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It
is time
to stop the growing boondoggle called rail by Sally Baptiste |
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What is DC doing with our transportation policies
(and monies) and who is going to stop their mismanagement and reckless
spending? If
citizens want to end highway gridlock, citizens must take action NOW! Citizens must contact ALL
of their elected politicians and demand changes. Otherwise, we will continue to waste tax dollars on rail
systems while we still stuck in traffic! The
Lessons the Politicians Refuse to Learn…… Our
leadership knows that rail is not a feasible or economical solution to
transportation (See:
Full
report). Yet they continue to funnel billions and billions of tax
dollars into rail instead of fixing the highways.
Would someone in DC please explain their logic (or lack of it)! Federal
Railroad Administration Testimony - June 20, 2002:
“Statement
of The Honorable Allan Rutter, Federal Railroad
Administrator to the Subcommittee on Transportation and Related
Agencies, Committee on Appropriations, United States Senate” “Chairman
Murray and members of the Subcommittee; intercity passenger rail service
is facing its most significant financial challenge since the passage of
the Rail Passenger Service Act in 1970 created the National Railroad
Passenger Corporation - better known as Amtrak. Many in this room today
face decisions that will have significant bearing on the short-term prospects of this
form of transportation. “In my testimony to this Subcommittee on March 7 of this year, I discussed the financial challenges facing Amtrak. The gap between Amtrak's expenses and revenues persists in the face of all manner of Amtrak initiatives to expand its business. "Nationwide, market pressures from other modes impose a ceiling on Amtrak fares which cover only about half the corporation's costs. Exacerbating Amtrak's financial picture is its increasing debt load with debt service, both principal and interest requiring about $250 million this year and even greater amounts in the future.” (Hey,
if it won't work; don't fix it) Secretary Mineta outlined the Bush Administration's view of the reform needed to move intercity passenger rail to such a mode. The following are highlights are copied from Secretary Mineta’s report: “The Future of Intercity Passenger Rail – June 20, 2002. (Read full report) Purpose.
“I am here today to discuss the present state of intercity passenger
rail and to outline a plan for creating a viable intercity passenger
rail system in the United States. “Congress created Amtrak in 1970 as a for-profit corporation. From this inception, policymakers have had an expectation that has proved elusive -- the hope of operating a national passenger rail system with modest federal support. Congress has made successive attempts at re-establishing this original premise, but the last three decades have proved that the Amtrak's model of a national network of passenger rail is just not sustainable without massive, continued federal support.
"To maintain the fiction that it could be self-sufficient and without making fundamental reform, over the past five years Amtrak sold, leased and mortgaged valuable assets to meet operating expenses. During the same period, it lacked adequate funds to maintain its capital infrastructure. "A capital backlog of over $6 billion is the result. Just recently, Amtrak's new President affirmed the need for Amtrak to borrow some $200 million from a private line of credit by the end of June to meet current year operating expenses or begin a process of shutting down operations for the remainder of the fiscal year . "The Administration is reviewing the viability of options for how Amtrak can solidify access to this line of credit, and Federal Railroad Administrator Allan Rutter will be testifying this afternoon before the Senate Appropriations Committee to report on those deliberations more fully at the conclusion of today's testimony. "We
are reviewing ways to preserve the opportunities for Congress and the
Administration to adopt significant reforms to our national passenger
rail policy, principles of which will be outlined in these remarks. "Unfortunately, Amtrak management have compounded problems for the railroad. Until recent months, Amtrak lacked fundamental financial controls even to determine the extent of route cross-subsidizations. "Amtrak's
performance was insufficiently transparent to the Congress, the
Department of Transportation and the public." De-linking
Passenger Rail and High Speed Rail “At the same time, Amtrak's supporters in the Congress and the states have forged an ad hoc alliance with advocates for numerous high speed rail projects that could easily cost over $200 billion over the next 20 years. "Amtrak has enjoyed monopoly access to the freight rail tracks upon which most high speed rail projects would presumably run. "Supporters
of Amtrak and of high speed rail have thus sought common cause.
Legislation creating various means of bond financing, now under
Congressional consideration, reflects this strategy -- to intertwine
inextricably the needs of Amtrak and high speed rail. “The first recommendation I make today is that we must have the clarity of mind and discipline to decide how and where to fund and operate intercity passenger rail while separately deciding whether to fund and operate high speed rail. "It
would be a great disservice to perpetuate the assumption that Amtrak's
future and that of high speed rail are necessarily intertwined.” Systematic Reform “Some who share my conviction about the potential of intercity passenger rail have made a further, unwarranted assertion--that Amtrak's problems can be fixed simply by a massive infusion of federal dollars.
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"The
Bush Administration rejects that assertion. The country can ill afford
to throw billions of federal dollars at Amtrak and just hope its
problems disappear. Thirty years' experience should teach us that merely
hoping for better performance is a doomed approach. Systematic,
root-and-branch rethinking of the Amtrak's structure and its public
policy mandate is needed." Create a system driven by sound economics "First, we believe that our intercity passenger rail network must
transition to a system dictated by fundamental economics without Federal
operating support. Prices and passengers - and not politics - should
drive service. "Amtrak's current route network provides too many services with limited market appeal at high operating costs to the federal government. "These operating subsidies are almost universal among all routes, and are marked by escalating operating costs that absorb federal support. While some in Congress are suggesting that federal operating subsidies must be a fundamental precept of intercity passenger rail, we do not agree. "At
the same time, we recognize that it is unlikely that Amtrak could
sustain a complete suspension of operating subsidies in 2003, so a
phased reduction to zero operating subsidies is necessary." Require that Amtrak transition to a pure operating company "Second, Amtrak should transition into a pure operating company. "We believe a gradual separation of train operations from infrastructure ownership would shed better light on the true economics of passenger rail and help the public sector make better educated decisions about the future of intercity passenger rail, choices which more accurately reflect challenges and market opportunities.
"What I am talking about today is an Amtrak dedicated
to operating passenger rail services for profit, but not responsible for
investment in and maintenance of the passenger rail
infrastructure." Introduce carefully managed competition to provide higher quality rail services at reasonable prices. "Third,
we must introduce market principles into intercity passenger rail
services. The Transportation Department has provided extensive details
about the fact that high unit costs undermine Amtrak's competitive
position relative to other passenger modes. Indeed, currently less than
one percent of all U.S. trips over 100 miles is by rail. We firmly
believe that marketplace discipline could deliver higher quality service
at competitive prices. “Some
proposals not only fail to make progress in this direction, they
actually make competition more difficult to achieve. A sustainable
intercity passenger rail system must behave more like other
private-sector transportation firms that move fixed costs into variable
ones. “We also note that many high-speed rail plans lack the comprehensive justification that marks current state/federal transportation planning at the metropolitan and statewide level. "Congressional
efforts to increase federal capital funding -do not pay sufficient
attention to the critical importance of planning and entrusting state
and local transportation agencies with the management of these programs. “We believe that clear-eyed, comprehensive, financially responsible transportation planning, which is mandated for other surface transportation modes, is crucial to the future of new forms of passenger rail. "Unless
states are real partners in these endeavors, passenger rail advocates
may champion services and facilities that may not fit within overall
state transportation plans. “Let
me close by reiterating that the moment has arrived to make fundamental,
lasting changes in U.S. passenger rail policy. Such changes will no
doubt engender resistance. In the past, such resistance has left us with
unfulfilled hopes and timid policy-making. “I believe it is time to recognize the role that intercity passenger rail service can play in America's transportation system, to offer a comprehensive vision for the future of intercity passenger rail, and to set out a proposal that offers an alternative to the previous thirty years of Amtrak history - a vision worthy of a passenger rail system that plays a sustainable role in the national transportation network. "I
have tried to set forth core elements of such a vision here. The Bush
Administration looks forward to refining this vision and discussing the
implications of these policies with interested stakeholders.” ========== Please take the
time to get involved. Please
write to the Federal Railroad Administration and Secretary Norman Y.
Mineta and let them know we need better roads and highways.
We do not need more Amtrak boondoggles.
FRA
Headquarters Address
For
Regional Offices go to http://www.fra.dot.gov/safety/regional/index.htm U.S.
Department of Transportation http://www.dot.gov/contact.html For
information:
202-366-4000 Send Comments or questions, as well as email for the Secretary and
other Department of Transportation officials, to dot.comments@ost.dot.gov. See also:
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