Jun 10, 2011: Hotline #710

May was the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year ridership growth on Amtrak trains, with the passenger railroad announcing this week that they carried 2.6 million passengers last month.

The 2.6 million passenger figure—Amtrak’s best-ever May for ridership—puts the company on course to set another annual ridership record for this year.  Amtrak has set annual ridership records in seven of the last eight fiscal years, setting an all-time record in FY 2010 with 28.7 million passengers (a slight increase over FY 2008).

Long-distance routes continued to be a strong contributor in May, with year-over-year passenger increases in 18 of the last 19 months.  Nationally, the routes saw an increase of 4.6% vs. May 2010.  Advanced ticket purchases for summer travel indicate that the routes will continue to see strong ridership increases in June, July and August.

Other route highlights from Amtrak include:

• East: May was the best month on record for the Northeast Regional service, with 693,268 passengers—a 10.1% increase compared to May 2010.  Ridership for the high-speed Acela Express saw a 5.1% increase in May 2011 compared to the same period last year. The Ethan Allen (New York–Rutland, VT) and Adirondack (New York–Montreal) services were up 24.5% and 21.2% respectively.
• Central: Midwestern trains continue their upward trends, with the Missouri River Runner (Kansas City–St. Louis) up 28.8%, the Blue Water (Chicago–East Lansing–Port Huron) up 22%, the Illini/Saluki (Chicago–Champaign–Carbondale) up 23%, and Carl Sandburg/Illinois Zephyr (Chicago–Quincy) up 13.7%.
• West: All three California supported routes saw increases compared to May 2010, with the Capitol Corridor (Auburn–Sacramento–Emeryville/San Francisco–San Jose) up 9.7%, the San Joaquins (Oakland/Sacramento–Bakersfield) up 12.8%; and the Pacific Surfliners (San Diego–Los Angeles–Santa Barbara–San Luis Obispo) up 4.3%. The ridership trend is matched by increases in revenue, with Caltrans reporting that the San Joaquin experienced a 19% increase in revenue compared to May 2010, and Pacific Surfliner revenues up 9%. “These incredible ridership and revenue numbers show that by providing reliable, high quality service, Californians will leave their cars to ride trains,” said Acting Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. The Amtrak Cascades (Eugene, OR–Seattle–Vancouver, B.C.) also experienced an increase in ridership, up more than 6.5% compared to the same period last year.

Click here to read NARP President Ross Capon’s statement to the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee regarding the hearing on replacing Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor with a private sector train operator, submitted to the committee yesterday.


The Mayors of San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, Fresno, and Los Angeles joined together to pen an editorial arguing that the case has never been stronger for a Californian high-speed rail line.

Mayors Edwin Lee, Kevin Johnson, Chuck Reed, Ashley Swearengin, and Antonio Villaraigosa joined together to pen the editorial, which pushed back against a report by California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office which suggested a temporary halt to the project.

In recent weeks some have suggested that we should put the [high-speed rail] project on hold.

We couldn’t disagree more.

California will need high-speed rail in the coming years to do something about the gridlock on our roads and at our airports. Building it is a major investment, but the most recent estimates say it would cost twice as much over the next generation to build new highways and runways just to move the same number of people. With California expected to grow by 12 million people in the next 25 years, investment in the state’s transportation system is inevitable, and high-speed rail is a cost-effective alternative.

In the last 2 1/2 years the case for high-speed rail has gotten stronger, not weaker. When voters approved the plan, a barrel of oil cost about $55; today the price is almost $100. Unemployment was around 8 percent back then, and it is now over 12 percent statewide and even higher in many areas. Californians need the jobs.

You can read the Mayor’s full argument at the Sacramento Bee’s website.


Iowa’s Democratic Senate leaders have banded together to fight back a proposal in the State Legislature that would block state funding for passenger rail, endangering federal funds for the implementation of a Chicago—Iowa City—Quad Cities train.

Iowa received $230 million in federal grants to restore service along the route.  However, the funds require a $20 million state match.  While the full balance is not due until 2013, a group of Republicans is standing in the way of both a $6 million appropriation in FY 2012, and authorizing legislation for next year.

Republicans are trying to cast doubt on ridership projections, arguing that the state will be left holding the bill for high operating costs.

“The future is about finding more efficient ways to move,” said state Senator Matt McCoy (D-Des Moines), who heads the Senate Transportation & Infrastructure Committee. “We have the money to fund this. There isn’t any transportation anywhere you look that isn’t subsidized.”

McCoy is proposing taking the $1-$3 million in annual operating costs from the state’s lottery fund, which generates around $115 every year.

While Governor Pat Quinn (D) of Illinois has invested money in the portion of the route on his side of the state-line, Governor Terry Branstad (R) has remained relatively quiet on the issue.  Senate Democrats have said they have the Governor’s implicit blessing however.

“This is a great opportunity for the state of Iowa, and we shouldn’t let it pass by,” Sen. Rob Hogg (D-Cedar Rapids) said to a crowd of people at Greene Square Park.  Hogg added he’d “been told by the governor that he’s not going to stand in the way of passenger rail, if that’s what the Legislature wants to do.”

[If you live in Iowa or Illinois, click here to let Governor Branstad does his part.]


Drawing near is Florida Governor Rick Scott’s self-appointed deadline of July 1 for a decision as to whether his Administration will go forward with the SunRail commuter project or kill it draws.  Scott is finding himself at the center of a war of public opinion.

Local leaders like Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and state House Speaker Dean Cannon (R-Winter Park) have been joined by a broad coalition of Florida’s business community in supporting the Central Florida commuter rail project.  The group says the $1.2 billion line connecting Orlando to surrounding communities would provide a much needed alternative to I-4 congestion, generating economic growth.

Local Tea Party activists have formed the opposition, calling the project a boondoggle.  In a PowerPoint delivered to Governor Scott this month, they argued that of the $178 million committed by the federal government, only $61.2 million is actually secure.  They contend that the future installments are far from certain, saying that Congress could change its mind and rescind the funds.  They’ve also raised the specter of cost overruns—a factor cited by Scott in his decision to turn down $2.4 billion in federal funding a high-speed rail grant between Orlando and Tampa.

Mayor Dyer has publicly refuted this claim, and pointed out that adding highway capacity instead would actually cost more.  To add one extra lane on I-4 for the 61-mile stretch that SunRail will run would cost $7 billion—$5.8 billion more than the train’s entire capital costs.

“The groups obviously play very fast and loose with the facts,” he told reporters. “It’s one thing to be in opposition. But they would have more credibility if they were to use accurate information.”


Google announced this week that their popular map service, capable of providing directions based on available transit service in the area, will now feature live mass transit alerts and delays.

Previously, Google Maps would provide transit information based upon scheduled arrival times.  The live transit updates will be able to better track delays to tell you when your bus or train is actually arriving.

[Click here to see a demonstration on the Google Blog]

This feature will be available on Google Maps for desktop web browsers, compatible mobile web browsers, and the Google Maps app for Android phones.  Live updates will be introduced in Boston, Portland, OR, San Diego, San Francisco, Madrid, and Turin.  There is not yet an announced schedule for further rollout of the feature.


Illinois’ Department of Transportation (IDOT) is looking to team up with Amtrak to provide wireless internet service for passengers in the near future, with bids for proposals to introduce WiFi due in mid-June.

Technology firms will need to provide IDOT with a technical and financial blueprint for installation and maintenance of the system to determine whether it is cost-effective.  WiFi service could be a draw for potential passengers—business travelers especially, since the ability to remain connected and productive while in transit is a feature automobiles and planes are not able to offer.

“Once we get the data from each of the potential vendors, we’ll determine what’s feasible and what an appropriate timeframe would be for that to be in place,” said IDOT spokesman Josh Kauffman.

A source of funding has yet to be identified.  However, it is not uncommon to use revenue from online selling banner ads to offset the cost of providing the service.


Travelers Advisory:

• Flooding along the Missouri River near Omaha, Nebraska has forced Amtrak to disrupt service on the California Zephyr, which runs between Chicago and San Francisco.  Amtrak announced June 7 that the train would be suspended between Denver and Chicago until June 14 (tentative).
• The Empire Builder is still operating only between Chicago and St. Paul, and full service restoration has been put off until Monday, June 13 (tentative).