Hotline #904

Support Stand Up 4 Transportation Day on April 9

The Stand Up 4 Transportation coalition is urging Congress to pay for a long-term investment in the nation’s transportation infrastructure under the fiscal year 2016 budget for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD). To that end, NARP is among a group of organizations gathering across the country on April 9 to send a message to Congress: It’s time to provide long-term investment for America’s transportation network to repair, maintain, and adequately expand America’s public transportation, roads, bridges, ports, and rail systems to help bring the national system up to speed with the 21st century.

This is an opportunity to call attention to the importance of infrastructure investment and the need for a long-term surface transportation authorization bill. The Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21) expires on May 31. This event is a golden opportunity to call attention to the importance of infrastructure investment and the need for a long-term surface transportation authorization bill.

NARP and other participating groups are encouraging local organizations and advocates who support public transit and highway investment to participate in Stand Up 4 Transportation Day events, being held while Congress is in recess. So far, more than 90 events have been organized, and participants hold media and social media events on that day to stress the message for the need for more investment. To find out more about the day, the communities that are holding events, and how to participate, click here.

A funding crisis for state passenger service has emerged in an unlikely place: Oregon. A state budget panel has cut by more than 50 percent a request for $10.4 million to continue the two daily Cascades train roundtrips between Portland and Eugene for the biennium, starting July 1. Unless the money is restored, the Oregon Department of Transportation will notify Amtrak to begin the discontinuance process as early as July.

Oregon operates on a two-year budget cycle, with the new one running from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2017. Former Gov. John Kitzhaber (D) budgeted $10.4 million for continuing the Oregon portion of the Cascades for the full biennium. Although Gov. Kitzhaber resigned in February, his successor, Gov. Kate Brown (D) is believed to support rail. On March 30, a key hearing will take place at the state capitol in Salem. For more information see www.aortarail.org

The popular Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) program would be eliminated and Amtrak subsidies would be slashed under a bill, H. Con. Res. 27, passed by the House Budget Committee and expected to be taken up by the full chamber soon. The bill would fund the Department of Transportation, the Department of Homeland Security, Amtrak and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration at $37 billion in fiscal year 2016.

Joshua Schank, president and chief executive officer of the Eno Center for Transportation, said he wasn’t surprised by the cuts, noting that Republicans have been pushing for decades to get rid of federal subsidies for Amtrak. A more reasonable approach would be for Congress to prioritize passenger rail investments that meet national goals, he said in an article by BNA.

Twelve members of the Illinois House delegation are asking their fellow members of Congress to provide "robust" funding for passenger rail under the fiscal year 2016 funding bill for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development (THUD). Eleven Democrats and one Republican made the request in a letter to Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Transportation and Housing and Urban Development subcommittee, reports The Hill.

"Given the impact of passenger rail and transit to Illinois, we the undersigned members of the Illinois Congressional delegation write to request your support for vitally important transit and passenger rail investments by fully funding mass transit, Amtrak and Intercity Rail Capital Assistance Programs in the Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2016," said the letter.

"National passenger rail and transit systems are part of our national transportation network that are critical for competing in the 21st century economy, generating jobs and fostering urban and rural community growth. The importance of passenger rail and transit to the state of Illinois and the region generally cannot be overstated."

The letter was signed by Reps. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Robin Kelly (D-Ill.), Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Bill Foster (D-Ill.), Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) and Robert Dold (R-Ill.).

Rockford, Illinois, Mayor Larry Morrissey recently held a press conference to say that proposed Amtrak service to his city isn’t dead even as an official said no new service was coming to the state. Speaking with city officials by his side, the mayor noted the funds to build the rail line have been available since 2009, reports MyStateline.com.

Illinois could be forced to repay $1 billion in federal funding if proposed cuts to service on the Chicago-St. Louis passenger rail corridor happen, said Ray Lang, senior director of national state relations for Amtrak. The cuts could also have a significant impact on other passenger rail routes in Illinois, reports the Quad City Times.

Gov. Bruce Rauner's administration wants to cut Illinois’ share of Amtrak funding by 40 percent, to $26 million a year. Rail service must be cut in order to balance the budget. Lang warned that other routes, including the Carbondale-Chicago line, could be cut to cover the budget.

Rail advocates in Albuquerque, New Mexico, this week showed up at the city’s Amtrak station to urge state officials to support a $4 million cost-sharing agreement to pay for track upgrades from Lamy to eastern Kansas. Amtrak’s Southwest Chief could be rerouted to bypass northern New Mexico and Colorado if those states refuse to pitch in with funding.

Amtrak officials want New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and BNSF Railway to contribute $4 million each a year for 10 years. Amtrak offers daily Southwest Chief service between Los Angeles and Chicago, with New Mexico stops in Albuquerque, Gallup, Las Vegas, Lamy and Raton. Because of poor track conditions, the Southwest Chief is forced to run at speeds below the maximum 79 mph. If the tracks were repaired, the train could operate at maximum speed, cutting travel times, bring more riders and making the line economically viable.

Travelers will have a new way to get to Miami International Airport thanks to the opening of i-Rail's Miami Airport Station on April 5 after four years of construction and delays, reports the Sun-Sentinel. The new station, part of the Miami Intermodal Center, will allow travelers to take an elevated train Miami Airport’s terminals. And accommodations have been made for high-speed rail in the future. The Amtrak part of the station will open in the summer.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has started work to upgrade the southern entrance plaza of Providence Station. The $6.9 million will cover planned improvements designed to enhance circulation for all users of the station, as well as create an inviting civic space. Pedestrian enhancements will be made and damaged concrete and limestone areas on the building's plaza will be repaired. Other planned improvements include adding amenities for bicyclists, updating signage and landscaping.

The station is home to Amtrak and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) services and is ranked as one of the top three busiest stations in the MBTA network and 15th out of the more than 500 stations in Amtrak's system. This work, which will be broken out into two phases, is scheduled to be completed in spring 2016.

Some state senators in Oklahoma are asking whether subsidies for train services between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth are still needed, reports Tulsa World. The state pays a $2.9 million subsidy to Amtrak for Heartland Flyer service. The subsidy is expected to rise to $3.2 million, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation’s recent budget presentation to the Senate Appropriations Committee. One senator even asked whether it would be more effective to spend the subsidy money on road maintenance. Oklahoma and Texas pay 75 percent of the cost of an Amtrak train trip to Fort Worth according to ODOT.

The Heartland Flyer starting operating in 1999 with 26,832 riders. Ridership reached its peak in 2012, with 87,873 passengers buying tickets, according to ODOT. Current ridership is 81,226 per year.

Fresno, California, is taking its first steps toward building a high-speed rail system after city officials held the first community meeting on the effort. Under the initiative, the city wants to build a new district built around the proposed Fresno Station District. The city was started in the late-19th century as a railroad hub for farmers making the most of a rich land, reports the Fresno Bee.

Lawrence T. "Larry" Joyce, 96, died Wednesday, March 18, 2015, in Holy Spirit Hospital, Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, reports TrainOrders.com. He was a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Southern California and a veteran of World War II. He founded the Keystone Association of Railroad Passengers in 1975, was director of Keystone NARP from 1976 to 2006, and was treasurer of the Cumberland County Transportation Authority.