Didn't want to bury this in some other thread, as what David Gunn has to say is significant both nationally and for Ohio in terms of both our need to improve our railroad systems and to reduce the consumption of oil....(noozer).

 

Transit troubles ahead, ex-Amtrak head warns

University of Delaware News Service

 

 

3:51 p.m., Feb. 27, 2006--David L. Gunn, former Amtrak president, said that there is a big problem with rail and other transportations systems in America, and that a lot will have to be done to fix the problem.

 

Gunn made his remarks during a talk, “The Future of Rail Transportation in America,” as part of a “Building Inter-Metropolitan Rail Corridors” forum held Feb. 21 at Clayton Hall on UD's Laird Campus.

 

More at:

http://www.udel.edu/PR/UDaily/2006/feb/gunn022706.html

And it's not just about rail troubles, but as Gunn points out, transportation troubles overall.

He is even more blunt than usual. I hope somebody's listening.

What?

 

I know, once again I'm being an  :ass:

“The federal government needs to give the states the power and the capital funding to let them make their own decisions, and this is not happening,” Gunn said. “The states are the ones that have to solve the problems.”

 

This speaks directly to what Ohio and other states are trying to do with regional, short-haul corridor rail plans.  It's good to see Gun recognizes this. He could never completely come out in favor of this publically when he was still at Amtrak. His views were validated when the Senate passed Senate Bill 1516 (93 to 6) last fall, which would have established the beginnings of a funding mechanism to address these state plans.  It is still a "live" bill, and it is thought that it's main sponsor, Sen. Trent Lott, will begin another big push and put pressure on the House to apporove it.

  Apr 29, 7:04 AM EDT

 

[b]After 35 Years, Amtrak's Future Uncertain[/b]

 

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ

Associated Press Writer

 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Last year, President Bush proposed no federal aid for Amtrak. Its highly touted high-speed train was sidelined for months with brake problems and its president was fired. Still, the passenger railroad chugs on toward its 35th birthday Monday.

 

To mark the occasion, a group of analysts who have followed Amtrak's woes over the years will gather in Washington to discuss what critics call Amtrak's "35 years of subsidies, waste and deception."

 

"Amtrak keeps making promises that things would get better, one promise after another," said Joseph Vranich, a former Amtrak executive director and former member of the Amtrak Reform Council. "But people fall for the promises, and Amtrak survives."

 

Read more at:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AMTRAK_AT_35?SITE=OHALL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

 

... and meanwhile, back at the ranch, gasoline prices are shooting through the roof once again (as oilman Bush tries to con voters by acting like some kind of faux liberal/consumer activist "investigating the problem"), big airlines are collapsing, dropping routes, laying off personnel and leaving gates empty at many a port... so we have fewer and fewer options, and what does the Idiot at 1600 do?  ... sure, continue to slash, cripple and try and kill Amtrak...

 

... the term "idiot" is a compliment to George Bush.

And he fired the best CEO Amtrak ever had.

Amtrak still can't quite figure out how to live within its means. I know they have cut short distance carrier routes. Perhaps with the new wave of uncertainty in the oil market ridership will pick back up. If it doesn't I don't think the system will be around another ten years.

Airlines are subisidized through government bailouts and building and staffing of airports.

Highways/roads are subisidized though government building and matainence

busses/local mass transit are subsidized

Rail is not subsidized, with the exception of amtrack.

 

Amtrack runs along the non-subsidized rail, and thus is given the lowest priority along those routes, which leads to poor performance. I cant think of any transportation system in the US that actually "makes money" on its own. Amtrack in its current form is destined to fail, thats why it wont be around like it is for now. If/when it dies I think thats when we will get real long distance rails.

Amtrak still can't quite figure out how to live within its means.

 

What means has Amtrak had over its 36 year existence? First off, it was created as a means to get freight railroads out of the passenger business and then die quietly. That did not happen because of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 and the desire of many to retain service. Every president since 1971 has tried to hack up or kill Amtrak outright. Even Bill Clinton's policies toward Amtrak could best be described as benign neglect. Now we have George "We are oil junkies" Bush zeroing Amtrak out last year and after being thoroughly repudiated by Congress coming back with an equally stupid $900 million budget proposal that is only about half of what it takes to run the system.

 

Because of these annual "Perils of Pauline" cliffhanger budget scenarios, Amtrak is in a constant state of turmoil. No organization of this size can function smoothly under these circumstances. To be sure, Amtrak is at times it's own worst enemy, but by and large what we have today is the result of elected leaders who just don't get it.

 

Finally, I want to lay to rest the idea---implied---that other modes of transportation are self-sufficent. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Interstate Highway system was created with a grant (giveaway) of $25 billion in 1955 dollars that came straight out of the U. S. Treasury. Even now, users only cover about 60% of the costs of federal, state and local roads. The air traffic control system, without which no airline could fly, is 50% funded by non-users.

 

These are just a couple of examples, but they prove my point. The real problem is that by focusing on artificially contrived rules that discriminate against the passenger train, we lose sight of the greater whole. All forms of transportation should be viewed as tools to help deliver a better quality of life for our citizens. When we focus on one mode to the near exclusion of others we end up with what we have now: A broken, road-dominated transportation "system", with high costs in terms of energy use, land use patterns, decaying downtowns, weakening social intercourse, health problems and others too numerous to mention.

 

No, the problem isn't Amtrak "living within its means", it's the failure of this country to adequately support rail passenger service---and transit for that matter---as a means deal with issues we now face in the form of sharply higher oil prices. By failing to do so, we have painted ourselves into a corner and will have to either pay high gas prices or stay home, since for many of us, there are no other choices.

 

Meanwhile our "leaders" pander to us instead of offering real solutions to get us off the oil standard by prattling endlessly about going after Big Oil or gas tax rebates. Likewise, the media has turned a blind eye to rail or transit as a means to give people a choice and thus cut their oil consumption. These people won't get serious about the situation until we hold their feet to the fire and demand better.

 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Secretary predicts at least three years of high energy prices. It's going to be a rough ride. Buckle up.

This was released today by the National Association of Railroad Passengers re; Amtrak 35th Anniversary of service.

 

Facts On Occasion of Amtrak’s 35th Anniversary

 

For Immediate Release

Saturday, April 29, 2006 - #06-04

Contacts: Ross Capon (cell: 301-385-6438), David Johnson (cell 202-438-1349)

 

Amtrak’s 35th birthday is Monday, May 1.  In observing this anniversary for a resource whose importance the public increasingly recognizes, reporters are urged to consider the following facts.

 

      Ridership increased in eight of the last nine years.  The Fiscal 2005 level of 25.4 million is up 29% from 1996.

      Similarly, the yield (average revenue per passenger mile) rose in ten of the last eleven years, with the FY 2005 level up 65% from the 1994 level.  Amtrak is not “buying” ridership with cheap fares.

      Northeast Corridor “endpoint” on-time performance was 90% in March and a similar level in April.  The premium Acela service is largely recovered from last year’s technical problems that sidelined the train-sets from April to September.

      Long distance trains are well-used.  They accounted for 47% of Amtrak’s passenger-miles last year (a passenger-mile is one passenger carried one mile).  The average long distance train carried 356 passengers per trip. 

      Long distance trains are the only intercity passenger trains in 25 states. 

      It is misleading to say “buying everyone a plane ticket is cheaper than running an Amtrak train.”  Many Amtrak cities have no air service and many more have no discount air service.  Also, many Americans cannot or chose not to fly.

      Amtrak is controlling food and beverage costs.  On most long-distance trains, Amtrak is revising dining car processes and reducing on-board staff; reductions began before Christmas on two routes and are scheduled to be complete before the end of May.

      Carriers worldwide consider on-board food and beverage service as necessary to attract business, not as profit centers.  They measure food losses as a percentage of ticket revenues.  In a November 2005 speech, Jonathan Metcalf, Chief Operating Officer of Britain’s Great Northeastern Railway, said that food service on his trains, “probably loses [$3.5-$5.4 million US] a year.  If we didn’t do food, we’d lose passengers...it’s a key reason why they travel with us…we probably would have lost [$35-$54 million US] in ticket revenue [without food service].”

      Amtrak is doing more with fewer employees—the headcount was 24,877 at the end of September, 2001, and 18,944 at the end of February, 2006.  On an “apples-to-apples” basis (excluding about 1,630  employees transferred to MBTA in 2003 and Metrolink in 2005), the headcount declined about 4,300 or 18.5%.

      Amtrak has taken on no new debt since June 2002.  From September 2002 to December 2005, Amtrak reduced its outstanding debt by $300 million.

      The recent rise in gasoline prices reinforces Harris Poll released February 8 showing strong public support for more intercity and commuter passenger rail. Harris’s release began: “As personal travel and freight transportation grows in the future, the American public would like to see an increasing proportion of that traffic going by rail. Commuter and long-distance trains top the list of nine modes of transportation that adults would like to see ‘have an increasing share of passenger transportation.’” http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris%5Fpoll/index.asp?PID=638

 

Former Amtrak chief: Transportation needs help

 

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — The national transportation system is on a collision course with gridlock, the former head of Amtrak told a state rail advocacy group Tuesday, according to a story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Unless the White House and Congress take bold action, "I think the country is in for a very rough, slow ride," said David Gunn.

 

Addressing more than 80 members of the group, Virginians for High Speed Rail, Gunn and other rail experts said it probably would take something like the 1970 bankruptcy of Penn Central to spark action in Washington. They said the country is not addressing core issues of funding or planning ways to ease highway congestion, such as improved passenger rail service.

 

More at:

 

http://www.trains.com/Content/Dynamic/Articles/000/000/006/667slsux.asp