Thursday, December 25, 2008

Last 8 Years of Bare Bone Budgets for Amtrak

And you are wondering why they had trouble keeping on schedule during inclement weather?

Here is a comment in the NYT on this:

Trains generally perform well in inclement weather but currently Amtrak is being forced to cancel some trains to and from Chicago thanks to barely having enough equipment to cover those operations.

Amtrak would be in much better shape at this time if some spare equipment was available to it; but given the last 8 years of bare bone budgets and attacks from the current administration, many folks travel plans are being impacted that otherwise would not be.

Thanks W for doing completely nothing to assist passenger rail transportation in 8 years and let us not forget John Mica, (R) Florida who ardently assisted the President to starve Amtrak who now all of a sudden when it appears politically correct fashions himself a rail supporter. Sure you are John-

Transportation plan anyone?

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Commuter rail rolls on . . . to failure?

Here is what Pam Hasterok says about John Mica's Pet Project,......good to see some realism about the flaws of the project rather than the incessant cheerleading for the "behind closed doors" arrangements with a very profitable private company, profiteering some more at the expense of the Florida tax payers:

The life or death of the rail line hinges on who's responsible for accidents. The state is buying the tracks for the passenger line from the freight giant CSX.
CSX plans to keep running freight trains on the tracks, too. If an accident occurs, CSX is demanding that neither it nor its contractors be held liable.
State transportation officials agreed. Lawmakers didn't.

They weren't pleased, either, that officials negotiated the deal in secret without the knowledge of most legislators. Unless a compromise emerges over who pays for accidents and their legal fallout, commuter rail will die next year, too.

Forget the happy talk you'll hear from local lawmakers and council members who say everything will work out.
Powerful representatives can probably pass the project through the House on sheer force of will. That won't work in the Senate.
Enough senators have enough doubts to say no, as they did before, to saddling the state with bills for an accident that is the fault of a private company.

"I don't want the state to be in a situation where it has to take care of every accident and every lawsuit when we're talking about a company that makes a lot of money," said Sen. Jim King, who represents part of Volusia County.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Accountability and Efficiency with PUBLIC Owned Rail Tracks

Transport Politic offers a little background and some advice on John Mica's ill-conceived favoratism of private enterprise in public infrastructure:

The Bush administration, as we chronicled a few months ago, has repeatedly pushed to sell or lease public assets to private companies.
But having high-speed railways run on privately-owned tracks is a bad idea. The most compelling argument for this is that infrastructure cannot act as a competitive entity in the free market. If you build a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and then sell or lease the tracks to a private company, no competing company will build its own tracks over the same route. There is simply not the market or the financial means for that to happen, and it’s the reason why it makes sense to continue the public ownership of, for example, the interstate highway system or the New York City Subway.
Keeping the track in public hands also ensures political accountability. For instance, if a section of track passes through a neighborhood and residents there complain of unreasonable noise, the elected government is more likely to respond with the construction of noise walls than is a private company, because there’s no motive for increased profit in building such a wall. Even if the neighborhood were to boycott the rail system, the collective loss in ticket revenue would be less than the cost of building the wall, so the company would be unlikely to do so, at least unless pushed to do so by the government.
Similarly, if poor management bankrupts the owner of the track, a vital public utility that cannot be shut down, government would be forced to subsidize the track’s operation, even as the private owner escapes accountability. The government does not go bankrupt, and as long as there’s public interest in supporting a railway system, the tracks will continue to be funded, no matter the economic situation. This is necessary insurance for infrastructure.
Indeed, mainland Europe’s highly developed rail system is publicly owned. The European Union’s competition laws are opening services up to private companies (we will discuss this further later in this post), but the infrastructure itself remains under the control and ownership of the national government.

The benefit of having governmental control is efficiency; nations decide to invest in new high-speed rail lines and simply hand the money and right-of-way over to the public infrastructure owner. The government is also responsible to the citizens for the maintenance of the lines; when several French TGVs were delayed because of problems with overhead catenary earlier this year, an infuriated public pushed for the government to invest more in the electrical systems, and it did. Would that have happened if there were a private owner? The public’s ability to ensure the continued quality of the tracks is improved with the government in power.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Sixth-straight year of Record Ridership for Amtrak

As a fan of Amtrak, government run passenger rail transportation, I was pleased to see these excellent Amtrak numbers ( no doubt much to John Mica's chagrin):

Published by Progressive Railroading MagazineNovember 2008--For the sixth-straight year, Amtrak posted record annual ridership, carrying 28.7 million passengers in fiscal-year 2008, an 11.1 percent jump compared with FY2007’s total. For the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, Amtrak also recorded $1.7 billion in ticket revenue, up 14.2 percent.

Monday, December 15, 2008

If You Pee on CSX’s Parade in Central Florida....

"If you pee on CSX’s parade in Central Florida, do you think they’re going to cooperate with other entities?" says Mica in another thinly veiled threat, coercing support from other FL areas for Mica's Pet Project.

Just a week or so ago there was an earlier threat made by Mica, reported by local media but without question as to the ethics of quid pro quo, blackmail type wrangling on getting this Private Public Partnership off the ground for Mica's Pet Project:

"You're on hold and everybody else is on hold until that gets resolved," Mica said.

John Mica wants Hillsborough rail supporters to work with the legislature to come to an agreement on the liability issue for the Central Florida Commuter Rail, Mica's Pet Project, and claims everything is on hold throughout the state of Florida, until he gets his way on that.

Factoid on lightrail which offers more stops than commuter rail and is thus more functional in highdensity areas:
Light rail delivers 4 times the congestion-reduction potential per dollar as incremental freeway lanes.

Differences between light rail and commuter rail can be found here. Because commuter rail has fewer stops sharing track or right-of-way with intercity or freight trains, commuter rail is more suitable to lower-density areas.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

John Mica is Virulently Anti-Government

So says the blogger at thetransportpolitic. And John Mica is supposed be a champion for PUBLIC transportation? I don't think so and neither does Representative Jerry Nadler. From thetransportpolic blog Jerry Nadler is quoted:


I oppose privatizing the Northeast Corridor. While I appreciate and support efforts to expand high-speed rail service in this country, it remains to be seen whether or not this RFP will achieve that goal. The only thing that Congress authorized is the submission of proposals. There will be a rigorous review process, and Congress will have to take subsequent action to move ahead should any of the proposals be worthy.

In the meantime, Congress should continue to increase investment in Amtrak, which has been chronically under funded and faces a multi-billion dollar backlog on the Northeast Corridor alone. I fully expect the incoming Democratic Congress and Administration to increase funding for Amtrak as part of a rational transportation policy and an economic stimulus package for infrastructure.”


http://thetransportpolitic.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/nycdc-private-bullet-train-monday-announcement/

The blogger then makes this very valid comment:

The 1993 privatization of British Rail was a well-known disaster, leading to huge
problems in transportation in the United Kingdom. Far more successful European
high-speed rail programs - in France, Germany, and Spain - have been implemented
by fully government-owned and managed systems (though the European Union’s new rules have changed that a bit in recent years). There’s no reason to think that
a government run high-speed rail system of similar magnitude and speed as Mr. Mica has suggested would not be possible.

No reason to think Mr Mica should be trusted on ay of this as he wasn't able to get a light rail system in place in 1999 his own back yard, and is now struggling to get a Central Florida commuter rail off the ground that is THE most expensive rail system ever in the history of our nation, which is not surprising since it involves private industry:


The (Central Florida Commuter Rail) system would cost $10.5 million per mile — a record for U.S. rail systems.

"It's the most expensive rail project in the history of the United States,"


and more on the folly of private industry involvement:


The Florida Department of Transportation and transportation company CSX
have a history of setting records for cost in taxpayer-funded rail systems in
the past. Of the top six most expensive rail deals per mile in U.S. history,
three of them were brokered between the Florida agency and CSX.


http://wpmobserver.com/WPMObserver/article.asp?ID=1165

Here is a little on the 1999 failed Mica Light Rail Plan:

The (CSX commuter rail) plan was developed by U.S. Rep. John Mica, R-Winter Park, after the Orange County Commission rejected his plan to build a light-rail system connecting Downtown Orlando and the Orlando International Airport in 1999.

Also note that in terms of the article writer and probably John Mica's mind, the grassroots are the Chamber of Commerce folks. This is just too laughable!

Sad indeed.

Amtrak Station for St Augustine Still a No Show

The U.S. Conference of Mayors released its member cities’ “wish list” for
project funding from an infrastructure stimulus package. Its web site
outlines every project by category. $1.06031
billion is requested for Amtrak-related projects
, mainly station and station
track work. Of that, $750 million was requested by the City of Sacramento
alone for track relocation and tunnels as part of the 244-acre Railyards
redevelopment project. Charleston, SC requested $78.03 million for its
proposed commuter rail service between Summerville and Charleston. Cities
requested nearly $7.07 billion for transit-related projects
.

http://www.narprail.org/cms/index.php/main/hotline_583/

Still no word on the Amtrak station in St Augustine, that John Mica promised in 2001.

What's up with that?

Friday, December 5, 2008

John Mica is a Political Ostrich

Or so says Charlie Cook in the National Journal:

In general, in the higher-growth segments of our country, Republicans lost
ground, prevailing only in small towns and rural areas. When Democrats win the
suburbs, Republicans are in trouble.
Republicans have lost an enormous amount of support among upscale voters, basically just breaking even among those with household incomes above $50,000 a year, a traditional GOP stronghold. Similarly, McCain's losing to Obama among college graduates and voters who have attended some college underscores how much the GOP franchise is in trouble. My hunch is that the Republican Party's focus on social, cultural, and religious issues --
most notably, fights over embryonic-stem-cell research and Terri Schiavo -- cost
its candidates dearly among upscale voters.....

Those who write off the 2008 election by saying that Republican
candidates weren't conservative enough are in denial.
They are political ostriches, refusing to acknowledge that the country and the electorate are changing and that old recipes don't work any more.

Obama's message and agenda were a far cry from those of the Democratic
Party of a generation or two ago, but the Republican Party's message and
agenda haven't changed much other than becoming even more fixated on cultural issues and tax cuts.


http://www.cookpolitical.com/node/4071

And here is where John Mica portrays himself as the political ostrich advocating more conservativism for the GOP:

But Both Mica and Flake noted that though the conservative voice has grown in
strength in the aftermath of the Nov. 4 elections, conservatives likely would
not have been able to replace Boehner as House Minority leader with one of their
own. “We [conservatives] could certainly have mounted a more formidable
challenge” towards Boehner, Flake told CNSNews.com. “But I don’t know that
it would have been enough. We thought we mounted a pretty good challenge last
time, and we got socked.” “I don’t think conservatives would have had the
votes,” said Mica.


http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=39635

John Mica's Clout Waning in Transportation

Here is something voters should have considered when they made the mistake of re-electing John Mica for Central Florida:
No longer will Central Florida be able to count solely on Republican U.S.
Rep. John Mica for key issues, such as commuter rail and major highways. His clout already was waning when Congress went Democratic two years
ago. Now it is even weaker with a Democratic president as well.


Two major projects: commuter rail and the Wekiva Parkway to complete Orlando's beltway loop while protecting sensitive environmental land are critical to Central Florida, so the fact that Grayson could step in and help on these issues would be really welcomed:
(Grayson) now says he would like to be on the Transportation Committee, but
during the campaign, he listed his top three issues as ending the war in Iraq,
expanding health-care coverage and raising labor standards.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/views/orl-healy0908nov09,0,5145390.column

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Will Martinez be Asked to step Down for a Hand-picked Replacement?

That's what Scott Maxwell of the Orlando Sentinel thinks is a real possibility:

Martinez says he's leaving on his own terms. And now he will have two years to decide what to do next -- assuming the Republican Party doesn't ask him to step down early, so that Charlie Crist can name a replacement.

Martinez says he has no plans to play that game. And I believe he's earnest. But I also believe he will face pressure to change his mind -- from party leaders, maybe even Bush, who would rather handpick a candidate than let voters in on the action.


http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl-maxwell0308dec03,0,2499749.column?page=2

Mica, Stearns or Putnam most likely would be precluded from being "hand-picked" since they need to continue their roles as "place-holders" for the Republican Party.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

John Mica May square off Against Jeb Bush for Martinez Senate Seat

Mel Martinez today announced he will not be running for re-election:
It’s just no fun to be in the minority in D.C. when the other party controls the
White House,” said Lew Oliver, chairman of the Orange County Republican Party,
where Senator Martinez got his political start. “The number of interesting,
important and meaning things to do dwindles fast.”
Recent polls suggested that Senator Martinez, 62, had been weakened by his close association with President George W. Bush. He served as Secretary for Housing and Urban Development during the president’s first term, before running successfully for the Senate in 2004, and becoming chairman of the Republican National Committee
in for 10 months in 2007.

“I make this announcement today in order to give the many qualified individuals who might choose to try to succeed me an opportunity to organize and gather support,” Martinez said in a press release.

The field is wide open, but likely names of contenders for the Senate seat include Jeb Bush:
If he decides to run, Republicans expect the field to clear for him. Maybe. Gov.
Charlie Crist, with whom Bush has not had the warmest of relations, is said to
be interested in moving to the Senate. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is
weighing a bid, as is former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, Orange County
executive Richard Crotty, and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack.

John Mica also has expressed interest and will decide in January:

"He is someone who has stature in the state and has a lot of name
recognition outside his district," said Rusty Roberts, his chief-of-staff.

Other bloggers disagree:
Among those I suspect will consider the run:
Charlie Crist (Disaster)
Tom Gallagher - good solid Republican
John L. Mica, Congressman from the 7th District - solid Republican, weak on name recognition.
Cliff Stearns, Congressman from the 6th District. A rating from National Taxpayers
Union, Solid defender of Gun Rights, My personal favorite.

On the Democratic side State’s Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink, would be a strong contender, along with Democratic Representatives Dan Gelber. Mr. Gelber already acknowledged interest.