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TRAINS: A travel choice Americans want

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Flag Stops: Making No Small Plans

Friday, February 26, 2010

Reasons to be hopeful, to be concerned, and to take action.

  • As we have reported, the jobs bill passed by the Senate on Monday contains no investment in 21st-century transportation alternatives like trains. Our partners at Transportation for America are calling on everyone to write Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and ask that he include investment in better transportation in a future jobs package, as more appear to be in the works. Please join us in taking action.

  • While we’re on the subject of taking action, why not take a minute (especially if you live in or near New Orleans) to ask New Orleans Mayor-elect Mitch Landrieu to make restoring the New Orleans-Florida Gulf Coast Connector a transportation priority. Click here and scroll down to the middle left of the page.

  • The nascent flow of federal money to intercity passenger rail improvement is jumpstarting rail planning in states that have lagged far behind for decades. One example is West Virginia, where a small group of dedicated NARP members called Friends of the Cardinal is working with influential state legislators to enact a bill that will match $1 billion from the Recovery Act with state funds to put together both a comprehensive rail plan and a high-speed rail plan for the state. The bill, SB 527, is expected to pass the full Senate on Monday, but may face a difficult journey through the House, with the legislative session set to end on March 12. One of the rail advocates working the halls of power in Charleston, long-time NARP member Bonni McKewon, penned an op-ed for the Charleston Gazette. If you live in West Virginia, ask your Delegate in the House to work for swift passage of SB 527. You can also follow Friends of the Cardinal on Twitter.

  • In answering questions after his testimony [PDF] before the Senate Budget Committee this week, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood proclaimed that “streetcars are coming back to America,” citing Portland, Oregon, as a model for other cities. His comments come as more people are realizing how the world’s most expansive streetcar network, which covered every small and large American city early in this century, was decimated as road-building mania, combined with pressure from oil and rubber interests, made buses the seemingly more economical choice for urban transit. Yet, for a number of reasons, buses don’t attract riders the way streetcars do. More and more cities, with help from Uncle Sam, are looking to join in the American trolley revival.

  • New York State is already home to more train stations (of all types) than any other state, and intercity service on the New York City-Albany-Buffalo trunk line is set to be upgraded [PDF] thanks to the Recovery Act. Yet many are still pushing for brand-new high-speed tracks along this line, including the President of the state Senate. The means that Sen. Malcolm Smith’s wishes are highly appropriate—a state High-Speed Rail Authority, a council to pursue public-private partnerships, and a business council to raise awareness and build support—but more thinking is needed about how to get there. Continuing to improve service by adding more frequencies and shaving an hour or two off NYC-Buffalo travel time, and investing in connecting bus and rail service to bring more communities on-line will prove to be the best way to get to an even faster future.

  • LCL: One of Amtrak’s newest stations is far exceeding projections for passenger boardings and alightings since it opened. * * * The Washington-Lynchburg, Va. extension of the Northeast Regional continues to outpace ridership projections. * * * Another sign that passenger train equipment manufacturing in the US is headed for revival. * * * A Seattle resident has a pleasant Amtrak trip to the Vancouver Olympics, but a not-so-pleasant experience with border security. * * * A new Amtrak site caters to African-American riders and students at historically black colleges.

    • —Malcolm Kenton

    Posted by Malcolm Kenton

    Tags: amtrak, budget, congress, gulf coast, investment, jobs bill, legislation, new orleans, new york city, passenger trains, rail planning, ray lahood, ridership, senate, sunset limited, take action, transportation, west virginia,

    Flag Stops: Getting At the True Cost

    Monday, August 16, 2010

    The Federal Railroad Administration released a summary of the applications received for the next round of high(er)-speed intercity passenger train funding—$8.5 billion requested by 25 states, with only $2.3 billion available.  These applications drive home the error Congress is making in reducing next year’s funding figures for the high speed rail program.  Former Rep. Al Swift and the American High Speed Rail Alliance share NARP’s sense of urgency that Congress must increase the available funding if we want a train network that will help us meet our mounting energy and mobility challenges. Fortunately, it’s not too late to make your voice heard—the full Senate has yet to finish its version of the 2011 transportation spending bill, and the measure will likely go to a conference committee once the Senate acts.

    Other noteworthy stories:

  • In many US cities, taking public transportation instead of driving saves residents between $700 and $1,000 each month, according to figures compiled by the American Public Transportation Association (a NARP partner in the OneRail Coalition) based on the average national price of gasoline and unreserved parking rate on August 10 (click to see the figure for your city). This is a good way to encapsulate the dividends each taxpayer receives when public investments are made in making trains and transit more convenient and attractive to more Americans. When you factor in what gas should cost (factoring in very real “external costs” to the public welfare that aren’t included in the price you pay at the pump) and the other costs associated with car ownership (insurance, maintenance, etc.), you save even more by switching more trips to transit.

  • Kudos to the Portland Press Herald for an editorial lauding the forthcoming extension of Amtrak’s Downeaster east to Brunswick, ME, which states a truth not often heard in the media: “a system of government subsidies can make a trip by car look like the cheapest way to go, even though it is costly for the whole system.” Too many editors and columnists grossly inflate the cost of improving trains, while overlooking the larger fact that public policy continues to grossly deflate the real costs associated with automobile dependence.

  • Kudos also to NARP member Gary Friedly, who is blending the promotion of a novel he wrote that centers on a trip on Amtrak’s former North Coast Hiawatha route with advocacy of the train’s restoration.

    —Malcolm Kenton

    Posted by Malcolm Kenton

    Tags: al swift, american high speed rail alliance, bridge over the valley, congress, gary friedly, high-speed rail, portland press herald, public transportation, save money, take action, transportation funding, us dot,

    Bob Ingle on the Hudson River Tunnels

    Tuesday, September 28, 2010

    New Jersey Press Media senior columnist Bob Ingle’s Sept. 26 column is notable for quoting NARP Member Phillip Craig’s testimony before the NJ Assembly’s Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee.  Craig insisted, “We are not faced with either the tunnel as is or no tunnel;” the tunnels should go to Penn Station, eliminating the need for the new 34th Street Terminal NJT has planned.

    Ingle refers to NJT’s project as “the third Hudson tunnel,” after the existing one and “a second Amtrak is planning.”  These all are pairs of single-track tunnels—there are two tracks now, and would be six in total if all the plans get built.  What is commonly referred to as what “Amtrak is planning” is conceived of as fifth and sixth tunnels identified in the NEC Infrastructure Master Plan, which was the product of a multi-agency working group.  These tunnels would be used both by commuter and intercity trains.’’

    The key messages now:

    • Ask Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff to make sure that the FTA keeps the $3 billion earmarked for Hudson River tunnels, which everyone agrees is needed, while New Jersey works through design and cost issues.
    • If you live in the Northeast, express concern to your governor and your federal legislators about the need to redesign the Hudson River tunnels so they connect to Penn Station.
    • If you live in New Jersey, emphasize to Gov. Christie, your U.S. senators and representative, and your state legislators, that you strongly support building the tunnels but want a new, serious review of the need to direct them to New York’s Penn Station and the savings that could come from eliminating the 34th Street Terminal.

    —Ross Capon

     

    Posted by Malcolm Kenton

    Tags: arc, bob ingle, chris christie, column, congress, hudson tunnel, new jersey, new tunnels, passenger trains, peter rogoff, ray lahood, take action, transportation,

    Trains Won’t Sell Themselves

    Wednesday, March 09, 2011

    Rich Sommer of TV’s Mad Men tells Vincent Kartheiser that his ad agency doesn’t need to worry about selling trains, because they sell themselves and, given congestion and gas prices, “our leaders will make the right investment.”  If only it were that easy

    The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on federal funding for the remainder of fiscal 2011 (through Sept. 30) TODAY, starting around 12:00 noon Eastern. First, they will vote on the House-passed spending bill, H.R. 1, which slashes Amtrak’s capital funding and contains zero investment in High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail. If H.R. 1 fails to receive 60 votes, the Senate will then vote on a Democratic substitute that funds both Amtrak and high-speed rail at fiscal 2010 levels.

    Call the Capitol Switchboard now at 202-224-3121 and ask to speak to one of your Senators’ offices. Then, call back and ask to speak to the other Senator’s office. Tell them to fully fund passenger train investment, including Amtrak and high-speed rail, for the remainder of this fiscal year, at least at Fiscal 2010 levels.

    Thanks for doing your part!

    —Malcolm Kenton

    Posted by Malcolm Kenton

    Tags: federal investment, fiscal 2011 funding, h.r. 1, high-speed rail, mad men, passenger trains, take action, u.s. senate,

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