TSA Jackboots Assault Train Passengers

Frequent readers may know that I am a railfan, meaning I like railroads. That may bias me, but I also believe passenger rail is essential to America’s prosperity. We cannot spend out way out of road congestion and there are physical constraints on air travel. A coherent rail passenger policy, including high-speed rail, is essential to our country remaining competetive in the not-so-distant future. Unfortunately, many myopic politicians can’t see past the measley Federal subsidies to Amtrak. That’s different from airport and highway subsidies how? Never mind Amtrak ridership has been rising since 2000. But, I digress.

Most frequent readers probably know of my disdain for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). On February 13th, the government thugs took over the Savannah GA Amtrak station to screen passengers. Two big problems. First, TSA was screening passengers after they got off the train. Second, passengers don’t have to go through the station to get to or from the train platforms. More pointless security theater.

While TSA claims they made prior arrangements with the rail passenger agency, the Amtrak police chief says TSA’s actions were illegal and a surprise to Amtrak. In fact, Chief John O’Connor thought initial blog posts on the TSA extremism were a joke. He noted Amtrak police operate within the Constitution and TSA agents have no right to go beyond that.

TSA justifies their actions, saying people didn’t have to enter the station. I’m sorry—doesn’t that prove the idiocy of TSA’s whole concept? If you don’t want to be screened, just go around the station. If you don’t want a full-body scan, just go to one of 85.6% of airports that don’t have the scanners.

February’s assault on Savannagh was part of TSA’s VIPR program. While it sounds good, VIPR—Visible Intermodal Protection and Response—teams are randomly executed and consist of ad hoc groups. These include Air Marshals—to provide TSA with armed agents on the ground—and bomb detection teams. They descend on bus terminals and wherever else they happen to want to.

Not satisfied with harassing the flying public, TSA has teams of shock troops running amok to subjugate bus riders and intimimdate train passengers. Didn’t we used to claim these were the evils of communism? Can anyone show any tangible security benefits to the TSA’s excesses?

Previously on security theater:

• TSA Tightens Fascist Grip; Stamps Out Competition
• People Like Full-Body Scanners. Why?
• Fight the Invasion of the Body Scanners
• Europeans Call for Curtain on Security Theater
• Pilot Says No to Security Theater of the Absurd
• Security Theater Leaves US More Vulnerable
• Epic Fail: Airport Security Theater
• The System Worked—Not
• Air Travel Security Hoops and Loopholes

Engler, Part Deux! Rail Be Damned!

Michigan stands to lose out on $161 million in Federal high speed rail money because Michigan Senate leader Mike Bishop (R-Rochester Hills) did not allow the bill to come to a vote. Bishop’s cheap shot is almost as dispicable as former Gov. John Engler’s (R) last minute veto of regional transit for metro Detroit.

Bishop had said he’d allow the State Senate to vote on the measure already passed by the State House.

I don’t ask the state taxpayers to finance anything unless a business plan is presented that gives us some indication that it brings value.

Apparently, anti-transit behavior is a Republican trait. Cece Grant, a native Detroiter and Michigan organizer for Transportation for America, summed it up this way.

The legislature failing to act is really putting us at a competitive disadvantage to the other states. It’s saying we’re stuck in the past.

There’s no way for your employees to get back and forth to work. We’re not a mobile society. We don’t have bustling thriving downtowns.

I look at it another way. I don’t support the full body scanners or “enhanced” pat downs at airports. But at 5-1/2 to 6 hours for a train ride to Chicago, rail is not competitive. On the other hand, high speed rail, with travel times between Chicago and Detroit around 3 hours, is competitive with both air travel and driving.

Without transit, and without high speed rail, Detroit is neither attractive nor competitive. In fact, Detroit is no better off than Mogadishu.

Previously on high speed rail and transit:

• Rick Snyder on High Speed Rail: Crickets
• Good Money After Bad
• Woodward Transit Project on Track
• Transportation in Michigan Kicked to the Curb
• Regional Transit Takes Another Blow in Detroit

Rick Snyder on High Speed Rail: Crickets

Michigan is sucking eggs in the quest for Federal dollars to develop high speed rail. Grants this year total only $200 million out of a request for $993 million. And none of that money is actually being used for high speed rail. From the Stimulus bill, Michigan got $40 million for new stations in Troy and Dearborn plus renovations to the Battle Creek station. The October grant—which requires Michigan to match $30 million&mash;covers purchasing Norfolk Southern’s track from Dearborn to Kalamazoo and upgrading it to 79 mph. It also includes reconstructing connecting track in West Detroit. None of this is the 110 mph or faster promised by high speed rail.

Amtrak owns the line between Kalamazoo and the state line near New Bufalo. In partnership with Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Amtrak’s Michigan line has been upgraded to 95 mph speeds along some segments. That’s almost high speed and plans call for raising the segment to 110 mph. Why Michigan didn’t get any Stimulus money for this is beyond me. Where are Sens. Carl “Leave ‘em” Levin (D) and Debbie “Stab me now” Stabinow on this? How about US Reps. Fred Upton (R-06) and Mark Schauer (D-07)?

A recent poll of over 24,000 by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) found 62% would ride high speed rail if it was available and competetive in time and price with flying or driving. I’ll bet the number would go up if it meant avoiding full body scanners and/or “enhanced” pat downs. Amtrak wants to cut time from Detroit to Chicago from 5-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours. I’d call that competive with driving. Round trip on Amtrak costs $62-84 depending on times. Airfare starts at $190, so travel by rail is more cost effective than flying. The problem is 5-1/2 hours takes too long while 3-1/2 hours makes skipping the security lines at the airport worth it.

Republicans John Kasich and Scott Walker, Govs.-elect in Ohio and Wisconsin, are hostile to high speed rail. In fact, Mr. Kasich wants to give up a $400 million grant for new passenger service from Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinatti, the 3C line. Despite popularity for a new Milwauke to Madison line, Walker wants to forego $810 million in high speed rail grants. Both expected to be able to repurpose the money for roads. Says US Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood: Not!

Like pirhana swarming to fresh blood in the water, a dozen states are asking for the $1.2 billion to be rejected by Ohio and Wisconsin. LaHood said there are “a lot of states that would like to have access to that money.”

What’s the word out of Michigan? Nothing. From Gov.-elect Rick Synder? Crickets. Good start on your 10-point plan, Gov. Nerd. Michigan needs the jobs and the infrastructure. Tell the “tough nerd” to take his hat off and belly up to the table with his empty plate and get Michigan’s fair share.

Previously on high speed rail:

• Good Money After Bad
• Transportation in Michigan Kicked to the Curb

Silverliner Vs Begin Service in Philly

Philadelphia’s regional rail transit service put new Silverliner V cars into revenue service on Friday, 29 October. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority—SEPTA—operates the commuter rail, trolley, and bus system in Philadelphia and surrounding counties.

SEPTA ordered 120 of the railcars manufactured by Hyundai Rotem Company in South Korea. There are several Philly area suppliers and the cars are assembled in the US.

Inside, the cars are bright and feature added space for bicycles and wheelchairs. The public address system is clear and LCD panels in the car can display real-time location, next stop, and station information. The Silverliner Vs seat 110 passengers compared to about 122 for the Silverliner IIs and IIIs they will replace.

The Silverliner Vs are the first new regional rail multiple-unit trainsets for SEPTA in 35 years. Attending Villanova University in 1974-75, I can still remember my first ride on a Silverliner IV. At that time, we even thought the Silverliner IIs and IIIs, both 1960s era cars, were great compared to the MP54 cars built between 1915 and 1939.

Previously on SEPTA:

• TWU Local 234 Thinks SEPTA is Wall Street or Something
• Foreclosures Looming for Transit Systems

Good Money After Bad

Lest there be any doubt, I am a strong proponent of mass transit by rail and intercity rail passenger service. But…

The announcement of US DOT investing $150 million plus in Michigan’s high speed rail corridor is a misnomer. The grant is for Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to acquire and rehabilitate track between Dearborn and Kalamazoo. When done, the track will allow passenger rail speeds of 79 mph. First, that’s not high speed. Second, the track is already rated at 79 mph for passenger trains. Besides relieving present owner Norfolk Southern of maintaining the track, the only tangible benefit in the grant is improving connecting track in West Detroit. The grant also includes $3.2 million for planning the Detroit-Chicago high-speed corridor. Isn’t it already planned? Work has already been done on the Amtrak-owned Kalamazoo to state line portion. What more planning needs to be done?

Just over $7.9 million will be spent on connections between Detroit area trackage and the main line in West Detroit. That part probably makes sense. But here’s a piece no one is talking about: Michigan needs to fund $30 million to get the grants. Any bets on how likely that is, given the current budget situation?

Interesting, too, is how the value of the grants is $150 to $161 million and how Sens. Levin (D) and Stabinaw (D) and Rep. Dingell (D) are all claiming credit. Regardless, they’re claiming credit for spending taxpayer dollars on something that provides little, if any, tangible benefit. In fact, if anything, it saddles taxpayers with maintaining Norfolk Southern’s right-of-way. And, if I had to bet money, I’d bet they had little or nothing to do with it. Otherwise Michigan would have been awarded these grants in the first round when Stimulus was big in the news. The fact they’re claiming responsibility just before the election is unadulterated, disgustingly sick, opportunistic grandstanding.

So far, Pres. Obama’s stimulus-related high speed rail initiative has amounted to jack nothing for Michigan in regard to improved travel times. Remodeling some stations and taking over a rail line is still the same 79 mph route. You won’t get people out of their cars with that. And it’s still shorter to fly, even with all the so-called security crap.

Previously on high speed rail:

• Transportation in Michigan Kicked to the Curb

Transportation in Michigan Kicked to the Curb

This has not been a good week for transportation in Michigan. Between the feds and the state, Michigan has lost a lot of traction on improving transportation. First, the US Department of Transportation only gave $40 million to Michigan, far less than the requested $993 million. Then the Michigan Transportation Commssion cut 243 road projects because the state doesn’t have the matching funds to get Federal money.

On the high speed rail initiative, Gov. Granholm (D) had signed an 8-state cooperation agreement to support the Midwest High Speed Rail Corridor, with Obama’s home town of Chicago as the hub. Granholm claimed the Stimulus money for high speed rail would create 7,000 permanent jobs and hundreds of temporary ones. How did she figure that? Whether trains from Detroit to Chicago go 79 mph or 110 mph, unless you add additional trips, there’s no change in permanent jobs. And even if you add another round trip trainset, how many jobs is that? 20? 50? Certainly not 7,000. I don’t understand.

But Granholm’s guesses on new jobs is all mute anyway. Obama’s Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, announced a Michigan’s share in high speed rail is a paltry $40 million. That money’s going to pay for new Amtrak stations in Troy and Dearborn, as well as renovations to the Battle Creek station. It’s far less than Michigan’s requested $993 million and hardly shows up on the radar screen in the overall $8 billion Stimulus bill high speed rail program. The only good news here? Illinois and Indiana got $204 million to upgrade the Detroit-Chicago corridor.

I’ve ridden the Detroit-Chicago (actually Pontiac-Chicago) line several times. I can verify the Indiana segment is a real problem with conflicts between freight and passenger rail, despite this being the great “Broadway”, an area of great competition between the New York Central and Pennsylvania railroads. But no track upgrades in Michigan, which is the bulk of the run, means no real high speed for this corridor any time soon. Once again, Michigan loses out.

Besides the bad news in high-speed rail, which also affects efforts on starting commuter rail in southeast Michigan, Michigan’s highways also got dissed this week. Since the Governor and State Senate and Representatives decided to apply Stimulus money to the general fund, there’s none left for road projects. Rather than admit this and do the right thing, many are claiming the gas tax isn’t adequate to meet Michigan’s needs. Thus, they’re calling for tax increases. The net effect of canceling the 243 road projects is the loss of hundreds of millions of Federal funds. Penny-wise and dollar foolish.

I won’t argue about whether roads are adequately funded or not, but I will tell you there’s no need to increase the gas tax. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Many use the current economic climate to argue for more taxes, but Michigan’s tax system is faring very well compared to most others. As a result, the imbalance must be on the spending side of the equation, since no once questions the state has a definite problem with income and expenses. While there are certain government services I expect to receive as part of my taxes, I expect them to be provided efficiently and prioritized over non-essential services, such as legislative staffs or state bureaucracy. Unfortunately, there seems to be a growing interest in raising gas taxes to pay for roads when the real issue is deciding on priorities for spending. Michigan is not revenue deficient; rather, it’s over spending.

Politicians usually like to slash public safety for their desired effect, but this week transportation is on the chopping block. Has anyone figured out slow trains and lousy roads will negatively impact trade in and through Michigan?

Train Cam of Crash that Killed 5

Five metro Detroit kids, aged 14-21, lost their lives on July 9th. This tragedy happened because the driver was trying to beat the train. As the video shows at the 0:12 mark, the kids never had a chance. Nor did the Amtrak engineer have any warning of what was about to happen. A conductor discovers the tragic outcome at 2:25.

It’s simple physics: a 530-ton train, with steel wheels on steel rails, going 70 mph takes a long time to stop. And a 2-ton car is no match for the train.

HT: theblogprof

Haste Costs 5 Young Lives

Detroit Free Press by Regina H. Boone

Yesterday 5 metro Detroit kids lost their lives in a gamble they could beat the train through the crossing. The Amtrak train was going about 70 mph. It took about a mile for it to stop, leaving a trail of debris all the way back to the crossing. No word on whether the kids had their seatbelts on, but that probably didn’t much matter in this case. It’s also not clear if they were on their way to the beach or to one of their homes. However, the 19 year old driver had numerous traffic violations, including speeding and running a stop sign. And a judge had just suspended his license for a month for failing show his license.

The youngest in the Ford Fusion was a 14 year old girl; the boys were 18, 19, 20, and 21. Their deaths are certainly a tragedy for their families and friends. It’s also terrible for the locomotive’s crew. After throwing the train into emergency braking, there’s nothing they can do but ride it out, certain of what the outcome will be. It’s simple physics: a 530-ton train, with steel wheels on steel rails, going 70 mph takes a long time to stop. And a 2-ton car is no match for the train.

Some of the comments blame the parents, questioning why a 14 year old girl was in a car with 4 older boys, of which the 18 year old was her boyfriend. The girl’s mother had told her she had to come home rather than go to the beach, but didn’t expect the girl to comply. While I wondered the same, none of us who don’t know the actual details and circumstances should pre-judge. In any case, I’m sure that doesn’t matter in the least as far as the mother’s grief is concerned.

Another commenter noted the kids all probably learned how to drive from their parents. The post remarked on people driving 80 mph on metro Interstates, weaving in and out of traffic, citing the “me first” syndrome. People tend to become anonymous and invulnerable in their cars. Maybe that’s why the driver went around another car stopped for the gates and lights and tried to make it through the crossing. That poor decision to try and save a minute or two resulted in 5 young lives being cut far too short.

Unfortunately, grade crossing incidents happen way more than they should. All railroads are involved with Operation Lifesaver which works to educate the public on rail safety. The address both grade crossing accidents and the dangers of walking on tracks or in rail yards. Incidentally, tracks and yards are private property, so trespassers could also be ticketed or arrested. Traffic safety folks are also working to protect people from themselves. At Denton Road in Wayne County, a test set of barricades rise up when a train approaches to prevent drivers from crossing the tracks. Sadly, this test site is on the same rail line about 5 miles west of yesterdays crash site.

Update: The Free Press has the surveillance camera footage.

Update 2: Canton Police reduced the train cam footage which clearly indicates the Amtrak engineer was sounding the horn and bell. It’s also obvious the engineer had practically no warning of what was going to happen.