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TechnoratiRecently in Indiana, Barack Obama had lunch with an Amtrak machinist who feared losing his job. Obama said, "The irony is, with the gas prices what they are, we should be expanding rail service."
Last week in Michigan, Obama spent time smoothing his relations with auto workers. A year ago, he told the Detroit Economic Club that the sport utility vehicle-addicted American industry "continued to reward failure" as foreign makers focused on fuel efficiency. Last week, he told workers, "We are taking steps in the right direction. American automakers are on the move. But we have to do more."In trying to connect with white working-class voters, Obama inadvertently placed himself on the larger platform of American transportation. With Michigan being a swing state, we undoubtedly will be deluged with presidential pandering to the auto industry. Everyone knows that whatever Obama says about the US auto industry is subject to the obvious. American automakers are on the move all right, but to Washington to lobby against higher fuel efficiency. Any steps in the right direction have been baby steps.
High-speed rail could use some of this pampering and pandering. With regular gasoline approaching the $4 mark, and air travel becoming more frustrating than ever, more and more Americans are taking the train. According to news reports, Amtrak ridership - despite its chronic underfunding - is up 20 percent since October in North Carolina and up 19 percent between Chicago and St. Louis.
April ridership between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Pa., was up 17.7 percent over April 2007. March ridership from Sacramento to San Francisco rose nearly 17 percent over 2007. The Heartland Flyer between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City is up 6.5 percent; the Chicago-to-Seattle Empire Builder is up 8.2 percent. Ridership in upstate New York at the end of 2007 was up 11 percent over the end of 2006.
And of course, there is the Boston-New York-Washington corridor where Acela ridership was up 20 percent in 2007, to 3.1 million passengers. Yet, at this moment, we have heard more about gimmicks like gas-tax holidays to make $4 gas seem a bit cheaper (Hillary Clinton and John McCain) and the auto industry being part of Obama's $150 billion green economy investments and incentives (read: tax breaks). Yet, most of the developed world continues to laugh at us.
Trains now travel the 213 miles between London and Paris in two hours and 15 minutes. That is about the same distance as New York to Washington, yet our trains take 45 minutes longer. Many leaders on Capitol Hill are embarrassed by this, but President Bush has so thoroughly starved Amtrak in his two terms that Representative John Olver of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee dealing with transportation, said in February:
"While I'm confident the president's request is wholly inadequate to maintain a national intercity passenger rail system, I must also point out it will be extremely difficult to come up with all of the resources that Amtrak believes it will require from the federal government. Unfortunately, the president left us a number of holes to fill not only in passenger rail, but also with regard to funding for our airports and infrastructure, highway and transit systems."
It is obvious that the pressure will mount on Obama, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, to bow to the interests of the auto and airline industries. In 2000 and 2004, two-thirds of campaign contributions from both those industries went to Republican causes, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the 2008 cycle, the Democrats are getting about half of the money from both industries.
It is one thing to meet with an Amtrak worker for a photo-op. It is another to get on board for the rail service America needs for a green economy, less urban congestion, and a more civilized future. Obama says, "Detroit won't find a better partner than me in the White House." In the past, that has also meant making a pariah out of Amtrak. Nothing would symbolize a break from this past more than a whistlestop tour in the presidential campaign, to promote trains themselves.
Derrick Z. Jackson can be reached at jackson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
32 Comments so far
Show AllWhom ever mentioned that rail travel avoided the shoe removal and empty pockets bullshit may soon be mistaken.
On my last Amtrak trip, two very large and heavily armed guys got on board at Rochester, NY and delayed departure by a good 15- 20 minutes while they strolled the cars looking for folks with suspicious complexions or funny clothes and accents.
They had "Border Patrol" patches - what border exactly were they patrolling?
I had my papers ready just in case. At least they weren't wearing black leather trench coats.
You cannot omit the fact that many of the northeast corrider riders take the train because once they get to their destinations a car is a major inconvenience. That's why I used to take the Acela from Boston to NYC, I didn't want to end up in NYC with a car that would cost me more to park than the Acela ticket and cab fare.
Also do not omit the fact that most European countries are a tiny fraction of the size of the U.S. As I mentioned above, France is smaller than Texas !
Actually it TAKES more time now to get from my town
to Hoboken New Jersey. A few years ago I could get to weekly music jams in Hoboken in 52 minutes.
Now the fastest "express" train is 66 minutes and with
NJ Transit recent cuts in Morris Line service requiring
more transfers it will be even worse...
If you live in New Jersey let them know how stupid New Jersey Transit is to cut Morris Line service by 18%..
http://www.co.morris.nj.us/asp/morris/press.asp?link=1139
See the following:
http://www.nj.com/morristown/news/index.ssf/2008/05/nj_transit_cuts_morr...
This is the very next week after a front-page article about record train ridership on NJ Transit and a few months after NJ Transit built a whole new Rail Station
in Mt Arlington (which is not getting cuts because they never had much off peak service)
All of the classic "suburbia to NYC" commutes.(Long Island RR,Metro North, NJ Transit etc). Take the same amount of time today, that they did in the 1870's! How is that for non-progress?
The Japanese, the Germans, and most of Europe can cross their entire countries, in the time it takes for the local to reach Poughkeepsie.
It's too idiotic to think about when you consider the daily traffic insanity that is a NYC commute.
If someone can drive to the city faster then the train, duuuh. But what if the train took an hour, and the drive took two? Then we'd have something. But this would take a forward thinking Government and President. It's just too bad the Bushies don't have friends in the RR biz.
We are the captives of a radical, unorthodox, extreme, laissez-faire capitalism which frowns at the very idea of planning. Our political, economic, and opinion power-elite may quote Adam Smith, but I doubt very much if they have read him.
I can understand why Acela ridership might be up, because it links 3 major business/tourism cities and driving the route can be a PITA. But elsewhere in the U.S. there isn't such a condensed corridor and rail travel is FAR less convenient. As far as I know, the only people who ride Amtrak outside of the northeast corridor are tourists who want to watch the scenery or experience riding a train, or people who want/need to save money. Everyone else flies or drives.
Also, it's not fair to compare France to the U.S. ... France is smaller than Texas !
Traveling by train or bus is such a pleasure....in Europe...and then there is the wonderful little Smart Cars or Pay as you ride bicycles that get you around the city...in Europe...
Our nation could have the same, but we are so bent on beating our chests about being better than the rest of the planet...we just don't see how we have failed in the transportation department...
For those of us who insist on having one car per person ....this country's auto manufactures could re-tool in a matter of days (LIKE THEY DID FOR WWII) and put out fuel efficient/non polluting cars that could get our economy rolling in our direction ...the technology is there...
We just need to demand the use of those patents that have been filed away by big corporations....
DEMAND and they will supply....WE do have power..
The most efficient possible transportation system we could build would be a system of ramps spanning the country. Energy would be used to raise masses to a height sufficient such that PE = energy lost to friction. Cargo could be given an initial boost with a device similar to what propels some roller coasters, and most of the energy expended on the boost could be recovered at the destination point. Theoretically conditions could exist along the track which allow for the realization of any possible speed. Practically speaking, ramp speeds could easily be competitive with air travel.
This idea is similar to the idea of a national rail system and requires much more investment, but is ultimately the most efficient possible way of getting between two points on the earth's surface. Superiority to any conventional rail system is derived from the fact that trains are necessarily heavier than plausible ramp sleds on account of needing their own on-board engine.
The ramps would be very expensive to build and their construction would be a very labor intensive project, but we have many that are unemployed. Also, once they are built they could conceivably last as long as the mountains.
Maybe the ramp mounds could be made with our garbage?
Making train travel dirt cheap, funded by a 5 cent increase per gallon on gasoline, reducing the speed limit on the highways to 40 mph and reserving the breakdown lane for bicycles, would quickly reduce demand and bring down the price of oil/gasoline.
Also, for the Northeast to Florida auto travelers, have a ferry that goes down the coastline.
Bravo to Amtrak.
Even though there is only one train a day East (to NY or Boston) and only one west to Chicago from Erie. And not at the most convenient hours.
I avoid our pathetic Erie "International" airport (which it is not) as much as possible.
It may take a lot longer but I don't get my genitals groped by a security agent (of either gender), can carry as much shampoo as I want, get up and walk around and even have a beer or reasonably decent meal in the dining car.
Take the trails back to rails and let the cute Spandex crowd ride down the Interstate median.
And a side issue of train travel - one gets to really see the underbelly of America. Huge piles of dumped machinery, vehicles and garbage, dozens of abandoned factories, streams running orange.
Get a window seat from Buffalo (only lots of grape vines and views of Lake Erie before that) past Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Schenectady and the grand capital, Albany.
Art
The true "efficency" of the modern economy is in providing jobs. More jobs are provided in manufacturing automobiles than in rail transit. Continual growth in autos, highway mileage,and gasoline consumption has been the basis of US prosperity. As Cheney or sommeone said: " The USA standard of living is not negotiablble."
A more rational approach to efficency would be to get maximum use out of natural reources as defined in the Laws of Thermodynamics. Do not expect this to happen in the US economic model.
Trains are great. I had the pleasure of taking the train through the Canadian Rockies one vacation. It was one of the best trips by train I have ever taken.
Another problem with the Amtrak is a little something they like to call "freight interference." Even though freight railroads are supposed to give priority to passenger traffic - this was part of the deal that allowed them to discontinue passenger service when Amtrak was established - this doesn't always happen. Freight railroads are also fantasically mismanaged (Union Pacific in particular). So improving passenger rail may involve new rights-of-way, or at least slapping around the freight railroads to honor their commitments. There's also issues with keeping people off the tracks, too.
Plus remember this bit of irony: one major manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives is GENERAL ELECTRIC. Yup, big, ol' evil military-industrial GE. Who also manufactures jet engines. So honestly, I don't think big-business is necessarily *against* it per se.
So yes, let's all give Amtrak some love. :)
"There is a crucial element needed in every enterprise, public and private, and I haven't heard any discussion of it here at CD: Commitment to efficiency."
As long as you make sure you don't confuse "efficiency" with "frugality".
"That is the driver of value."
Yes, but be careful waht you wish for.
Not fast? See http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/TGV
No wonder Bushco hates the frogs.
CarFree in BigD
So Detroit will go lobby against fuel efficiency standards and essentially lobby themselves into even more irrelevancy with the nation quickly making moves against fuel-INefficient vehicles?
The only thing that saves Detroit is to convert the factories and excess production capacity into high speed rail technology, much like we overhauled factory production during WW2. Keeps Mr. Amtrak employee in a job, returns the shine to a failed city, Detroit, and they no longer have to lobby against their best interest.
Both of the auto and airline industries need to start making trains and making them fast or somebody else will come along and fill that demand, then they all will be left w/o jobs.
Honestly, riding on some of the trains in Europe is some sophistocated travel, where the trains can be as long as they have to to support the demand and maintain comfortable accommodations. The ride is smooth enough to comfortably stretch one's legs and move around, even to the food cars to eat, drink, etc. Workers can use the internet, make calls, read, sleep, etc.
But, I would so much rather crowd into a Southwest flight, or deal with crabby American Airlines Battleaxes Flight Attendants, or be stuck in traffic with people honking at you on the highways where 50,000 Americans a year die in accidents. Now compare that to the comfort and safety of rail travel.
Regional travel in Texas literally takes the same amount of time, if not more, when travelling from Austin or Houston to DFW when calculating all of the time it takes to drive to the airport (for me typically 20-30 minutes), park at the airport, get thru security, sit around for 30 minutes (if you time it perfectly) if not longer, then the 45-60 minute flight (which is terrifyingly bumpy going to Austin), and then once you arrive the airports are so far out and disconnected from any real mass transit that you're forced to rent a car or cab it.
Fixing the transportation industry and fixing our cities go hand in hand. Europe and China are building trains that can go from city center to city center over the same distance in less than two hours in a more safe, comfortable, cost- and energy-efficient manner. It's time we get all of the economic dinosaurs and their jurassic money out of the decision making process before we're all extinct.
I watched on CSPAN earlier this year as a vote on a bill to CAP -- not curb, just cap; at $400 PER PERSON MIND YOU -- an existing corporate-welfare governemnt subsidy to Amtrak crashed and burned.
Who said Republicans and Democrats can't agree on anything? They all overwhelmingly agreed to KEEP PAYING AMTRAK $400 PER PERSON in addition to whatever fare they were charging.
Katrina victims can't have water, and sick poor kids can't see a doctor, but let poor Amtrak butt rape Congress on the tax payer dime. No problem.
PS Hillary Clinton was among those who voted to kill it.
We don't have high-speed trains because most Americans don't want them. Trains require you to report to some distant station and wait according to someone else's schedule, then share close confinement with strangers for several hours or more. They're like airplanes but not as fast. You can't take trains to the mall and fill them with clothes or groceries. You can't take trains out to restaurants and movies. You can't commute directly from your home to your workplace in trains. Trains don't let you live in vast suburbs of single-family dwellings with spacious green lawns that keep strangers at a distance. Trains don't let you move to a new neighborhood when that unwanted ethnic minority begins cluttering up your old one. With the Model T, trains became un-American, fit only for northeastern liberals. You can't have NASCAR and the Indianapolis 500 with trains. By endorsing trains, Obama has shown that he's an out-of-touch elitist!
But I'm such a contrarian, I love trains anyways. Buses are almost as good. I like being able to go long distances without having to have my own hands on the wheel, so I can read and relax.
There is a crucial element needed in every enterprise, public and private, and I haven't heard any discussion of it here at CD: Commitment to efficiency. That is the driver of value. When you read that other countries do healthcare, transport and energy at half the cost of the US, or even much less as in the case of Cuba, it is through a commitment to efficiency.
The elites are mostly evil, but the American public are mostly good, not evil, but they lack the commitment to efficiency and value, and this is why they pay twice to twenty times what other countries pay for the same result.
This commitment is very easily cultivated when the people are trained to generally connect with reality and their own interests. In other words, purge the evil elite from all sectors of the society. Stop pretending that the people can coexist with the predatory elite. The successful societies on this planet have effectively caged their elites.
So, Demoks, "coordinators", "intelligentsia", are you ready to walk the progressive walk? Ready to cage the elites, and teach the people in K12 civics curricula how to generally connect with reality and their own interests, and therefore gain the ability to demand and get best value from the markets, and thereby reduce their workweeks to 15 hours, ending the mass slavery, and ending the plunder, destruction, genocide, meltdown? Ready yet?
Well I'm not hearing people properly identify the problem within the government and that is the elites. Purge the elites from the government and most of the problems are purged as well. The technical issues of transport are solved. It's a matter of politics now - who's going to rule - the elites or the public? 90% of all issues collapse into this one.
The transport goal should be half of domestic air flights replaced by high speed rail in ten years. 500 mph, 500 mpg/passenger, costs contained to 2 cents per mile per passenger. This means no subsidies are necessary. The feasibility of delivering this level of value is directly connected to the public's demand forit. Demand it and get it. Fail to demand it, and you won't get it.
Rail travel will be made increasingly unpleasant by incursions of Homeland Security bullies to "protect" you from the omnipresent danger of terrorism. Take off your shoes! Empty your pockets! Just like an airport. Nearly everyone will comply. If you don't comply - well, remember how you felt in high school when you were the only one in your class against the Vietnam war? That's how you're going to feel at the train station before long. And if you show your displeasure you could be shot.
"The irony is, with the gas prices what they are, we should be expanding rail service."
That's the limit of leftist rhetoric that the capitist beast will allow O'Bama. It's not enough. It's nowhere near enough. Americans are enslaved to the capitalist beast behind the corporate-driven automobile.
Suggestion: Vote third party progressives in both the elections and in your general exchange/association and aid the collapse of the rotten establishment ASAP.
I was an active Rail Pass. Association Pres. for years, and a member of N.A.R.P. William Clinton promised great expansion of Amtrak improvements in his administration. It didnt happen. We got cuts, and continuious cuts. Advances in Rail Passenger Service has moved like a Glacier. I see nothing different happening under any president.
Why would the autoworkers be upset about more train travel? Who's going to build the carriages and locomotives this country so desperately needs?
FINALLY. It's about time someone here on the left actually called for expanding the public transportation system be it the rail or even the bus routes. I live in South Carolina and there's no public bus or train unless I travel at least 50 miles from my apartment !
The US private rail system was profitable until Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act in 1956 and taxpayer- financed aeronautic infrastructure expanded. When the first Boeing 707 took off in 1958 the private rail system was doomed.
Private rail cannot be profitable when it needs to compete with heavily subsidized roads and airports.
"So why can't we have a nationwide state of the art high speed rail, light rail and subway systems? "
Can they make a profit on their own? Any examples of that?
Train travel, smart, practical and environmentally sound. Ties India together, and reaches into big chunks of Australia. Only here do we treat it like a pariah child. Time we grew up, and saw trains as our pre-General Motors-owned forefathers did -- in 1900, you could go almost anywhere in the country by train.
The aeronautic industry is a major component of the military industrial media complex. Their army of well entrnched lobbyists make sure that the US Congress (the best congress money can buy) keeps funding more war, keeps high speed rail from moving forward and keeps Amtrak funding at token levels.
So why can't we have a nationwide state of the art high speed rail, light rail and subway systems? Answer is- you can't invade other countries with this type of equipment.
I love Amtrak and wish that either of the Democratic candidates would get behind funding for a better rail system. I take the train regularly from Boston to New York, although I have yet to go all the way to DC. It's cheap (round-trip from Boston to Virginia is $175 this fall when I am going), it's efficient, the views are good and it is immeasurably more comfortable and fun than car or air travel. We on the left need to make this an issue for the election season.
Back to the 50s. Where is George Pullman and his railroad cars now that we desperately need them? Is comfort, service and adventure lost forever?