Earlier today, President Bush sent to Congress his proposed budget for FY ’06. It provides no funding for Amtrak. In contrast, this year we are spending $1.4 billion, of which $1.2 billion is from a federal
appropriation to support our operations and capital programs across the country.
The President’s proposal does provide $360 million to the Surface Transportation Board for continued commuter and freight operations on the NEC only after forcing an Amtrak bankruptcy. It also isn’t
accompanied by any kind of plan for how Amtrak could continue operations. In a word, they have no plan for Amtrak other than
bankruptcy.
Obviously, the proposal is irresponsible and a surprising disappointment. It doesn’t acknowledge all the hard work you’ve done
over the past two years to run a tighter and better ship. Our costs are more under control than ever before - that’s quite an accomplishment.
It is critical that reforms and improvements must continue, however. Amtrak’s management is engaged with its board, the Department of
Transportation and others for this purpose. That work continues. We are committed to an efficient and productive rail passenger system. The plan to force us into bankruptcy would be counterproductive to this goal.
The President’s proposal is only the start of a long legislative process, and we are taking it very seriously. This process has alot of twists and turns, and it always takes six to nine months to sort out. It won’t have any impact through the ’05 fiscal year, but there’s going to be very little cash left at the end of this year. Rest assured that after all we have been through, I am committed to doing everything I can to secure adequate funding for ‘06. We have strong support in Congress and a lot of support across the country.
Now is the time for all of us who want our passenger trains to continue to write in to our congressmen. A regular letter, sent through the postal system, carries more weight than an e mail because of the extra effort involved. Also, if you have not joined NARP, now is a good time to do so. They are our voice in Washington. They are all we have to counter the highway and airline lobbies. Don’t put it off.
…A real man, Mr. Gunn fighting for the survival of our rail passenger system…Give him all the support we can muster such as stated above by contacting your legislative rep…!
I am one that would like at least a bit of our money to stay here in this country and support something for our infrastructure and service.
George,
I have been “on the fence” about joining (again). While I do agree Amtrak needs a strong lobbying team I am somewhat turned-off by the email updates that some of the advocacy groups send out. Too harsh and not enough constructive suggestions.
But it’s the best we have, so I should just deal with it and join again.
Mike
While Amtrak has many friends on the Hill do not assume that we are in good shape. With 150 agencies getting the knife, they may find ways of pitching survival of ones that help bring pork to local communities in exchange for Amtrak.
As to writing your Congress…uh, ‘person,’ snail mail takes a long time to get through because of all the screening they do now of the mail (remember anthrax?). I’m told that email carries as much weight as a letter does. But whatever you do, be brief, be consice, and don’t belittle anyone else (including the auto- and petrol industries). That being said, I do like to point out that while Amtrak has gotten a lot of federal money over the past 34 years, the total amount still doesn’t quite come to the amount of public dollars the federal go vernment spent on roads just last year! Of course Amtrak only carries a small percentage of people nationwide. If we were to invest in it like we have in roads, it would be a smashing success!
As a member of the Amtrak BOD I lived through the Reagan era “zero funding” exercise promoted by then Budget Director Stockman. Even though I was a Reagan appointee I publicly disavowed the policy(and as a result was not nominated for a second term) as short sighted and against the long term interests of the nation. Amtrak survived thanks to an outpouring of support from the general public directed at members of Congress. I would urge everyone that supports Amtrak to take the time to write a short -to the point letter to thier Congressman/Senator ASAP. Be polite and positive and request a reply. If enough of us write I believe we’ve got a fighting chance of saving the pssgr. train for us and future generations. One mans opinion! Ross Rowland
Ross, thanks for your support and for puting your name on this thread. You are a truly fine person and I thank you for everything you have done. For all railfans as well as the USA.
Just exactly what I would expect from Dave Gunn-an honest look at the situation, but encouragement to the employees to stay on the job. I don’t think there are many who could navigate this as effectively as Mr. Gunn.
I would add that sending you correspondence by fax also is an effective means of getting your position delivered promptly.
Brian…In the case of Amtrak, the training wheels would be worn out by now…plus thirty some years. It would be great if the structure in America could simply support such a service like a business {for profit}, but I believe most of us can agree, this type of operation cannot be sustained by fare box…So if we as citizens want such a service it has to be financed just as many public tramsportation services are…
It sounds to me like Gunn is trying to make Amtrak’s owners step up and define the mission. In the absense of any direction, he’s taken the mission as status quo plus fix what’s broken. That’s the right thing to do. It’s not up to Gunn to tell his owners what Amtrak should be. It’s up to Gunn to run the company - and he’s done a pretty good job so far. (Even though I still wonder about what all those employees do all day!)
The Bush Admin has not offered any direction to Amtrak at all, but has pushed the responsibility off onto Congress by way of a budget that’s a non-starter w.r.t. Amtrak. Apparently, nobody wants to take the fall for any particular service changes.
Will Congress “reform” Amtrak? Will Gunn get enough $$ to limp thru another year? Will a token LD train get “shot”? Will the Bush admin ever step up and do the “vision thing” w.r.t. transportation?
Stay tuned! Prepare to be entertained, but don’t expect much common sense!
Don, I can only hope one or two new people pay attention to your posts on Amtrak. I searched back in the archives, and every one of your posts on this topic is dead on target with bare-bones candor. We can only hope. The truth has been laying out in plain sight in front of Joe Public for 35 years, and they still can’t, won’t, or don’t want to see it. Like I said in another forum, what’s a fact or two compared to the almighty power of a well-cemented belief system.
I think Mr. Gunn has made miraculous changes in Amtrak already, but the dead weight of public ideology is daunting, affecting everything from pension systems to safety systems. I knew I was going to like him the day he fired 65 vice presidents.
Quote from Wall Street Journal Editorial, Feb. 10, 2005:
Amtrak supporters love to make the argument that rail travel is somehow more cost-efficient than other modes of transportation and that the billions thrown at the national railroad go further than the money spent on highways, commercial air travel and urban transit. A recent study from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics shows otherwise.
BTS gathered data on federal subsidies to these four areas between 1990-2002, subtracted any revenues brought in by user fees, and then divided by the number of passenger-miles. As the report says, the aim was “to show the amount of subsidy relative to the level of use.” This is as close as you can get to comparing apples to apples, says Robert Poole of the Reason Foundation.
The results? Amtrak weighed in with an average subsidy of $186.35 per thousand passenger miles – a sum that could take you across the country and back on JetBlue. That compares with average subsidies of $118.26 for urban transit and $6 for airlines. Highway users actually ended up paying Washington $1.91 per thousand passenger miles.
Mr. Lewis, the WSJ’s editorial page writers have bamboozled you. You really ought to read the full report – it only takes about 20 minutes. It’s a perfectly fine report on its face, but the limitations of the data are immense. All it compares is cash in to the federal government vs. cash out, and it terms the difference “subsidy.” It doesn’t attempt to assess ca***hat was never paid in the first place, or cash paid to states, or costs forced onto others, etc. I would never use information so hopelessly incomplete to make a business decision. It’s like doing a spreadsheet for a small-business cash flow and listing only gross sales of inventory and gross purchases for inventory, neglecting things like your own time, the property tax you’re paying on the spare room in which you store your inventory, the computer you bought last year, the use of your own car to run errands, and so forth.
You may very well be able to buy a JetBlue ticket from NY to LA for the avg direct subsidy paid per Amtrak passenger, but when is JetBlue going to start service to Minot ND or Altoona PA?
I’ve always hated that “you could buy them airline tickets” arguement. I wonder what the per passenger direct subsidy would be to provide direct jet service to all current Amtrak passengers?
This is not to say that Amtrak is a very efficient service provider - but that may not be their mission.