On 3 July 1996, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) gave preliminary approval to the Union Pacific - Southern Pacific merger. What will this mean? According to a Union Pacific press release: "Approximately $1.3 billion in new capital investments to expand, upgrade and improve rail-line capacity and facilities throughout the Western states, including major capacity expansion on SP between Los Angeles and El Paso."
The ruling will take effect on 12 August. The STB attached thirty-five conditions to the merger, granting trackage rights, connection and interchange terms, and various other agreements. Also, abandonments on 15 lines "without significant local traffic" are to be approved; the Phoenix West Line is not believed to among these.
For additional information, including maps, see the U.P. Website http://www.uprr.com/
From the 18 July Mesa Tribune:
"Four Valley cities are taking regional mass transit planning into their own hands.
"Disillusioned with the dollars allocated to transit under Gov. Fife Symington's latest plan to continue the half-cent freeway sales tax, Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale and Tempe are paying for their own study of light rail, more high-occupancy lanes, buses-only lanes and expanded bus service.
"This fall the cities will examine possible light-rail links between the Phoenix central corridor, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, downtown Tempe and west Mesa. A spur could extend into downtown Scottsdale… Wulf Grote, Phoenix deputy transit director, said the study will also examine such methods as… using existing railroad tracks as well as building new ones…"
The ARPA Legislative Liaison Committee has been following these developments and plans continuing involvement. Contact ARPA at 480/947-5710 for more details.
Terry Goddard, former mayor of Phoenix, in the Phoenix Gazette, April 30, 1996: "When you look at the map of the Valley, it's obvious that most of us live along existing rail lines. It happens that the opportunity to rent these rails is better than it has been in decades. There is a transit terminal built and waiting to be used in the basement of the Barry Goldwater Terminal at Sky Harbor, the transportation heart of the Valley. And, perhaps the most exciting prospect is the Diamondbacks stadium. The new baseball emporium is seriously considering building its own railroad station, providing special trains to take fans from Tucson and the Sun Cities to the games."
Steve Wilson, commenting on plans for freeway construction in Maricopa County, [Arizona Republic, 10 July]:
"Mass transit has to be a major component of any plan that looks 30 years into the future. To think otherwise is to repeat the mistakes of Los Angeles and bring Southern California style gridlock here."
Daniel P. Weichart, letter in the Arizona Republic, April 17, 1996:
"…Why do referendums for mass transit, particularly light rail, consistently get voted down? Perhaps when people vote, they do not see the connections between costs and benefits. Even if a person never takes advantage of a mass transit system directly, that person still benefits. With more people taking mass transit, the number of cars on the freeway decreases, thus benefiting drivers who remain on the freeway…"
Carl Schiermeyer, in Passenger Train Journal, July 1996:
"…In Los Angeles' downtown core, Metrolink's current 7,500 morning riders represent approximately 6,000 avoided vehicles… Most of these commuters never took a bus to work. Never car-pooled… In fact, 61 percent of all Metrolink riders fall into the category of former 'drive-alones.' In traffic engineering terms, during the peak morning travel period (and ditto for the afternoon), Metrolink lures away so many former drivers that 31/3 peak-hour lanes of extra freeway capacity are created. …the Metrolink high growth rate is yet to show signs of abating."
Jessica Mathews, Washington Post, 24 June '96
"American visitors to Europe and Japan this summer will have an experience you cannot have anywhere in America.
"They will fly to a major airport like Amsterdam, Paris, or Osaka, collect their bags, push their cart through customs and a few steps farther, still inside the airport, be at the doorway of an intercity train.
"What's special about this quick and easy connection that Non-Americans take for granted? First, of course is the existence of healthy, heavily capitalized rail service, seen as integral to a national transportation system. Trains keep air and highway traffic flowing, and nothing competes with rail in an overall package of speed, cost, comfort, convenience and use of energy and land for trips in the range of 100 to 500 miles."
[ARPA's proposed Arizona Rail system includes a stop at Phoenix Sky Harbor, where the tracks are located adjacent to the runways, and where access could easily be provided from the air terminal. Arizona Rail trains could carry travelers to and from Sun City, Chandler, and Tucson.]
August, 1995 letter to ARPA
Although this letter from Thomas M. Downs, President, Amtrak was received almost a year ago, these excerpts do present some perspective on recent events.
"Dear ARPA:
"…I would love to stay in Phoenix. I think it is one of the best future growth markets Amtrak has, and I would be willing to participate in further discussions about how this might be done…
"…I believe you are right about the importance of this rail line [the Phoenix West Line] to the future growth of Phoenix; however, this railroad [Amtrak] is not capable of making that decision for Phoenix or for Arizona. I understand Arizona's unwillingness to make decisions about acquisition or upgrade of rail property. Given California's experience, I think that is short-sighted, but I cannot change that position. This is an issue that ultimately has to be resolved by the city and the state, and I would willingly be a partner in those discussions…"
"The railroad press coverage of Amtrak's desertion of the Phoenix, Arizona market dwelt a lot on the new Sunset Limited timetable, but evaluated no aspects of marketing and ridership.
"In accordance with Amtrak's Washington perspective, many valid points were omitted. The Phoenix area's rapid population growth in recent decades makes it a travel market many times bigger than it was before Amtrak. Most Phoenix travelers are snowbirds: long distance midwestern senior citizens who will pay Amtrak's rising sleeping car fares. Amtrak's Tempe station, just east of Phoenix, next to the big Arizona State University, is in a popular nightlife district, and is convenient to ultra-rich Scottsdale (read: deluxe sleeper revenue). Amtrak's reservations system reports low ridership at Tempe, without providing an inkling that this might be because there is no checked baggage service, no ticket agent to advise passengers about train status, and no air conditioning where summer temperatures normally are over 110 degrees.
"No one asked why Amtrak didn't pursue an injunction to keep Phoenix service until the [approval] of UP's acquisition of SP… Amtrak's attempt to keep the service was limited to begging Arizona and Phoenix for a handout to subsidize Amtrak. No one asked how much revenue Amtrak lost by vacating the Phoenix line. Will SP reimburse Amtrak for the lost Phoenix revenue? Did Amtrak even ask? Amtrak just assumes that other cities will provide riders to replace lost Phoenix customers. Heaven forbid lest Amtrak add a sleeper to handle those other cities' riders: Amtrak's dubious accounting still says that they lose money every time a revenue car is added to a train…
"Both Tempe and Coolidge took the initiative to build stations on the now-abandoned route. Any cities who are considering building future stations, which capital-starved Amtrak needs, will hesitate because a new station does not imply any commitment by Amtrak to keep service. Nor does anyone ask why SP wants to abandon the West Phoenix line. Is it politically incorrect to ask why the Arizona & California RR can produce freight traffic between booming Phoenix and points west but SP can't?"
The long-awaited ARPA Regional Rail video project is now complete.
The Board of Directors is finalizing distribution arrangements, and we hope to being using this videotape, which describes the Regional Rail concept, in our presentations.
The Board of ARPA would like to thank Maricopa Community Colleges, which made available the grant that made this possible; the Mesa Community College, whose Media Center did the production work; and Ken Costello, who coordinated the whole project. Thanks also to ARPA members Dick Malcolm, Pete Glass, and Sam Morse for providing the information and inspiration to make the script come to life.
Attendees: Jay Myers, John Gale, Sam Morse, Bob Hart, Tony Haswell, Mike Garey, Mark McLaren, Dick Malcolm, Bill Lindley, Rob Bohannan, Earl Eisenhower.
Guests: Liz Garey, Judy Eisenhower, Rob Lindley, Bob Barber.
Meeting convened, 9:00am.
Meeting adjourned, 12:00pm.
Attendees: Jay Myers, John Gale, Sam Morse, Bob Hart, Pete Glass, Rob Bohannan, Tony Haswell, Mark McLaren, Marc Pearsall, Mike Garey, Earl Eisenhower.
Guests: Liz Garey, Bob Barber, Judy Eisenhower, George Loulan, R.C. Noderer, Randy Hermanson.
Meeting convened, 9:00am.
Meeting adjourned, 11:45am.
No report this month.
The Committee presented a revised draft of the Bylaws at the 29 June Board Meeting. John Gale requested, pursuant to Article VI of the existing bylaws, that the new bylaws be adopted; after a brief discussion and the insertion of one phrase to clarify the future amendment process, the new Bylaws were adopted.
The Banquet will be held October 5, 1996. Complete details will be in the next of the Newsletter.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) Region 11 Banquet is also customarily held in Fall. ARPA will be contacting NARP representatives about the possibility of holding future Banquets jointly. However, it has been the custom of ARPA to hold our Annual Meeting at the same time as our Banquet – this would have to be addressed. [NARP Region 11 encompasses El Paso TX, New Mexico, and Arizona. – Ed.]
"Collateral Materials" – such as the newly completed videotape – are being collected with the goal of making a family of items available to Committees or Members. This should greatly enhance our ability to convey our message.
A rotation has been created to cover the Hotline and the mailbox. We are working on preparing a short set of instructions defining how incoming and outgoing messages should be handled.
The Media List is now in database format so we can maintain it more easily. The Web page is being updated about once a month.
The question as to the fate of the Tempe Depot sign (listing train times) has not met with any resolution.
Will work with Mrs. Eisenhower to draft a full description of the Executive Director position.
Sam Morse reported he has been meeting with the Governor's Transportation committee on a regular basis. By Fall, they will provide a "report card" on Phoenix. The first order of business for these Committees has been short-term air pollution (not long term transit). The Committee is also actively searching opportunities to be involved in the Valley transit study as described in this newsletter.
Mr. Morse already has at least one group interested in seeing the ARPA Video.
No report this month.