Hotline #802 -- March 15, 2013

Amtrak has announced details for the sixth annual National Train Day, held May 11 in more than 200 communities across America.

“National Train Day invites communities big and small to share the importance of trains as a vital transportation option and engine of economic development and employment,” said Amtrak Chief Marketing & Sales Officer Matt Hardison.

The theme of this year’s Train Day is “Trains Matter,” and events across the nation will be organized to let passengers show how trains matter to them, their town, and their community.  In addition to events in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Los Angeles, Amtrak will be spearheading events in hundreds of communities—use NationalTrainDay.com to find one near you. 

Don’t worry if you don’t find an event near you—you can also sign up to host your own!

A Federal Railroad Administration report revealed that 2012 was the safest rail year on record, beating out the previous record set in 2011.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood highlighted the achievement on the Department of Transportation’s Fast Lane blog:

Compared to 2011, last year's train accident rate per million train miles was down 19 percent. And the grade crossing collision rate fell by 8 percent.

According to Federal Railroad Administration data, from 1980 to 2012, the U.S. train accident rate fell 80 percent and the U.S. rail employee injury rate fell 85 percent. Since 2000, those declines have been 45 percent and 52 percent, respectively. Train collisions per million train-miles have dropped 87 percent since 1980 and 36 percent since 2000. 

LaHood stressed that there is still work to be done, pointing to 212,000 highway-rail grade crossings in the U.S., an ongoing safety risk in the national network.  While rail-highway grade crossing accidents are down 54 percent over the past 20 years, they still account for over 200 deaths each year.  Separating these grade crossings, or at least installing more sophisticated warnings and prevention designs, improves safety—and allows for higher-operating speeds for passenger trains.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has passed a spending bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2013 that would give transportation programs a boost, pushing back against a House-passed bill that would slash transportation funding.

The House counterpart bill reduces highway funding levels by $555 million and transit programs by about $117 million (compared to the 2012 authorization levels).  The House’s extension is part of a larger attack on transportation intercity passenger rail.  The Ryan FY 2014 budget released March 12 states that intercity passenger rail projects "should be pursued only if they can be established as self-supporting commercial services.”  This criterion has not been applied to highway projects. Highlighting public policies that hugely favor highways, a total of $53.3 billion in general funds have been transferred to the Highway Trust Fund since President George W. Bush signed into law the first transfer in 2008.

The Senate restores funding to the levels in the surface transportation authorization enacted in 2012.

President Barack Obama has so far been silent on transportation funding, as the White House says the President will submit his budget in early April.  But Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has hinted that something big is coming—possibly a good sign for passenger trains, considering that the President praised the benefits of high-speed rail in his State of the Union.

“I think what you're going to see is ‘big and bold’ from the president when he gets around to talking about infrastructure,” Secretary LaHood said.  He added: “I think when the president comes out later this year, I don't know when that will be…but once he gets around to talking about infrastructure and transportation, the president will be big and bold.”

Americans took 10.5 billion trips in 2012, 154 million more trips than were taken in 2011 and the second highest ridership in over five decades, according to a report released March 11 by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

“In 2012, U.S. public transportation ridership grew at a record level as Americans took 10.5 billion trips. This is the second highest ridership since 1957, and it shows that there is a growing demand for public transportation,” said APTA President and CEO Michael Melaniphy. “Every mode of public transportation showed an increase in ridership. Public transit ridership grew in all areas of the country—north, south, east, and west—in small, medium and large communities, with at least 16 public transit systems reporting record ridership.”

This year was also the seventh year in a row that more than 10 billion trips were taken on public transportation systems nationwide.  Light rail ridership increased 4.5 percent in 2012, with 21 out of 28 transit systems reporting increases. Heavy rail (subways and elevated trains) ridership increased by 1.4 percent across the country, with 10 out of 15 transit systems reporting increases.  Commuter rail ridership increased by 0.5 percent in 2012.

“Two big reasons for the increased national transit ridership are high, volatile gas prices and in certain localities, a recovering economy with more people returning to work,” said Melaniphy. “Public transportation saves people money, and people save even more so when gas prices spike. Also, since nearly 60 percent of trips taken on public transportation are for work commutes, it makes sense that ridership increases in areas where the economy has improved and new jobs have been added.”

Read the complete APTA 2012 ridership report.

The Federal Railroad Administration, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) will be soliciting public input as they study a potential new high-speed intercity passenger rail service between Oklahoma City and south Texas. 

The 850-mile corridor would stretch from Oklahoma City to the south Texas cities of Brownsville and Laredo, by way of Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio and other cities in south Texas.

The agencies will prepare a Service Level/Tier 1 Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate “a reasonable range of corridor alternatives, and make decisions regarding the preferred corridor, location of train service termini, location of intermediate stops, the level of service, and future planning for projects to implement the service.” The scoping will look at a number of alternatives, including improving existing rail lines and creating new rail lines.

Written comments on the scope of this study should be mailed or emailed to Mr. Mark Werner, Rail Division, Texas Department of Transportation, 125 E. 11th Street, Austin, TX 78701-2483.  Individuals can also attend a series of public scoping meetings around Oklahoma and Texas:

• Oklahoma City: Metro Tech Center, 1900 Springlake Drive, Oklahoma City, OK on March 25, 2013 from 2 p.m. through 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Ardmore: Ardmore Train Station, 251 E. Main Street, Ardmore, OK on March 26, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Sherman: Sherman Senior Center, 1500 N. Broughton Street, Sherman, TX on April 2, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Fort Worth: TxDOT Training Offices, 2501 SW Loop 820, Fort Worth, TX on March 28, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Dallas: MSDC Offices, 8828 N. Stemmons Freeway, Dallas, TX on April 3, 2013 from 2 p.m. through 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Belton: Central Texas Council of Governments, 2180 N, Main Street, Belton, TX on April 1, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Waco: Heart of Texas Council of Governments, 1514 S. New Road, Waco, TX on March 25, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Austin: TxDOT Austin Office, Building 7, 7901 N. IH 35, Austin, TX on March 27, 2013 from 2 p.m. through 4 p.m. and from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Windcrest: Windcrest Civic Center, 9310 Jim Seal Drive, Windcrest, TX on April 1, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Harlingen: Harlingen City Hall, 502 E. Tyler Avenue, Harlingen, TX on April 4, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Corpus Christi: TxDOT Offices, 1701 S. Padre Island Drive, Corpus Christi, TX on April 2, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.
• Laredo: TxDOT Offices, 1817 Bob Bullock Avenue, Laredo, TX on April 3, 2013 from 6 p.m. through 8 p.m.

The Oklahoma-Texas rail corridor is developing on more than one front; ODOT officials recently decided to sell a sub-line between Tulsa and Sepulpa, Oklahoma, causing some transportation watchers to worry about plans to bring commuter rail between Tulsa and Oklahoma City.  ODOT officials have mollified these concerns, confirming that they will include provisions to accommodate future passenger service.

"Instead of the sale of the Sooner Sub line hampering prospects for passenger rail, I'm going to tell you it would enhance it," ODOT Engineering Director David Streb told Tulsa World.  "A private railroad has much more resources to upgrade that line than the state of Oklahoma. We're running on a shoe-string budget, and we can barely keep the rail lines operational.”

The Vermont Agency of Transportation, in conjunction with Amtrak and the New England Central Railroad, announced that increased speeds on the Vermonter service will go into effect March 18.

The 28-minute reduction in travel time is a result of a two-year, federally funded program of upgrades, which improved a 190-mile stretch of track, signal and other key infrastructure equipment owned and maintained by New England Central Railroad.

“The Vermonter project to upgrade the New England Central Railroad main line is a great example of a very successful public-private partnership, helping both rail passenger and freight services,” said Raymond Goss, Senior, Vice President, New England Central Railroad.

As a result of these improvements, Amtrak is reporting that “track speeds along the route within Vermont have been increased, from 55 mph to a maximum 59 mph north of White River Junction and from 59 mph to a maximum 79 mph south of that location to the Massachusetts border.”

"We are excited to see these service improvements resulting from our collective investment in this important rail corridor," said Vermont Transportation Secretary Brian Searles. "The Vermonter line is essential to our plans to expand passenger service to Montreal and these upgrades also serve to improve our freight-handling capacity. Giving passengers a smoother, faster and safer ride makes Vermont a more attractive rail destination."

The revised Vermonter schedule will be available in stations and can be ordered and viewed online at Amtrak.com.

The Ohio State Legislature’s Committee on Transportation has voted to leave the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission and reject new funding for transit from the Department of Transportation’s two-year budget, eliciting criticism for advocates of intelligent transportation.

The Committee voted against including the $15,000 annual fee required to take part in the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Commission, a group which brings together state leaders from across the region to coordinate the development of the Midwest passenger rail network.

“These actions by [Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT)] and the state’s current Republican leadership are penny-wise and pound-foolish,” said All Aboard Ohio Chairman Ronald Sheck. “They are undoing recent bipartisan progress to expand alternatives to an overbuilt highway system that young people are walking, biking and riding away from. ODOT’s financial woes will only accelerate as Baby Boomers retire. It’s time for ODOT to think outside the car.”

The committee also voted against a $35 million Ohio Transportation Choices Fund proposal, which would’ve developed public transit, rail, and other alternatives to driving.

“ODOT spends only 1% of its $3 billion annual budget on transit even though 9% of Ohio households have no car, Census data shows," states an All Aboard Ohio responding to the state legislature’s move. “Many more households have multiple wage earners sharing just one car. About 15.5% of federal gas tax revenues are required to go to transit. Ohio will be unable to tap most of those funds for two years to connect more Ohioans to jobs, healthcare and education.”

A group of transportation advocates in Iowa will descend on Des Moines to urge Governor Terry Barnstad to get on board a plan to bring modern passenger trains to the state.

The “Re-Rail Iowa” coalition—including representatives from the Iowa Public Interest Research Group, the Environmental Law and Policy Center, the Iowa Association of Railroad Passengers, the United Transportation Union (Iowa State Legislative Board), the International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters—are looking to find a matching $20.6 million in state funds to secure an $87 million federal grant to upgrade tracks between the Quad Cities and Council Bluffs, increasing top speeds and decreasing trip times.

To find out how you can get involved, check out Iowa PIRG’s website.