Hotline #69 - January 15, 1999

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R.-Ga.) appointed Wendell Cox to the Amtrak Reform Council, replacing New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman. Cox is a St. Louis-based transportation consultant who is one of the nation's leading critics of Amtrak and of most rail transit. He co-authored an anti-Amtrak report for the Cato Institute in 1996. He denies that other transportation is subsidized, while calling the automobile a symbol of freedom. Cox worked against plans for light rail in Milwaukee that were strongly supported by another Council member, Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, and against high-speed rail in Florida. The next meeting of the Reform Council is January 19.

Incoming Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R.) said yesterday that the state will no longer fund the FOX high-speed rail project between Miami, Orlando, and Tampa, effectively killing it. Bush said that the $70 million a year the state planned to set aside for FOX should go instead to moving people or goods between airports and seaports. Bush called the project impractical, citing cultural differences between Florida and Europe. With no investment in passenger rail, Florida will pay an increasingly heavy price for its over-reliance on cars and airplanes.

Winter weather-related problems continued in the Chicago area into this week. On the evening of January 11, more than 100 Metra commuter trains experienced delays, some over an hour, during a snowstorm, due to a variety of factors. These included a broken-down Amtrak Hiawatha train, several grade crossing accidents, and Union Pacific dispatching problems. By comparison, the CTA rapid transit, which performed so poorly last week, did well during the January 11 storm.

Amtrak has been moving out of its temporary trailers at San Antonio, today and yesterday, into a new station nearby. Both trailer and new station are on the grounds of the former Southern Pacific station, and the same tracks and platforms will be used. The local transit agency bought the station in the early 1980's with the idea of making an intermodal facility, but abruptly kicked Amtrak out of the historic station in November 1996, so that the old station could be redeveloped for business purposes. In the meantime, a huge road construction project near the station has delayed many passengers wanting to catch trains, and passengers should plan accordingly.

Vice President Al Gore unveiled a "smart-growth" proposal on January 11 that in fiscal 2000 would exceed TEA-21 funding levels by $300 million each for transit and CMAQ. House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.), praised Gore's initiative, noting the environmentally friendly aspects of TEA-21, the bill he helped write. Since pollsters are telling politicians that defense and education is all that voters care about, it is important that Gore get a positive response from this initiative.

A state grant that allowed Thruway bus service between Allentown and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia expired December 31, and was not renewed due to low ridership. Another bus company has taken over the route and reduced service frequency.

VIA Rail has announced that it will make changes to the commissions it pays travel agents, starting January 18. They will move to a sliding scale of commission rates, with higher rates going to higher volume agents.

The City Council of Galion, O., on January 12 passed a resolution in favor of improving Midwestern passenger rail corridors, and designating the Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati route as a federal high-speed corridor.

The Clinton Administration last week re-submitted to the Senate its nomination of Sylvia de Leon to the last vacant spot on the Amtrak board.

A new schedule taking effect in California February 21 will feature a fifth San Joaquin that runs from Sacramento to Bakersfield, and a sixth Capitol train between Sacramento and Oakland.