to someone else are left with less mobility and less convenience because public funding priorities are so overwhelmingly skewed towards highways.
Tapscott also compares the “freedom” the car offers to that afforded by smartphones. But what good is a smartphone when you have to spend all your travel time keeping your eyes on the road? When you use trains and transit, you have the freedom to spend your travel time however you choose, including by using your smartphone, without posing a safety hazard. Mobile devices can also increasingly help you get around without a car just as easily as they can give you driving directions.
Balancing out the U.S. transportation funding scale to provide frequent, dependable train (and bus) service would give people the freedom to choose not only when and where to travel, but also how to travel, and the freedom to choose a mode of travel that takes a lighter toll on the pocketbook and the planet. It’s advocates of the highway-happy status quo who want to limit your freedom of mobility.
—Malcolm Kenton
Posted by Malcolm Kenton
Tags: automobiles, cost savings, freedom, highways, mark tapscott, mobile devices, mobility, safety, smartphones, trains, transit, washington examiner,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,Downeaster’s Mobile Device Field Test
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Passengers on Amtrak’s popular Boston-Portland, ME Downeaster service will be seeing something new beginning this week—a technology that will fundamentally change the way Amtrak accepts and tracks tickets.
Currently, conductors collect paper tickets from customers and carry them in their shirt pockets—a system relatively unchanged since the days when locomotives were powered by steam. While it is true that there is a digital documentation of a passenger’ reservation, the only record of who actually boarded the train resides in the conductor’s paper tickets.
That’s all about to change. Passengers on the Downeaster will be part of a mobile device field test beginning this week. [See image of Amtrak’s seatback notification, at bottom] For the time being, there will be nothing different about how customers purchase tickets. The only difference passengers will see is the portable ticket-scanning device conductors will be field-testing, which will be used to instantly send ticket information to a central database.
First and foremost, this will increase the safety of passengers. Accidents are a rare occurrence, to be sure, but recent accidents on the California Zephyr and the Downeaster—both caused by trucks colliding with trains—are unfortunate reminders that these incidents need to be prepared for. Amtrak’s first responders need to have an exact manifest of passengers; know who they should be looking for and how many people are unaccounted for. Currently, Amtrak’s emergency workers are forced to rely on a manifest of who bought tickets beforehand. But train stations aren’t like airports, with rigid and uniform passenger controls. They are often open, bustling centers of social and commercial activity or isolated rural outposts. People miss trains; or buy tickets on-board; or catch later trains with an unreserved ticket. Any delay that arises from the manual construction of a manifest from a loose assortment of ticket stubs is a delay that puts people at risk. For this reason, Amtrak should be applauded for developing this scanning capability on its perpetually inadequate capital budget.
As for other benefits of the portable ticket-scanning devices, only time will tell. But looking at how airlines use similar ticket-scanning technology—offering tickets that can be printed at home or carried on a smartphone—should make passengers cautiously optimistic for the coming years.
Posted by NARP
Tags: downeaster, mobile, safety,Amtrak’s eTicketing off to a smooth start
Monday, November 28, 2011
[Corrected: November 29, 2011]
As NARP reported back in August, Amtrak recently launched a pilot eTicketing program on the popular Boston-Portland Downeaster train. I’m happy to write that so far, the launch of the pilot has been a big success.
 |
| A standard eTicket, as issued by a Quik-Trak machine |
Anyone who has ridden an airplane in the last decade has a general understanding of what an eTicket is—a document that serves as a physical representation of a digital record, as opposed to a value-bearing document. With eTickets, authenticity is verified via an electronic scanning device connected to a database, rather than the material characteristics of the paper ticket.
There are some significant benefits to both passengers and Amtrak to this way of storing ticket information.
Passengers will now be able to print tickets at home. Value bearing paper tickets require controlled printing environments to ensure a uniform ticket for conductors to verify. But since conductors will be using mobile scanning devices on eTickets, only the unique barcode on an eTicket is important. Passengers can provide Amtrak with their email address and simply print their eTicket from their home or work computer. This convenience is a boon for passengers who do not live close to a staffed Amtrak station and this streamlining will eventually allow Amtrak to phase-out the mailing of non-multi-ride tickets, an unnecessarily costly and time-consuming process for the company and the passengers.
Posted by NARP
Tags: airlines, downeaster, eticketing, safety,The versatility of passenger train investment
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Last week, Mollee posed a question on NARP’s Facebook page, asking about the cost-to-benefit ratio of passenger rail:
“I understand that the budget and spending need to be curtailed but in doing so, wouldn’t the best plan… be in putting the money where it does the most good?”
The thrust of her comment seems to be: in a time of limited revenue, the government should focus on projects that move the country forward on multiple national objectives.
NARP agrees with the assessment, and it’s a viewpoint we’ve consistently pushed in our advocacy work.
Amtrak is 31.2% more efficient than automobiles, 33.5 % more efficient than personal trucks, and 13.8% more efficient than airplanes (on a Btu per passenger mile basis). Passenger trains decrease U.S. dependency on foreign oil and reduce the emission of harmful pollutants into the air. Intercity rail, properly connected to public transit systems, creates walkable streets and livable neighborhoods. Train travel is far safer than driving; motor vehicle accidents killed more than 32,000 people in 2010, and is the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 3 and 33. And constructing a high-speed train network would revitalize the U.S. passenger rail manufacturing industry, which declined in the decades following the construction of the federally-financed Interstate Highway System.
 |
| Congestion [Image: Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz Mariordo] |
So building passenger rail fulfills not just transportation goals, but environmental, social, safety, and national defense goals as well. Why not invest?
The answer seems to be as conceptual, as much as anything. Here’s an excerpt from a piece we posted in November looking at the relative costs of different modes of transportation:
Using the relative government transportation budgets as a jumping off point, David C. compares the relative efficiency of the $1.6 billion spent on Amtrak (FY 2010) and the $96.4 billion spent on highways (FY 2007):
Amtrak’s federal grant, constituting just 0.05% of federal spending in 2010, is once again under attack. Its critics perennially point to the railroad’s 24¢ per passenger mile (ppm) government subsidy, compare it to the 2¢ ppm direct subsidy for driving, and call Amtrak a waste.
Comparing these direct subsidies, though, tells only part of the story. When indirect subsidies are considered, Amtrak’s total subsidy comes out to a little less than 44¢ ppm, but motoring’s subsidy rises up to almost
5645¢ ppm.By “indirect subsidies”, David C. is referring to costs not directly covered by drivers, such as air pollution, traffic congestion, and a certain percentage of the cost of car accidents (anything not covered by driver’s insurance policy)—to name a few of many.
Now, “externalities” are difficult to build an argument around. Rather than a simple bullet point, we’re asking undecided readers to let us deconstruct their world view and replace it with something more complicated and difficult to understand. It’s an easy task for critics of Amtrak to say “taxpayers subsidize each train ticket on X route by Y dollars.” It’s much harder to explain why policy dictating that every department store have X square feet of dedicated parking per Y square foot of retail space is making their purchases Z more expensive. Or figure out the dollars and cents cost to increased instances of asthma found in children who live near highways—and are thus exposed to higher concentrations of vehicle exhaust.
Understanding the ways passenger trains benefit our communities requires work. Understanding the ways over-reliance on roads is hurting the U.S. also takes work. That’s why it’s important for advocates of a smart transportation system do the work, and help others to understand the indirect costs associated with our travel decisions. Only by educating the general public about the real cost of transportation will we get the most bang for our buck.
Posted by NARP
Tags: amtrak, benefits, high-speed rail, indirect costs, national defense, safety,©2010 National Association of Railroad Passengers | » NARP website
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