By 5hd NBC5i.com, November 14, 2007
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tower 55, the busiest at-grade railroad intersection in the United States, is the subject of an environmental assessment that could find ways to improve air quality, safety, and movement at the congested spot.
Named for a two-story wooden railroad building on the edge of downtown Fort Worth, the Tower 55 intersection is typically backed up with idling locomotives that sit there emitting clouds of diesel exhaust into the air.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments, NCTCOG, hosted two public meetings at the Fort Worth Central Library Tuesday to discuss issues surrounding Tower 55 and the plans for an estimated $300 million improvement of the rail intersection.
More than 100 freight trains and 70 passenger trains pass through and adjacent to Tower 55, and wait time for trains to use the crossing averages 90 minutes.
Several different rail lines converge at Tower 55, including the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Union Pacific Railroad, Fort Worth & Western Railroad, Amtrak, and the Trinity Railway Express.
In addition to creating air pollution, the rail jam impedes the distribution of goods and blocks the possibility of expanding commuter rail service in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
NCTCOG staff introduced eight improvement alternatives under consideration at the public meetings. They include a third north-south track at grade, a north-south track in a trench, an east-west fly-over elevated track, and a bypass for the Forth Worth and Western Railroad.
Even as locomotives pile up at Tower 55, NCTCOG planners are watching the demand for rail access to the intersection steadily increase.
If the rate of traffic at Tower 55 continues to grow, by 2010 all trains needing access in an average 24 hour period will not be able to pass through, the public meetings were told.
This growth is caused by the continuous increase in regional economic activity, changes to the national freight rail network, and international trade, which indicates demand for access to the Tower 55 interchange is likely to grow in the near future.
According to the Texas State Rail Plan, rail is the primary mode of moving goods in the region, and to and from the west coast. These goods must pass through Tower 55 before moving throughout the region, the nation, or internationally.
The North Central Texas Council of Governments says that if a remedy is not found for the problems at Tower 55, companies in freight oriented developments throughout the region will be faced with two options - stay in the region and deal with the congestion issues and unreliability of shipments or move out of the region to a more reliable, less congested location.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved
Showing posts with label Amtrak. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amtrak. Show all posts
Friday, November 23, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Texas Rail Advocates board meeting scheduled in Dallas Nov. 12th
By Texas Rail Advocates - Oct. 2007
2008 Corridor Conference to be held February 1st
The 2008 South Central High Performance Rail Corridor Conference will be held on February 1st! Mark your calendars and check out our Corridor Conference web page for more info.
Map of South Central High Performance Rail Corridor for passenger and frieght service.
The next TRA Board Meeting will be held on Monday, November 12th, a Lincoln Center #1 (by the Hilton), 5400 LBJ Frwy, Suite 1300, Dallas, TX 75240 (if you get lost, phone Taylor Sharpe's cell phone at 214-522-5525).
Friends and members are welcome to attend. Call Paul Mangelsdorf for more information at (214) 823-4963. The last meeting was held Oct. 1st. Minutes are available for the Sept. 17th meeting.
2008 Corridor Conference to be held February 1st
The 2008 South Central High Performance Rail Corridor Conference will be held on February 1st! Mark your calendars and check out our Corridor Conference web page for more info.
Map of South Central High Performance Rail Corridor for passenger and frieght service.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Passenger rail privatization: A lesson from Japan
By Robert A. Letteney - TheHill.com - April 07, 2005
The Hill is a congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session, with a special focus on business and lobbying, political campaigns ...
Even though passenger rail is supported by national governments in the rest of the world, the Bush administration has recently proposed shutting down U.S. intercity passenger rail service by zeroing out funding for Amtrak in fiscal year 2006.
The Bush budget proposal comes during a fierce debate over how to reform the U.S. passenger-rail system. Some proponents of privatizing Amtrak have pointed to privatization efforts in other countries, including Japan, as proof that Amtrak could also be privatized. Are there lessons U.S. policymakers can learn from the Japanese experience with privatization?
In the mid 1980s, Japan National Railways (JNR) was a monolithic national monopoly with an operating deficit, huge debt, declining ridership, high fares, poor service and political interference. In other words, JNR had many of the same problems that plague Amtrak today.
In its place, the Japanese government created six separate private passenger-rail companies to serve different regions of the country. Three of the six companies that served rural areas would be eligible for a yearly operating-deficit subsidy from a revolving government fund. The other three companies, which largely served urban areas, were expected to cover their operating costs. Each private company would be responsible for both rail operations and infrastructure management.
By most measures, privatization in Japan has been a success. Since privatization, yearly profits for the three main companies have increased to between $600 million and $2 billion, accidents have decreased by close to 50 percent, fares are stable, the number of rail employees has been reduced by 50,000 and ridership as measured by passenger-kilometers has risen by nearly 20 percent.
However, any discussion of Japan’s privatization efforts must also note the Japanese government’s role in financing rail infrastructure projects and the operating deficits of rural railroads.
While the Bush administration’s proposal would effectively destroy passenger rail in the United States, the Japanese government has launched an ambitious effort to expand high-speed rail service over the next 10 years. The cost, close to $30 billion, will be funded by the national government, local governments and revenues generated from existing high-speed lines. When construction is complete, the new lines will be owned by the government and leased to the rail companies. The same private rail company that manages operations will also manage maintenance for the new high-speed lines.
Obviously, there are limitations in comparing the U.S. and Japan rail systems. Japan is especially well-suited for rail because of its high population density and short distances between major cities. Furthermore, in the current budgetary climate it is impractical to believe that the United States could build the type of dedicated high-speed rail network in its high-density corridors that Japan possesses.
Yet the main difference between the Japan and U.S. rail systems is political. The United States has never had the political will to make the necessary infrastructure investments to create a competitive rail system. Instead, from the time Amtrak was created in 1971, Congress has given the struggling railroad barely enough to survive from year to year.
As a result, Amtrak does not have enough money to fix its growing backlog of capital maintenance or promote a true high-speed rail system. In the Northeast Corridor alone, it is estimated that $28 billion is needed for rail infrastructure over the next 20 years, and billions more would be needed to implement higher speed rail.
As U.S. highways and airspace become more and more congested, the lack of investment in rail infrastructure has made it difficult for passenger rail to compete successfully with these other transportation modes (all of which receive much more federal subsidy).
By contrast, Japan has consistently poured billions of dollars into its rail infrastructure (even after privatization) and has created a competitive transportation alternative to plane and automobile travel.
The lesson from Japan is obvious: Intercity rail systems, whether private or public, need stable sources of public investment to be successful. Unfortunately, this simple fact is often ignored by advocates of privatization in the United States.
The administration’s legislation to privatize Amtrak does not guarantee any specific amount of federal funding for rail infrastructure. Without a specific dollar amount of stable, guaranteed funding, promises from the administration to rebuild the nation’s rail infrastructure ring hollow. An empty federal financial commitment in the name of “flexibility” for the states is a recipe for disaster.
As Japan has shown, successful passenger rail systems need more government investment, not less.
Letteney was legislative director for Rep. John W. Olver (D-Mass.) and currently works in the Japanese Parliament and Ministry of Transport as a Mike Mansfield Fellow.
Read more
The Hill is a congressional newspaper that publishes daily when Congress is in session, with a special focus on business and lobbying, political campaigns ...
Even though passenger rail is supported by national governments in the rest of the world, the Bush administration has recently proposed shutting down U.S. intercity passenger rail service by zeroing out funding for Amtrak in fiscal year 2006.
The Bush budget proposal comes during a fierce debate over how to reform the U.S. passenger-rail system. Some proponents of privatizing Amtrak have pointed to privatization efforts in other countries, including Japan, as proof that Amtrak could also be privatized. Are there lessons U.S. policymakers can learn from the Japanese experience with privatization?
In the mid 1980s, Japan National Railways (JNR) was a monolithic national monopoly with an operating deficit, huge debt, declining ridership, high fares, poor service and political interference. In other words, JNR had many of the same problems that plague Amtrak today.
In its place, the Japanese government created six separate private passenger-rail companies to serve different regions of the country. Three of the six companies that served rural areas would be eligible for a yearly operating-deficit subsidy from a revolving government fund. The other three companies, which largely served urban areas, were expected to cover their operating costs. Each private company would be responsible for both rail operations and infrastructure management.
By most measures, privatization in Japan has been a success. Since privatization, yearly profits for the three main companies have increased to between $600 million and $2 billion, accidents have decreased by close to 50 percent, fares are stable, the number of rail employees has been reduced by 50,000 and ridership as measured by passenger-kilometers has risen by nearly 20 percent.
However, any discussion of Japan’s privatization efforts must also note the Japanese government’s role in financing rail infrastructure projects and the operating deficits of rural railroads.
While the Bush administration’s proposal would effectively destroy passenger rail in the United States, the Japanese government has launched an ambitious effort to expand high-speed rail service over the next 10 years. The cost, close to $30 billion, will be funded by the national government, local governments and revenues generated from existing high-speed lines. When construction is complete, the new lines will be owned by the government and leased to the rail companies. The same private rail company that manages operations will also manage maintenance for the new high-speed lines.
Obviously, there are limitations in comparing the U.S. and Japan rail systems. Japan is especially well-suited for rail because of its high population density and short distances between major cities. Furthermore, in the current budgetary climate it is impractical to believe that the United States could build the type of dedicated high-speed rail network in its high-density corridors that Japan possesses.
Yet the main difference between the Japan and U.S. rail systems is political. The United States has never had the political will to make the necessary infrastructure investments to create a competitive rail system. Instead, from the time Amtrak was created in 1971, Congress has given the struggling railroad barely enough to survive from year to year.
As a result, Amtrak does not have enough money to fix its growing backlog of capital maintenance or promote a true high-speed rail system. In the Northeast Corridor alone, it is estimated that $28 billion is needed for rail infrastructure over the next 20 years, and billions more would be needed to implement higher speed rail.
As U.S. highways and airspace become more and more congested, the lack of investment in rail infrastructure has made it difficult for passenger rail to compete successfully with these other transportation modes (all of which receive much more federal subsidy).
By contrast, Japan has consistently poured billions of dollars into its rail infrastructure (even after privatization) and has created a competitive transportation alternative to plane and automobile travel.
The lesson from Japan is obvious: Intercity rail systems, whether private or public, need stable sources of public investment to be successful. Unfortunately, this simple fact is often ignored by advocates of privatization in the United States.
The administration’s legislation to privatize Amtrak does not guarantee any specific amount of federal funding for rail infrastructure. Without a specific dollar amount of stable, guaranteed funding, promises from the administration to rebuild the nation’s rail infrastructure ring hollow. An empty federal financial commitment in the name of “flexibility” for the states is a recipe for disaster.
As Japan has shown, successful passenger rail systems need more government investment, not less.
Letteney was legislative director for Rep. John W. Olver (D-Mass.) and currently works in the Japanese Parliament and Ministry of Transport as a Mike Mansfield Fellow.
Read more
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Statistics show less need for Trans Texas Corridor than claimed and Greater use of mass transit in USA
By Faith Chatham - Aug. 4, 2007
Statistics from the FHWA on growth in number of containers shipped from Mexico focuses the question on the premises used to try to sell Texans on construction of the Trans Texas Corridor, one of the major legs of the NAFTA Super Highway.
Statistical evidence shows that traffic in rail containers from Canada has exploded more rapidly than growth in containers from Mexico during the past two decades. The increase in international truck traffic at the US Mexico and US Canadian borders has increased 25% from 1995-2005.
During the same period, the increase in international truck traffic at the US Mexico and US Canadian borders increased 25% from 1995-2005. There was about 13% increase in truck traffic from Mexico and about 12% increase in incoming truck traffic from Canada.
Mexican truck traffic increased from 2,860,625 in 1995 to 4,675,887 in 1995; Canadian trucks coming into the US increased from 5,135,010 in 1995 to 6,783,944 in 2005. In 2005: 1,815,262 more trucks came into the US from Mexico than in 1995 and 1,651,934 more trucks came into the US from Canada than in 1995 than in 1995, yet over three times more containers entered the USA from Canada in 2005 by rail than entered from Mexico.
Although the number of miles of border between Canada and the USA is about the same as the miles of border between the USA and Mexico, a significantly larger number of rail containers and trucks enter the USA from Canada than from Mexico each year.
The need for improved freight shipment corridors from the Mexican border through Texas appears to be less critical to the economic welfare of Texas than linking Texas cities by rail and improving Texas’s internal traffic congestion.
INVESTMENTS IN MOVING PEOPLE
More transportation dollars are invested in highways and bridges in the United States than in any other mode of transportation. Statistical evidence proves that an increasing number of Americans who own automobiles are becoming users of mass transit. With air pollution escalating, local, state and national transportation planners and legislators need to devote more resources toward moving people than moving vehicles.
The safest mode of transportation per passenger mile traveled in the USA is shown statistically to be rail. A larger percentage of local, state and federal transportation dollars should be invested in passenger rail. Passenger rail in this nation needs to improve its on-time efficiency and infrastructure should be created to service more citizens, offering additional service between places where significant numbers of commuters currently travel by automobile.
PROBLEMS WITH EFFICIENCY
Efficiency in passenger rail in the USA is hampered by host railroads. Host railroads control the tracks. Statistics from 2000-2005 from the US Bureau of Transportation shows that the number of hours of delay for AMTRAK passenger trains rose from 70,396 annually in 2000 to 95,259 annually in 2005. Most of those delays (43,881 hours in 2000 and 64,097 hours in 2005) are attributed to operation delays of host railroads, such as track and signal related delays, power failures, freight and commuter train interference, routing delays, freight train interference, and track repair/condition delays. In 2005 25,549 hours of delay for AMTRAK passenger trains were attributed to AMTRAK's operating problems on AMTRAK's own tracks (delays for equipment or engine failure, passenger handling, holding for connections, train servicing and mail/baggage handling when on tracks of a host railroad). Problems caused by the host railroad resulted in 64,097 hours of AMTRAK passenger train delay during 2005. That same year, 5,613 hours of delay for AMTRAK Passenger trains were caused by weather, immigration, law enforcement or waiting for scheduled departure times. [SOURCE: 2000-2005 - AMTRAK, personal communication, November 2006 - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics - Reported Dec. 2006]
Host railroads have decreased in efficiency. In 2000, 2001 and 2002 about half of the delays were caused by problems with the host railroad. The percentage of hours of delay for AMTRAK passenger trains attributed to host railroad problems escalated by 75% between 2000 and 2005.
AMTRAK TRAINS ARRIVING ON TIME - 1995-2005
In 1995 AMTRAK's system on-time performance was 76%. Shorter distance routes are more frequently on-time than routes over 400 miles. In 1995 long distance routes (over 400 miles) were only on-time 57% of the time while shorter routes were on-time 81% of the time. Performance has declined. In 2005 AMTRAK's on-time performance system-wide was 70%. Trains were on-time 74% of the time on routes under 400 miles and were on-time 42% of the time on routes over 400 miles. [SOURCES: 1995-1999 - National Railroad Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK), Amtrak Annual Report (Washington, DC annual issue). 2000-2005- Amtrak, personal communication, November 2006. US Bureau of Transportation Statistics Dec. 2006]
AMTRAK ridership increased about 25% from 1995 to 2005. From 1994 to 2004 the number of passenger miles for all modes of mass transit increased about 20% (from 39,585 passenger miles in 1994 to 49,073 passenger miles in 2004). Passenger rail ridership (all modes - heavy rail, commuter rail and light rail) increased over 25% from 1994 to 2005. In the early 1990ies buses carried more passengers than rail; by 1996 the number of rail passengers had exceeded the number of miles traveled by passengers on buses. Bus and rail ridership continues to grow. Passenger train ridership has grown more rapidly than bus ridership.
COST OF OWNING A VEHICLE
Operating an automobile has become more costly. Before the rapid rise in gasoline prices, the cost of operating a car had already increased. Data from 1994 shows the average cost per mile for owning and operating an automobile was 39 cents. In 2004 it had risen to 56 cents per mile. Gasoline price (regular) rose from $1.15 per gallon in 1995 to $2.30 per gallon in 2005. The increase in mass transit fares (all modes - domestic air, commuter rail, city and intercity buses and intercity rail) only rose 20% from 1995 to 2005 while the cost of operating a vehicle increased about 33% during the same period.
MASS TRANSIT RIDERSHIP INCREASED AMONG HOUSEHOLDS OWNING A CAR
While 2% fewer households were without a vehicle in 2005 than in 1993, mass transit ridership increased about 20% nationwide (1993-2005). [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey for the United States, H150 (Washington, DC: Biennial issues) and US Bureau of Transportation Statistics Dec. 2006 Report.]
MOST DEADLY MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
During the decade 1995-2005 fatalities in passenger cars and light trucks in the USA totaled 261,068. During that same decade 411 bus passengers died, and there were 72 fatalities on trains. (This does not include deaths at rail crossings). In the decade 1995-2005 there were 6,737 air carrier fatalities.
Injured passengers from air accidents numbered 4,146 during the 1995-2005 decade. On surface modes of transportation, rail passengers were less likely to be injured than bus or passenger car/light truck passengers. During the 1995-2005 decade a total of 108,871 rail passengers were injured in the USA while 191,000 bus passengers were injured. During that same time frame a total of 31,499,000 passengers in automobiles and light trucks were injured in the United States.
Federal, state and local governments continue to invest heavily in roads and bridges while statistics shows that all modes of mass transit are safer than personal automobiles. The safest mode of surface transportation is rail. During the decade (1995-2005) 31 million more passengers were injured in passenger cars and light trucks than were injured in all the air and mass transit accidents combined in the USA. (31,499,000 injuries in passenger cars and light trucks compared to 304,017 total injuries in the decade from air, rail and bus passengers combined). These statistics do not include injuries to non-passengers in the transit station or at rail crossings or airline terminals.
CONCLUSIONS
Greater investment in passenger rail and mass transit should produce greater safety per passenger mile traveled than investments in highways.
Although there has been less growth in the number of containers shipped from Canada in the last decade than those shipped from Mexico, shipping out of Canada into the USA exceeds that from Mexico. There has been a total 25% increase in trucks entering the USA (13% increase from Mexico and 12% from Canada) during the decade, yet the number of trucks entering from Canada each year far exceeds the number of trucks entering the USA from Mexico. Examining traffic flows from the USA to Mexico and Canada would give a fuller picture. Examination of the data shows that the Mexican/ Texas border is less critical to international shipping than the Canadian/USA border.
There appears to be greater need for increased investment in Texas to move people and goods within Texas than to move people and goods in and out of the Texas/Mexico border.
Greater investments should be made in rail infrastructure to link major Texas cities and trade centers. Investments in commuter rail, light rail and heavy passenger can minimize the need for highway expansion. Commuter rail between cities and light rail for inner city passenger transit service could relieve highway congestion, assist non-air quality attainment areas improving air quality, while reducing deaths and injuries per passenger mile traveled.
The cost per passenger mile traveled on mass transit has risen less rapidly than the cost per passenger mile traveled in personal automobiles and light trucks during the past decade. Without adding “surplus toll revenue” to fares to pay for toll road corridors, the cost per mile traveled by automobile has escalated rapidly during the past decade. Investment in efficient passenger rail can improve air quality, reduce the number of injuries and fatalities per passenger mile traveled in the USA, and help the economy by slowing the rate of inflation caused by transportation costs.
Faith Chatham is a retired policy analyst/ newspaper woman, who edits and publishes DFW REGIONAL CONCERNED CITIZENS, The Arlington Texan, Grassroots News U Can Use, Texas Rail and People, Power, Profit – Healthcare & Insurance. A graduate of The University of Texas at Arlington, she studied in a the UTA School of Business, Graduate School of Political Science, UTA Urban Institute and Center for Post Soviet and European Studies. She has researched policy at the Hoover Institute of War and Peace and in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics..
Statistics from the FHWA on growth in number of containers shipped from Mexico focuses the question on the premises used to try to sell Texans on construction of the Trans Texas Corridor, one of the major legs of the NAFTA Super Highway.
Statistical evidence shows that traffic in rail containers from Canada has exploded more rapidly than growth in containers from Mexico during the past two decades. The increase in international truck traffic at the US Mexico and US Canadian borders has increased 25% from 1995-2005.
During the same period, the increase in international truck traffic at the US Mexico and US Canadian borders increased 25% from 1995-2005. There was about 13% increase in truck traffic from Mexico and about 12% increase in incoming truck traffic from Canada.Mexican truck traffic increased from 2,860,625 in 1995 to 4,675,887 in 1995; Canadian trucks coming into the US increased from 5,135,010 in 1995 to 6,783,944 in 2005. In 2005: 1,815,262 more trucks came into the US from Mexico than in 1995 and 1,651,934 more trucks came into the US from Canada than in 1995 than in 1995, yet over three times more containers entered the USA from Canada in 2005 by rail than entered from Mexico.
Although the number of miles of border between Canada and the USA is about the same as the miles of border between the USA and Mexico, a significantly larger number of rail containers and trucks enter the USA from Canada than from Mexico each year.
The need for improved freight shipment corridors from the Mexican border through Texas appears to be less critical to the economic welfare of Texas than linking Texas cities by rail and improving Texas’s internal traffic congestion.
INVESTMENTS IN MOVING PEOPLE
More transportation dollars are invested in highways and bridges in the United States than in any other mode of transportation. Statistical evidence proves that an increasing number of Americans who own automobiles are becoming users of mass transit. With air pollution escalating, local, state and national transportation planners and legislators need to devote more resources toward moving people than moving vehicles.
The safest mode of transportation per passenger mile traveled in the USA is shown statistically to be rail. A larger percentage of local, state and federal transportation dollars should be invested in passenger rail. Passenger rail in this nation needs to improve its on-time efficiency and infrastructure should be created to service more citizens, offering additional service between places where significant numbers of commuters currently travel by automobile.
PROBLEMS WITH EFFICIENCY
Efficiency in passenger rail in the USA is hampered by host railroads. Host railroads control the tracks. Statistics from 2000-2005 from the US Bureau of Transportation shows that the number of hours of delay for AMTRAK passenger trains rose from 70,396 annually in 2000 to 95,259 annually in 2005. Most of those delays (43,881 hours in 2000 and 64,097 hours in 2005) are attributed to operation delays of host railroads, such as track and signal related delays, power failures, freight and commuter train interference, routing delays, freight train interference, and track repair/condition delays. In 2005 25,549 hours of delay for AMTRAK passenger trains were attributed to AMTRAK's operating problems on AMTRAK's own tracks (delays for equipment or engine failure, passenger handling, holding for connections, train servicing and mail/baggage handling when on tracks of a host railroad). Problems caused by the host railroad resulted in 64,097 hours of AMTRAK passenger train delay during 2005. That same year, 5,613 hours of delay for AMTRAK Passenger trains were caused by weather, immigration, law enforcement or waiting for scheduled departure times. [SOURCE: 2000-2005 - AMTRAK, personal communication, November 2006 - U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics - Reported Dec. 2006]
Host railroads have decreased in efficiency. In 2000, 2001 and 2002 about half of the delays were caused by problems with the host railroad. The percentage of hours of delay for AMTRAK passenger trains attributed to host railroad problems escalated by 75% between 2000 and 2005.
AMTRAK TRAINS ARRIVING ON TIME - 1995-2005
In 1995 AMTRAK's system on-time performance was 76%. Shorter distance routes are more frequently on-time than routes over 400 miles. In 1995 long distance routes (over 400 miles) were only on-time 57% of the time while shorter routes were on-time 81% of the time. Performance has declined. In 2005 AMTRAK's on-time performance system-wide was 70%. Trains were on-time 74% of the time on routes under 400 miles and were on-time 42% of the time on routes over 400 miles. [SOURCES: 1995-1999 - National Railroad Passenger Corp. (AMTRAK), Amtrak Annual Report (Washington, DC annual issue). 2000-2005- Amtrak, personal communication, November 2006. US Bureau of Transportation Statistics Dec. 2006]
AMTRAK ridership increased about 25% from 1995 to 2005. From 1994 to 2004 the number of passenger miles for all modes of mass transit increased about 20% (from 39,585 passenger miles in 1994 to 49,073 passenger miles in 2004). Passenger rail ridership (all modes - heavy rail, commuter rail and light rail) increased over 25% from 1994 to 2005. In the early 1990ies buses carried more passengers than rail; by 1996 the number of rail passengers had exceeded the number of miles traveled by passengers on buses. Bus and rail ridership continues to grow. Passenger train ridership has grown more rapidly than bus ridership.
COST OF OWNING A VEHICLE
Operating an automobile has become more costly. Before the rapid rise in gasoline prices, the cost of operating a car had already increased. Data from 1994 shows the average cost per mile for owning and operating an automobile was 39 cents. In 2004 it had risen to 56 cents per mile. Gasoline price (regular) rose from $1.15 per gallon in 1995 to $2.30 per gallon in 2005. The increase in mass transit fares (all modes - domestic air, commuter rail, city and intercity buses and intercity rail) only rose 20% from 1995 to 2005 while the cost of operating a vehicle increased about 33% during the same period.
MASS TRANSIT RIDERSHIP INCREASED AMONG HOUSEHOLDS OWNING A CAR
While 2% fewer households were without a vehicle in 2005 than in 1993, mass transit ridership increased about 20% nationwide (1993-2005). [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau, American Housing Survey for the United States, H150 (Washington, DC: Biennial issues) and US Bureau of Transportation Statistics Dec. 2006 Report.]
MOST DEADLY MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
During the decade 1995-2005 fatalities in passenger cars and light trucks in the USA totaled 261,068. During that same decade 411 bus passengers died, and there were 72 fatalities on trains. (This does not include deaths at rail crossings). In the decade 1995-2005 there were 6,737 air carrier fatalities.
Injured passengers from air accidents numbered 4,146 during the 1995-2005 decade. On surface modes of transportation, rail passengers were less likely to be injured than bus or passenger car/light truck passengers. During the 1995-2005 decade a total of 108,871 rail passengers were injured in the USA while 191,000 bus passengers were injured. During that same time frame a total of 31,499,000 passengers in automobiles and light trucks were injured in the United States.
Federal, state and local governments continue to invest heavily in roads and bridges while statistics shows that all modes of mass transit are safer than personal automobiles. The safest mode of surface transportation is rail. During the decade (1995-2005) 31 million more passengers were injured in passenger cars and light trucks than were injured in all the air and mass transit accidents combined in the USA. (31,499,000 injuries in passenger cars and light trucks compared to 304,017 total injuries in the decade from air, rail and bus passengers combined). These statistics do not include injuries to non-passengers in the transit station or at rail crossings or airline terminals.
CONCLUSIONS
Greater investment in passenger rail and mass transit should produce greater safety per passenger mile traveled than investments in highways.
Although there has been less growth in the number of containers shipped from Canada in the last decade than those shipped from Mexico, shipping out of Canada into the USA exceeds that from Mexico. There has been a total 25% increase in trucks entering the USA (13% increase from Mexico and 12% from Canada) during the decade, yet the number of trucks entering from Canada each year far exceeds the number of trucks entering the USA from Mexico. Examining traffic flows from the USA to Mexico and Canada would give a fuller picture. Examination of the data shows that the Mexican/ Texas border is less critical to international shipping than the Canadian/USA border.
There appears to be greater need for increased investment in Texas to move people and goods within Texas than to move people and goods in and out of the Texas/Mexico border.
Greater investments should be made in rail infrastructure to link major Texas cities and trade centers. Investments in commuter rail, light rail and heavy passenger can minimize the need for highway expansion. Commuter rail between cities and light rail for inner city passenger transit service could relieve highway congestion, assist non-air quality attainment areas improving air quality, while reducing deaths and injuries per passenger mile traveled.
The cost per passenger mile traveled on mass transit has risen less rapidly than the cost per passenger mile traveled in personal automobiles and light trucks during the past decade. Without adding “surplus toll revenue” to fares to pay for toll road corridors, the cost per mile traveled by automobile has escalated rapidly during the past decade. Investment in efficient passenger rail can improve air quality, reduce the number of injuries and fatalities per passenger mile traveled in the USA, and help the economy by slowing the rate of inflation caused by transportation costs.
Faith Chatham is a retired policy analyst/ newspaper woman, who edits and publishes DFW REGIONAL CONCERNED CITIZENS, The Arlington Texan, Grassroots News U Can Use, Texas Rail and People, Power, Profit – Healthcare & Insurance. A graduate of The University of Texas at Arlington, she studied in a the UTA School of Business, Graduate School of Political Science, UTA Urban Institute and Center for Post Soviet and European Studies. She has researched policy at the Hoover Institute of War and Peace and in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics..
Friday, July 27, 2007
New round of Texas flooding strands 176 passengers for hours on Amtrak train
The Associated Press
KNIPPA, Texas — Storms dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of Texas, stranding more than 170 passengers on an Amtrak train for hours and forcing rescue crews elsewhere to pull at least 50 people to safety.
Water covering the tracks in Knippa, about 75 miles west of San Antonio, stopped a westbound Amtrak train carrying 176 passengers at around 9 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said buses were driving the passengers to El Paso, where they were expected to board another train early Sunday.
The train never lost power, but buses could not reach it until early Saturday evening because of flooded roads, Graham said.
No serious injuries were reported in the state's latest round of flooding, which closed many roads and forced evacuations.
Read more
A woman who authorities say drove a minivan around road barricades south of Austin and became stuck in floodwaters with two children was charged with child endangerment.
Laura Delarosa, 30, was arrested Saturday after rescue workers were able to get her and the children — a 9-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy — to safety.
East of San Antonio, a possible tornado damaged four businesses and at least one house, Guadalupe County Sheriff's Cpl. John Batey said.
As much as 17 inches of rain fell between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster.
The downpour overflowed Seco Creek and inundated the town of D'Hanis near San Antonio, Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said. Many businesses were flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water.
Boats, fire trucks and helicopters rescued stranded residents, but only one minor injury was reported, Brown said.
"The water is going down. Things are getting better," Brown said.
Meanwhile, mudslides in Colorado forced about 30 people to evacuate their homes near Alpine, about 100 miles southwest of Denver, and roads into the area were closed.
No injuries were reported and a shelter was opened for displaced residents. The mudslides Saturday night were caused by several days of rain.
KNIPPA, Texas — Storms dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of Texas, stranding more than 170 passengers on an Amtrak train for hours and forcing rescue crews elsewhere to pull at least 50 people to safety.
Water covering the tracks in Knippa, about 75 miles west of San Antonio, stopped a westbound Amtrak train carrying 176 passengers at around 9 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said buses were driving the passengers to El Paso, where they were expected to board another train early Sunday.
The train never lost power, but buses could not reach it until early Saturday evening because of flooded roads, Graham said.
No serious injuries were reported in the state's latest round of flooding, which closed many roads and forced evacuations.
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A woman who authorities say drove a minivan around road barricades south of Austin and became stuck in floodwaters with two children was charged with child endangerment.
Laura Delarosa, 30, was arrested Saturday after rescue workers were able to get her and the children — a 9-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy — to safety.
East of San Antonio, a possible tornado damaged four businesses and at least one house, Guadalupe County Sheriff's Cpl. John Batey said.
As much as 17 inches of rain fell between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster.
The downpour overflowed Seco Creek and inundated the town of D'Hanis near San Antonio, Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said. Many businesses were flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water.
Boats, fire trucks and helicopters rescued stranded residents, but only one minor injury was reported, Brown said.
"The water is going down. Things are getting better," Brown said.
Meanwhile, mudslides in Colorado forced about 30 people to evacuate their homes near Alpine, about 100 miles southwest of Denver, and roads into the area were closed.
No injuries were reported and a shelter was opened for displaced residents. The mudslides Saturday night were caused by several days of rain.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Amtrak train stranded Saturday by flooding West of San Antonio
Heavy bout of Texas rains result in flooding, water rescues
July 21, 2007 - Copyright 2007, The Associated Press.
KNIPPA, Texas — Flooding stranded an Amtrak train Saturday and rescue crews elsewhere pulled at least 50 people to safety, including some from rooftops by helicopter, during a bout of heavy showers around San Antonio.
No fatalities or serious injuries were reported, and by late afternoon, numerous roads closed earlier by high waters from more than a foot of rain in some areas began reopening.
"The water is going down. Things are getting better," Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said.
In Knippa, a small town about 75 miles west of San Antonio, water covering the tracks stopped a westbound Amtrak train carrying 176 passengers around 9 a.m. Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said buses were driving the passengers to El Paso, where they were expected to board another train early Sunday.
The train never lost power, but buses could not reach it until early Saturday evening because of flooded roads, Graham said.
Parts of northern Uvalde and Medina counties got as much as 17 inches of rain between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster.
In southern Guadalupe County overnight, a possible tornado damaged four businesses and at least one house, said Sheriff's Department Cpl. John Batey.
Seco Creek overflowed, inundating the town of D'Hanis near San Antonio, Brown said. Many businesses were flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water.
Boats, fire trucks and helicopters rescued stranded residents, but only one minor injury was reported, Brown said. A shelter was opened in nearby Hondo, but Brown said he didn't know how many residents would stay there.
In Bexar County, rescuers responded to more than two dozen calls for high-water rescue by Saturday afternoon.
There were also 20 to 30 road closures in San Antonio because of high water, said Orlando Hernandez, Bexar County emergency management coordinator.
"Other than a couple of days, we've had rain for the last three to four weeks," he said. "The ground is saturated. Any rain we get is resulting in flooding."
The San Antonio, Guadalupe and Medina rivers and Leon Creek are above their flood stages. Hernandez said early flooding was in low-lying areas without many homes.
Police in Uvalde reported street closures across the city, but no mandatory evacuations or rescues. Road closures and rescues were also reported in Kendall Count, and some campgrounds along the Medina River were evacuated.
Read more in the Austin American Statesman
July 21, 2007 - Copyright 2007, The Associated Press.
KNIPPA, Texas — Flooding stranded an Amtrak train Saturday and rescue crews elsewhere pulled at least 50 people to safety, including some from rooftops by helicopter, during a bout of heavy showers around San Antonio.
No fatalities or serious injuries were reported, and by late afternoon, numerous roads closed earlier by high waters from more than a foot of rain in some areas began reopening.
"The water is going down. Things are getting better," Medina County Sheriff Randy Brown said.
In Knippa, a small town about 75 miles west of San Antonio, water covering the tracks stopped a westbound Amtrak train carrying 176 passengers around 9 a.m. Amtrak spokeswoman Vernae Graham said buses were driving the passengers to El Paso, where they were expected to board another train early Sunday.
The train never lost power, but buses could not reach it until early Saturday evening because of flooded roads, Graham said.
Parts of northern Uvalde and Medina counties got as much as 17 inches of rain between 10 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday, said Pat McDonald, a National Weather Service forecaster.
In southern Guadalupe County overnight, a possible tornado damaged four businesses and at least one house, said Sheriff's Department Cpl. John Batey.
Seco Creek overflowed, inundating the town of D'Hanis near San Antonio, Brown said. Many businesses were flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water.
Boats, fire trucks and helicopters rescued stranded residents, but only one minor injury was reported, Brown said. A shelter was opened in nearby Hondo, but Brown said he didn't know how many residents would stay there.
In Bexar County, rescuers responded to more than two dozen calls for high-water rescue by Saturday afternoon.
There were also 20 to 30 road closures in San Antonio because of high water, said Orlando Hernandez, Bexar County emergency management coordinator.
"Other than a couple of days, we've had rain for the last three to four weeks," he said. "The ground is saturated. Any rain we get is resulting in flooding."
The San Antonio, Guadalupe and Medina rivers and Leon Creek are above their flood stages. Hernandez said early flooding was in low-lying areas without many homes.
Police in Uvalde reported street closures across the city, but no mandatory evacuations or rescues. Road closures and rescues were also reported in Kendall Count, and some campgrounds along the Medina River were evacuated.
Read more in the Austin American Statesman
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