The MT Position

Posted by Fred Jandt
Editor, Mass Transit magazine

As the year winds down, it’s hard not to reflect on what has happened this year in transit: the terrible Metrolink tragedy; the various work stoppages and promised strikes; and the budget crunches. Boy sounds pretty bad doesn’t it? Of course, that’s just a pessimistic view. Through it all transit kept going, moving more people than ever before. And that’s the key — keep it moving.

Transit wasn’t without its positive stories this year. Expo was a big hit. Ridership hit records in cities across the United States. Systems were expanded and new technologies unveiled.

So what does 2009 look like? To be honest, the next few months are going to be scary for a lot of places. It’s always darkest before the dawn they say, and that is likely the case with transit going into 2009. More and more agencies are facing serious funding crises as they are faced with the untenable decision of raising fares and cutting services while business is booming just to make budget. That’s the dark part. We have a new era dawning with a president-elect who is pledging an unprecedented investment in the nation’s infrastructure and the reauthorization of the transit funding bill, both promising to give transit the boost it so desperately requires.

And those riders that came during last summer’s skyrocketing gas prices? They’re sticking around even while gas prices drop to levels we haven’t seen in years. It seems they liked transit enough that once they got a taste they made the switch permanent.

2009 is looking up for us. Keep your heads up folks, the road may be rough, but the destination looks great!

Now some housekeeping stuff.

What have you been reading this year? Here are a couple lists I compiled of what you’ve been reading on our site:

Top Blogs

1. Etiquette Rules for the Transit Savvy
2. Enough Boondoggles
3. Little Things
4. Transit Safety
5. 22 Seconds

Top Articles

1. Commuters VS. Vacationers
2. BRT Update
3. Beyond ‘Light Rail Lite’
4. Mixed-Use Rail
5. CNG Hybrid-Electric Buses

Top News Stories

1. Federal Rules Prefer Buses over Streetcar Expansion
2. San Francisco Mayor Ousts Three of Seven Members of Public Transportation Board
3. Vandals Force Muni to Pull Hybrid Buses
4. Exit of DART Chair Doesn’t End Scrutiny
5. Taxpayers Fund $45M Empire, Art Collection
6. Downtown L.A. Rail Battle a Street Fight
7. Hacker Trio Finds a Way to Crack Popular Smartcard in Minutes
8. New Rules Stop Madison Metro’s ‘Bucky’ Bus
9. Efficient Disney Shows it’s High Time to Privatize Mass Transportation
10. Runaway Freight Car Hits MBTA Commuter Train

Top Industry Announcements

1. Nova Bus Unveils its Nova LFS Artic Articulated Bus
2. HC Bridge Company Completes First Composite Railroad Bridge
3. BART Needs to Replace its Fleet
4. Veolia Transportation acquires Professional Transit Management
5. MTA New York City Transit to Run Special Vintage Buses in December
6. President’s Spending Plan Recommends $1.62 Billion for Transit Construction
7. Veolia Transportation Adds 29 Dodge Sprinter Shuttle Buses
8. Houston Metro Places Order For 48 Orion VII Next Generation Diesel-Electric Hybrid Transit Buses
9. DaimlerChrysler Unveils the Next Generation of Transit Buses
10. MV Transportation Inc. Announces Contracts

With the impending holidays we’re taking a little break. This will be the last blog of 2008, there won’t be newsletters on December 24th or December 31st, and while we will keep updating the news, it won’t be as regular as normal. Keep an eye on MassTransitmag.com next year, though, as we continue to bring you daily transit industry coverage.

Thanks for reading the MT Position updated every Friday,

Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com
Check out our LinkedIn page!

Posted by Fred Jandt
Editor, Mass Transit magazine

Why is it that transit always takes the backseat to the auto industry? No, I’m not complaining about funding for roads versus transit or anything like that. I’m talking about the pending auto manufacturer bailout. Tacked on that bill is a provision to have banks cover the loans several large transit agencies are currently in default on. Couldn’t transit rate at least its own bail-out bill?

And, of course, the complaints are already flying in on having transit tied to this bill. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D- Mont.) wants the transit portion excised because it “really just helps the banks” that entered into the Sell In Lease Out (SILO) or Lease In Lease Out (LILO) deals with the transit authorities. Sure these SILO and LILO deals have since been ruled illegal by the IRS, but that just meant you couldn’t do them any longer, they didn’t stop the ones already enacted.

So the transit authorities are just supposed to sit there quietly and take it on the chin while auto manufacturers are getting bailed out? Let’s just forget that the transit authorities were paying for these deals and only defaulted due to a technicality when companies like AIG went belly up recently. Basically the transit authorities are looking for a cosigner on a loan they already have and are paying off, not a new loan itself.

It’s also interesting to note that the little bit at the end of the auto bail-out bill about federal judges getting raises — an annual cost of living adjustment — is just flying under the radar. So people earning more than $150,000 annually getting a raise doesn’t rate anyone telling them to wait until the spending bill covering U.S. courts is passed, but keeping major transit agencies in Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., from shutting down major services is not worth it?

Please.

And of course, this comes at the same time that Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D- Conn.) asked the auto manufacturers, “You all made buses at one point, didn’t you? … Any thoughts about getting back into that line of work?”

So we have one senator, a Democrat chairing a major senate committee, telling the auto manufacturers they should think about starting to build buses and rail cars as part of this bail out. And at the same time we have another senator, a Democrat chairing a major senate committee, trying to pull the funding from those same transit agencies as part of this bail out.

The fact that transit is being touted so highly on one hand while on the other it still remains the red-headed stepchild of the transit industry is just a joke. Transit works. It’s been proven. As gas prices plummeted, transit ridership still rose with the largest quarterly increase in 25 years.

The public is speaking. They want transit and they want it now. Somebody needs to sit down the members of Congress in one big room and get them to realize that.

Thanks for reading the MT Position updated every Friday,

Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com
Check out our LinkedIn page!

Posted by Fred Jandt
Editor, Mass Transit magazine

This last week we had our first major snowfall in Wisconsin. Thankfully it was about a fifth of what we got last year. Today the temperature dropped down to the single digits and as I chattered my teeth walking into work this morning, I couldn’t help but think about everyone standing waiting for a bus or train this morning.

Those in Chicago got a respite from the cold at 10 bus stops this week, though. As part of a promotion for Stove Top Stuffing, Kraft is heating 10 CTA bus stops for a limited time. Sure it’s just an advertising gimmick, but what a great idea! Why not get a sponsor and heat stops full time? Agencies in warmer climes try to build stops in such a way as to minimize the heat and direct sunlight, how about more steps to minimize the cold?

Sure, that is easier than it sounds, but for all those huddling around a bus stop praying the bus will not be on time, but even a minute or two early, I am sure it sounds like a great idea.

Weather has to be one of, if not the worst problems to overcome in transit. Agencies in cold weather areas have to deal with buses not starting, fuel lines freezing, and snow covering everything. I’ve even heard of catenary lines freezing and snapping.

And those agencies in the more moderate temperatures aren’t without problems. Ice storms can cause even more damage than snow storms, especially in regions that don’t get them that often. And a cold snap for an agency unprepared can cause severe service disruptions.

So as I warm my hands over my hot chocolate this morning I ask everyone reading, what’s the worst weather your system has had to, well, weather?

Thanks for reading the MT Position updated every Friday,

Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com

Check out our LinkedIn page!