Hotline #938

With conference negotiations on the six-year surface transportation reauthorization still underway, NARP is closely monitoring proceedings to track the progress of three goals for the bill: include passenger rail as part of a comprehensive surface transportation bill; allow for flexibility in investing the $77 billion in general revenue used to fund the surface transportation bill; include predictable, dedicated funding for passenger rail, and restore funding to FY2010 levels, when congress invested $4 billion in trains.

Negotiations have been going more slowly than originally planned, which will delay final passage by a few weeks. To allow for more time, Congress passed a short term extension of current transportation law through December 4, which was signed by President Barack Obama today.

This is good news in one key sense: it means that the National Day of Action organized by a NARP-led coalition of passenger groups was able to deliver a very timely message. NARP tracked 2,435 letters and hundreds of calls delivered as part of our campaign -- and those numbers don’t even account for the great work done by state-level allies.

Concurrently, work on the FY2016 transportation budget appropriations bill has ground to a halt in the Senate, stalled by controversy over an amendment filed by Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) to prohibit federal funding from being used to help Syrian refugees. This turn of events is a disappointment for passengers, who supported a $690 million increase in transportation spending approved this week. This investment boost would have produced good outcomes for two NARP-backed programs: an additional $100 million to TIGER—for a total of $600 million—and an additional $311 million for New Starts—for a total of $1.896 billion.

Now, congressional appropriations staffers will need to clear the transportation for the upcoming year as part of a comprehensive budget omnibus bill, which will need to passed by December 11 to avoid a government shutdown.

A NJBiz.com editorial applauds the deal reached to build the Gateway project, but is not happy that New Jersey Transit is facing a potential $50 million cut under the transportation bill. “Reliable public transportation is an important conversation to have at the federal level, but a nationwide busing plan cannot displace the rail needs of seven Northeastern states that together account for roughly half of all public transit trips in the United States,” the editors wrote. “And in New Jersey, this kind of cut would be especially hard, given how hard cities such as Newark and Jersey City rely on public transport for employment, culture and tourism — not to mention how many commuters in bedroom communities would be imperiled by lack of access to New York.”

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The NARP November/December 2015 newsletter is out. It includes an update on the transportation bill, a NARP member profile and highlights from the Fall Meeting. This is the last newsletter of 2015. The next newsletter will arrive in January 2016.

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Rail advocate Vice President Joe Biden gave his thumbs up to the proposed high-speed bullet train that would connect Dallas and Houston during remarks in Dallas. "Not only is high-speed rail necessary, but this region is ideal for high-speed rail," Biden said. "You've got the land."

“Ten years from now, you will look back on the risk you took,” the Vice President added. “Mark my words, when they see a train going 200 plus mph that’s clean, on time and functional, you’re going to see the rest of the country and our Republican friends ... say, ‘Why don’t we have that?’ You’re going to lead this country into an entire new era of transportation. I hope you invite me back because I plan on riding this sucker.”

NARP President and CEO Jim Mathews has emphasized the importance of grassroots efforts to get out the message on the importance of rail as part of a multimodal transportation system. To that end, NARP member Michael C. Alexander, who also heads Western Pennsylvanians for Passenger Rail (WPPR), worked with a reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to discuss his group’s efforts to get favorable rail provisions included and passed in the transportation bill. The story also noted how WPPR helped save The Pennsylvanian, Pittsburgh’s lone daily train to Harrisburg, Philadelphia and New York, when its continued operation was imperiled in 2013.

Six months after the crash of Amtrak Train #188, a PlanPhilly article in Philly.com asks: what's been done to prevent another Amtrak Train 188? “We don’t know why Amtrak 188 was speeding, but we do know that Positive Train Control, a safety system mandated by Congress, would have prevented it,” they wrote. “On the southbound side of the Frankford Junction, an older safety system, Automatic Train Control, “enforces” – automatically brakes – trains traveling above 45 mph. At the time of the accident, the northbound side did not have ATC enforcement in place.”

Politico New York writes about how New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is running its subways on electro-mechanical relays first built in the 1930s. MTA officials say they don’t have the money to modernize New York’s subways, which would cost $19.2 billion, according to the Regional Plan Association.

And the Atlantic magazine wrote about how passengers riding New York City subways don’t have access to an app, a screen or even a PA announcer that can tell them when the train is actually going to arrive. The only people who know exactly where that train is are on the train itself. This is both infuriating to riders who want to be able to plan their commutes—spend those extra ten minutes at home, or forego the subway altogether if there’s a long delay—and a symbol of a broader failure.

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The Rail Passenger Association of California and Nevada (RailPAC) will hold its annual meeting, "Steel Wheels Conference 2016: A Year of Possibilities," on December 5, 2015. The event will be held at the Los Angeles Metro Board Room at Union Station. The keynote speaker will be Amtrak board member Yvonne Brathwaite. Attendees will also hear from industry leaders who will present their thoughts on growing a mobility network for California. Registration is open, and we're encouraging NARP's California members to attend this event. Click here for more details and to register.

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Veronique Hakim announced that she is leaving as head of New Jersey Transit after only 18 months on the job to lead New York City Transit, reports the New York Times. She replaces James L. Ferrara, who had been serving as interim president of the agency since Carmen Bianco retired in August. She starts on December 28.

In the September 2015 NARP newsletter, our member profile on Thomas Girsch included a discussion on Association for Public Transportation/Massachusetts Association of Railroad Passengers’ efforts to get Boston’s North-South Rail Link built. To that end, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) wants the support of the Bay State's Congressional delegation to do a major study on what it would take to build an underground rail link between North and South stations, reports the Lowell Sun. Moulton met with former governor Michael Dukakis, an avid supporter of the link, and also circulated a letter in favor of a study.

APT-MARP held a forum in September, led by Dukakis, that discussed efforts and ideas to improve transportation in the state, including the link between the North and South stations, and how that links to economic development. NARP sees this as a great example of how a local organization can become a part of the bigger transportation conversation that we call "A Connected America."

Three elected officials in New Hampshire have unveiled a plan to extend passenger rail service from Boston to Nashua and Manchester, reports Concord Patch. The plan also includes a financing option that would fund the project for less than $5 million a year in state funds. The results came from the New England Regional Passenger Rail Summit, convened by Rep. Ann McLane Kuster (D-N.H.), held in Nashua last month.

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Attention all NARP members in good standing: Now is your opportunity to become involved in the direction and leadership of NARP by running for a State Representative seat on the Council of Representatives (the Association’s volunteer governing body) during the upcoming January 2016 election. Serving on the Council is a wonderful chance to collaborate with others who have a common interest in improving passenger train service across the country.

Any NARP member who has paid dues for at least one year, is at least 18-years of age and is a U.S. resident is eligible to run. Members interested in running must complete and submit for review and qualification a Candidate Information Statement by 11:59 p.m. on December 1, 2015.

Members elected to the Council of Representatives will serve a two-year term starting March 1, 2016. Complete information on the duties and responsibilities of serving on the Council of Representatives, along with detailed specifications on the election procedures can be found on the NARP website under ‘Join the Council’.

NARP is only as strong as the leaders who step up and share their time and talents in working towards our collective goals. Please consider becoming one of these leaders and help make a difference in the future.

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Documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles have released the film “In Transit,” Albert’s last work before dying earlier this year, reports the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. The film is a series of vignettes with everyday passengers as they make their way across the country on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line between Chicago and Seattle. See the film trailer on YouTube here.

Gizmodo assembled a list of up-and-coming high-speed rail hotspots in the United States–including places where the systems are under construction, as well as possible sites for development. The article covered everything from efforts in Texas and California to proposals in the Northeast Corridor, the Midwest and the Pacific Northwest.

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NARP thanks those members who have sent in industry-related news stories, op-eds, editorials or letters to the editor from your communities. We include them in our social media efforts, along with the weekly Hotline. Please continue to send your news to NARP’s communications director ([email protected]) and we will continue share it with the membership. Finally, please follow NARP on Facebook and Twitter.