Post by nickv on Jul 22, 2007 20:43:42 GMT -8
Amtrak ridership up, but income still down
By MARILYN GEEWAX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/21/07
www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/07/20/amtrak_0721.html
..............................................
"Bush wants Congress to spend only $800 million on Amtrak, and has promised to veto any spending bills that exceed his budget requests."
Okay, I know Amtrak funding has been in the news since February, but I think it might be a good time to bring this topic back up now and start some discussion since we have a similar problem with transit funding at the state level.
I think it's time to get back on the e-mails and once again write to the officials of support and need for a regional transit system. Other countries have effective statewide/nationwide systems; why can't we? The demand for a better connection between LA to Vegas, LA to Phoenix, LA to San Francisco, and other regional trips are here. I was at Union Station one night and the Coast Starlight which pulled in 2 hours behind schedule had a good amount of passengers on board.
Why aren't the demands being met? The freeways (esp. I-15 to Vegas) are approaching total gridlock and LAX is..., you know, ...crowded. The House and the Senate have woken up; isn't it time that the state leaders and the White House do the same?
I think if Amtrak is underfunded, its service including the Pacific Surfliner service here in LA could run into serious trouble in the long run.
..............................................
Washington — With gasoline prices high and airports congested this summer, record numbers of Americans are traveling on Amtrak passenger trains.
Still, even with a 5.4 percent jump in ridership this year, Amtrak is not taking in enough money to continue operating and also pay for critically needed upgrades of rail cars, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure.
ROBERT F. BUKATY/Associated Press
(ENLARGE)
Amtrak's Michael Comella gives the all-clear signal on the Downeaster train from Portland, Maine, to Boston. The system has had more success in the Northeast than elsewhere.
"Our equipment is aging," Amtrak President and Chief Executive Alex Kummant told Congress last week. Referring to dining cars built in the early 1950s, he noted, "We do a good job of maintaining them ... but there comes an end point."
To help keep the U.S. passenger railroad rolling, especially in states outside of the Northeast, two Democratic-controlled congressional committees last week approved spending measures that would boost the subsidized rail system's budget far higher than President Bush would like.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a $1.4 billion budget for Amtrak for fiscal 2008, up from this year's $1.3 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee followed, approving a $1.37 billion budget.
Both spending bills are expected to win approval in their respective chambers. A compromise funding figure would be negotiated for the final bill, which likely would pass in late September.
But Bush wants Congress to spend only $800 million on Amtrak, and has promised to veto any spending bills that exceed his budget requests.
David Johnson, assistant director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, an advocacy group, said that if Congress were to go along with Bush's budget, Amtrak would have to slash service to stay alive.
At the $1.4 billion in funding, Amtrak could continue its current service, Johnson said.
"But at $800 million, there would be massive service cuts nationwide," probably eliminating all routes in the South and Midwest, he said. It could even lead to the shutdown of the entire Amtrak system, he said.
No matter what happens with the fiscal 2008 budget, which starts Oct. 1, several senators are pushing for a separate bill that would formally authorize Amtrak operations from 2008 to 2012, while providing a much bigger and longer boost in spending. Congress hasn't authorized Amtrak or provided a multiyear funding plan since 2002, and instead has kept it operating year to year.
The bipartisan Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.), would authorize $3.3 billion for operating subsidies and $4.9 billion for capital improvements over the life of the bill. In addition, states would get $1.4 billion to upgrade intercity passenger rail.
Just as with federal highway aid, the grants would require states to come up with a 20 percent match for each federal dollar.
Supporters say the bill's five-year commitment would allow Amtrak to make the kinds of upgrades that would build customer satisfaction over time. This year, the system will transport an estimated 25 million people, up from 24.3 million last year. Analysts believe ridership could be far higher if trains and facilities were improved.
"We can't keep asking Amtrak to operate like a business while we string the company along year to year," Lott said when he introduced the legislation in January.
The Lautenberg-Lott bill breezed through the Senate Commerce Committee with no debate in April, but a full Senate vote has yet to be scheduled. The legislation's chances for passage look good, considering the Senate approved a similar measure 93-6 two years ago when it was included in a budget bill.
However, the Amtrak authorization provision never became law because the House, then under Republican control, blocked it.
At a House transportation subcommittee hearing last week, Amtrak's Kummant pleaded for that chamber to move forward with legislation similar to the Senate's to give Amtrak money for capital improvements. Such legislation is still being prepared by the House Transportation Committee and may yet be introduced this summer.
Conservatives have long criticized federal funding for Amtrak, noting that since the railroad was created by Congress in 1970 and launched the following year, it has never turned a profit. In fiscal 2006, the railroad earned $2.05 billion while incurring $3.07 billion in expenses.
"Amtrak is operating at a load factor of about 47 percent, which means more than 50 percent of the seats are empty," said Ronald Utt, an Amtrak critic and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Congress should not boost spending on Amtrak because "they can't even fill the seats they have now," he said.
But supporters of Amtrak dismiss its financial losses, contending that no country in the world has a passenger rail system that operates without government assistance. Johnson said that with the nation's roads and airports jammed with travelers, "we need more, not less passenger service."
He added that because gas prices are still so high, political support is growing for rail transportation. But given the Bush administration's opposition to spending increases, he is wary about final passage of legislation to boost spending.
"I'll believe it when I see it," he said.
By MARILYN GEEWAX
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 07/21/07
www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2007/07/20/amtrak_0721.html
..............................................
"Bush wants Congress to spend only $800 million on Amtrak, and has promised to veto any spending bills that exceed his budget requests."
Okay, I know Amtrak funding has been in the news since February, but I think it might be a good time to bring this topic back up now and start some discussion since we have a similar problem with transit funding at the state level.
I think it's time to get back on the e-mails and once again write to the officials of support and need for a regional transit system. Other countries have effective statewide/nationwide systems; why can't we? The demand for a better connection between LA to Vegas, LA to Phoenix, LA to San Francisco, and other regional trips are here. I was at Union Station one night and the Coast Starlight which pulled in 2 hours behind schedule had a good amount of passengers on board.
Why aren't the demands being met? The freeways (esp. I-15 to Vegas) are approaching total gridlock and LAX is..., you know, ...crowded. The House and the Senate have woken up; isn't it time that the state leaders and the White House do the same?
I think if Amtrak is underfunded, its service including the Pacific Surfliner service here in LA could run into serious trouble in the long run.
..............................................
Washington — With gasoline prices high and airports congested this summer, record numbers of Americans are traveling on Amtrak passenger trains.
Still, even with a 5.4 percent jump in ridership this year, Amtrak is not taking in enough money to continue operating and also pay for critically needed upgrades of rail cars, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure.
ROBERT F. BUKATY/Associated Press
(ENLARGE)
Amtrak's Michael Comella gives the all-clear signal on the Downeaster train from Portland, Maine, to Boston. The system has had more success in the Northeast than elsewhere.
"Our equipment is aging," Amtrak President and Chief Executive Alex Kummant told Congress last week. Referring to dining cars built in the early 1950s, he noted, "We do a good job of maintaining them ... but there comes an end point."
To help keep the U.S. passenger railroad rolling, especially in states outside of the Northeast, two Democratic-controlled congressional committees last week approved spending measures that would boost the subsidized rail system's budget far higher than President Bush would like.
The House Appropriations Committee approved a $1.4 billion budget for Amtrak for fiscal 2008, up from this year's $1.3 billion. The Senate Appropriations Committee followed, approving a $1.37 billion budget.
Both spending bills are expected to win approval in their respective chambers. A compromise funding figure would be negotiated for the final bill, which likely would pass in late September.
But Bush wants Congress to spend only $800 million on Amtrak, and has promised to veto any spending bills that exceed his budget requests.
David Johnson, assistant director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers, an advocacy group, said that if Congress were to go along with Bush's budget, Amtrak would have to slash service to stay alive.
At the $1.4 billion in funding, Amtrak could continue its current service, Johnson said.
"But at $800 million, there would be massive service cuts nationwide," probably eliminating all routes in the South and Midwest, he said. It could even lead to the shutdown of the entire Amtrak system, he said.
No matter what happens with the fiscal 2008 budget, which starts Oct. 1, several senators are pushing for a separate bill that would formally authorize Amtrak operations from 2008 to 2012, while providing a much bigger and longer boost in spending. Congress hasn't authorized Amtrak or provided a multiyear funding plan since 2002, and instead has kept it operating year to year.
The bipartisan Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.), would authorize $3.3 billion for operating subsidies and $4.9 billion for capital improvements over the life of the bill. In addition, states would get $1.4 billion to upgrade intercity passenger rail.
Just as with federal highway aid, the grants would require states to come up with a 20 percent match for each federal dollar.
Supporters say the bill's five-year commitment would allow Amtrak to make the kinds of upgrades that would build customer satisfaction over time. This year, the system will transport an estimated 25 million people, up from 24.3 million last year. Analysts believe ridership could be far higher if trains and facilities were improved.
"We can't keep asking Amtrak to operate like a business while we string the company along year to year," Lott said when he introduced the legislation in January.
The Lautenberg-Lott bill breezed through the Senate Commerce Committee with no debate in April, but a full Senate vote has yet to be scheduled. The legislation's chances for passage look good, considering the Senate approved a similar measure 93-6 two years ago when it was included in a budget bill.
However, the Amtrak authorization provision never became law because the House, then under Republican control, blocked it.
At a House transportation subcommittee hearing last week, Amtrak's Kummant pleaded for that chamber to move forward with legislation similar to the Senate's to give Amtrak money for capital improvements. Such legislation is still being prepared by the House Transportation Committee and may yet be introduced this summer.
Conservatives have long criticized federal funding for Amtrak, noting that since the railroad was created by Congress in 1970 and launched the following year, it has never turned a profit. In fiscal 2006, the railroad earned $2.05 billion while incurring $3.07 billion in expenses.
"Amtrak is operating at a load factor of about 47 percent, which means more than 50 percent of the seats are empty," said Ronald Utt, an Amtrak critic and senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. Congress should not boost spending on Amtrak because "they can't even fill the seats they have now," he said.
But supporters of Amtrak dismiss its financial losses, contending that no country in the world has a passenger rail system that operates without government assistance. Johnson said that with the nation's roads and airports jammed with travelers, "we need more, not less passenger service."
He added that because gas prices are still so high, political support is growing for rail transportation. But given the Bush administration's opposition to spending increases, he is wary about final passage of legislation to boost spending.
"I'll believe it when I see it," he said.