There’s been a lot of media hype and political hoopla of late about Connecticut receiving $40 million from the Feds for “high speed rail”. While any money spent on rail is great, let’s take a reality check.
That federal money (combined with $26 million from the state) is merely a small down-payment on an $880 million, five-year plan to bring just commuter rail service to the New Haven – Springfield corridor, a project on the CDOT planning board for more than a decade.. That first money will be spent adding a second track on a 10 mile stretch of existing rail between New Britain and Newington. That’s a good start, but the rest of the project is far from a sure thing. And it sure ain’t “high speed rail”.
Media reports that we’ll soon have 110 mph rail service to our capitol are folly because they assume our cash-strapped state will continue funding the other 90+% of the project.
Sure, commuter rail service along the I-91 corridor will be welcome. And it will undoubtedly have economic and development benefits. But will politicians please stop teasing us with images of bullet-trains and a one-hour, one-seat ride from Hartford to New York (115 miles)?
In recent years any number of would-be office-holders (federal and state) have called on me for briefings on how to fix our transportation mess. I’ve gladly talked with them all, Republican and Democrat, and given them a frank assessment of our situation. But when they start asking… “Why can’t we build a mag-lev down the middle of our interstates?” I start wondering if they’ve been smoking more than cigars.
We can’t adequately fund our existing Metro-North service, and our pols have questions about Disney-style monorails? Let’s look at the facts:
In 2003 Maryland looked at building a mag-lev system 39 miles from Baltimore to Washington and figured it would cost $4.9 billion to build and $53 million a year to operate. You can buy a heckuva lot of conventional rail equipment for that kind of money for such a short run.
Mag-lev may make sense running across the desert from LA to Vegas, but in dense, built up corridors like the Northeast, it’s a fantasy. We’re stuck with the tracks we have with a little straightening and maybe electrification.
What passes for “high speed rail” in the US is a joke by international standards. I love riding Acela, but its purported 150 mph speed is achieved only on a few miles of track in NJ and RI. In Connecticut, Acela maxes out at 90 mph, no faster than Metro-North. And the tilting mechanism on the train (designed to enhance speed) is disabled due to lack of clearance. Over its entire Washington to Boston run, Acela’s average speed just is 72 mph, slower than most cars.
Compare that with Japan’s Shinkansen which runs 185 mph, France’s TGV or the London – Paris Eurostar which do 200 mph. Now that’s high speed rail!
Hey, if we can actually build commuter rail north from New Haven running at 70 mph, I’ll be thrilled. But the project won’t be cheap and I doubt it can happen in this economy. And whatever does get built sure won’t be a bullet-train.
February 07, 2010
January 25, 2010
PT Barnum - Rail Activist
What do Connecticut’s own PT Barnum and The CT Rail Commuter Council have in common? No, not a love of circuses. Both are “rail activists” fighting for the interests of commuters.
This amazing piece of news about Barnum, a man better known for his circus and menageries, came to me while watching a speech at the Old State House in Hartford broadcast on CT-N (every policy-wonk’s favorite channel). The speaker was Executive Director and Curator of the Barnum Museum Kathy Maher.
She explained that Barnum (whose 200th birthday we celebrate this year) was more than a showman. He was also a railroad advocate.
In 1879 Barnum wrote an impassioned letter to the NY Times promoting a street railway be built in New York City along Broadway between Bleecker and 14th Street, enlisting the support of local merchants as the Brooks Brothers and “the carpet men, W & J Sloan”.
Back in 1865, Barnum went to Hartford representing the town of Fairfield as a Republican. (Later he became mayor of Bridgeport.) As he writes in his autobiography, he arrived at the capitol to find that powerful railroad interests had conspired to elect a Speaker of the House who’d protect their monopoly interests in the state.
Further, he found that Connecticut’s “Railroad Commission” had been similarly ensnared by the industry it was supposed to regulate and that one member was even a clerk in the office of the NY & New Haven RR! Barnum pushed through a bill prohibiting such obvious conflicts of interest.
Then he turned his sights on helping commuters. Barnum noted that New York railroad magnate Commodore Vanderbilt’s new rail lines (now the Hudson and Harlem divisions of Metro-North) were popular with affluent commuters. Once Vanderbilt had them as passengers for their daily ride into and out of NYC, he jacked up fares by 200 – 400%.
Sensing that Vanderbilt might try to do the same to Connecticut riders on the new New Haven line (in which he had a financial stake), Barnum set to work in the legislature to make sure the state had some control over “its” railroad. Barnum says his only ally in the fight was State Senator Ballard of Darien.
So spirited were they in their lobbying that the railroad’s “man” on the state Railroad Commission “took to his bed some ten days before the end of the session and actually remained there ‘sick’” until the legislature adjourned.”
Fast forward to the present and we could again use Barnum’s help.
The MTA, parent of Metro-North, is again in serious financial problems. Mind you, its current $400 million shortfall is of that agency’s own creation. Yet their proposal to close the budget gap could come at the expense of Connecticut passengers.
Proposed cuts in rail service include two weekday mid-afternoon trains and one late night train.
The CT Rail Commuter Council has cried “foul”. And to her credit, Governor Rell heard that call, directing the CDOT to oppose the train cuts. The Governor notes that New York’s budget problems should bring pain on that state’s riders, not our own. Because Connecticut is not part of Metro-North nor the MTA and has no input on its budget, it is hardly fair to make us pay for their mistakes.
Just as in Barnum’s day, our transportation future seems to be in the hands of powerful forces in New York. But as Barnum did in 1865, Governor Rell is sticking up for what’s right for those of us who call Connecticut their home.
This amazing piece of news about Barnum, a man better known for his circus and menageries, came to me while watching a speech at the Old State House in Hartford broadcast on CT-N (every policy-wonk’s favorite channel). The speaker was Executive Director and Curator of the Barnum Museum Kathy Maher.
She explained that Barnum (whose 200th birthday we celebrate this year) was more than a showman. He was also a railroad advocate.
In 1879 Barnum wrote an impassioned letter to the NY Times promoting a street railway be built in New York City along Broadway between Bleecker and 14th Street, enlisting the support of local merchants as the Brooks Brothers and “the carpet men, W & J Sloan”.
Back in 1865, Barnum went to Hartford representing the town of Fairfield as a Republican. (Later he became mayor of Bridgeport.) As he writes in his autobiography, he arrived at the capitol to find that powerful railroad interests had conspired to elect a Speaker of the House who’d protect their monopoly interests in the state.
Further, he found that Connecticut’s “Railroad Commission” had been similarly ensnared by the industry it was supposed to regulate and that one member was even a clerk in the office of the NY & New Haven RR! Barnum pushed through a bill prohibiting such obvious conflicts of interest.
Then he turned his sights on helping commuters. Barnum noted that New York railroad magnate Commodore Vanderbilt’s new rail lines (now the Hudson and Harlem divisions of Metro-North) were popular with affluent commuters. Once Vanderbilt had them as passengers for their daily ride into and out of NYC, he jacked up fares by 200 – 400%.
Sensing that Vanderbilt might try to do the same to Connecticut riders on the new New Haven line (in which he had a financial stake), Barnum set to work in the legislature to make sure the state had some control over “its” railroad. Barnum says his only ally in the fight was State Senator Ballard of Darien.
So spirited were they in their lobbying that the railroad’s “man” on the state Railroad Commission “took to his bed some ten days before the end of the session and actually remained there ‘sick’” until the legislature adjourned.”
Fast forward to the present and we could again use Barnum’s help.
The MTA, parent of Metro-North, is again in serious financial problems. Mind you, its current $400 million shortfall is of that agency’s own creation. Yet their proposal to close the budget gap could come at the expense of Connecticut passengers.
Proposed cuts in rail service include two weekday mid-afternoon trains and one late night train.
The CT Rail Commuter Council has cried “foul”. And to her credit, Governor Rell heard that call, directing the CDOT to oppose the train cuts. The Governor notes that New York’s budget problems should bring pain on that state’s riders, not our own. Because Connecticut is not part of Metro-North nor the MTA and has no input on its budget, it is hardly fair to make us pay for their mistakes.
Just as in Barnum’s day, our transportation future seems to be in the hands of powerful forces in New York. But as Barnum did in 1865, Governor Rell is sticking up for what’s right for those of us who call Connecticut their home.
January 11, 2010
Terrorism on the Tracks
The recent hysteria following the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines jet over Detroit has reminded us again of our vulnerability to terrorism. Not just in the air, but on our daily commute by train.
We’ve already seen that trains make attractive targets for bombers. After the Madrid bombings in March of 2004 and the London subway attacks in 2005, it is really only a matter of time before terrorism strikes such a vulnerable target as mass transit once again.
Our government has proven itself unable to protect the homeland, so occasionally seeing State Troopers and police riding Metro-North trains seems like an act of PR, propping up public opinion, rather than acting as any deterrence.
According to recent statistics from the House Transportation Committee, since 9/11 we’ve spent $11 billion improving aviation security, or $9.16 per passenger. In the same time we’ve only spent $115 million on mass transit, or $0.006 per passenger.
The TSA has 49,000 screeners working 2000 checkpoints at 450 airports. But have you ever seen a TSA screener at a train station?
On Amtrak, police (often with dogs) “show the colors” with a walk-thru of Acela trains leaving Penn Station. Conductors also ask for passengers IDs on a random basis. This is deterrence?
But the craziest TSA experiment of all happened right here in Connecticut.
In July of 2004, a Shore Line East train was outfitted with an extra car carrying bombing sniffing and metal detecting equipment (on loan from manufacturer GE, which is obviously eyeing lucrative contracts). Passengers boarding the train at all stations first had to enter the “security car” and as the train moved along, were screened for explosives. That’s right… they got on the train and then were screened. But isn’t the idea to keep the bombs off of the trains, not find them in transit?
What can realistically be done to improve safety on our trains and subways? In my view… not much. There are hundreds of miles of track, scores of stations and thousands of passengers to control. Consider some of the possibilities:
• ID checks before boarding? For what purpose… and of what deterrence value?
• Airport-style “secure zones” and screenings at stations? Can you imagine thousands of riders arriving 60 – 90 minutes before departure to queue for pat-downs twice each day? They’d abandon the trains and be back in their cars in a flash.
• A cop on every train? Be honest: do you really think a determined suicide bomber would stop at his grizzly task if he saw a cop on the train? And with a ten-car Metro-North train carrying more passengers than a 747, what good is a cop at the front of the train if something happens a quarter-mile behind him in the rear car.?
• Bomb-sniffing dogs on every train? Maybe. But we don’t have anywhere near enough trained canines to handle the hundreds of trains each day on Metro-North.
So what’s a commuter to do? In my view… rely on your own instincts. Be watchful of your surroundings, unattended bags and suspicious behavior. As they remind us: If you see something that doesn’t look right… say something.
Shortly after the Madrid bombings, I was on a Metro-North train headed into the city when a passenger came into my car, spoke softly with the conductor, and sat down. Two other passengers followed him, now speaking in more excited tones. They said there was a “dark skinned man” in the other car sweating profusely, looking at his watch, reading an Arabic newspaper and playing with something in his briefcase. The conductor radioed ahead and our train was stopped in the Bronx. MTA Police in body armor boarded and took the man off the train.
To my eye he looked like any other commuter. Sweating, perhaps because he’d run for the train. Looking at his watch, maybe because he was late for an appointment. Fumbling with something in his briefcase, trying to find his Blackberry. Reading a foreign newspaper, to catch up on the news in his native tongue. The gentleman looked Indian, not Arabic, but he offered no resistance when he climbed off the train. Inquiries later said he was not a suspect and just released.
Paranoia? Xenophobia? Or have our enemies really won and left us terrorized? I’m still riding the train and taking the subways. But I don’t linger in Grand Central, a perfect target for a suicide bomber.
In all honesty, the debacle over the Detroit jet bombing attempt convinces me that our government can do nothing prevent the inevitable… further terrorist attacks right here in the US.
We’ve already seen that trains make attractive targets for bombers. After the Madrid bombings in March of 2004 and the London subway attacks in 2005, it is really only a matter of time before terrorism strikes such a vulnerable target as mass transit once again.
Our government has proven itself unable to protect the homeland, so occasionally seeing State Troopers and police riding Metro-North trains seems like an act of PR, propping up public opinion, rather than acting as any deterrence.
According to recent statistics from the House Transportation Committee, since 9/11 we’ve spent $11 billion improving aviation security, or $9.16 per passenger. In the same time we’ve only spent $115 million on mass transit, or $0.006 per passenger.
The TSA has 49,000 screeners working 2000 checkpoints at 450 airports. But have you ever seen a TSA screener at a train station?
On Amtrak, police (often with dogs) “show the colors” with a walk-thru of Acela trains leaving Penn Station. Conductors also ask for passengers IDs on a random basis. This is deterrence?
But the craziest TSA experiment of all happened right here in Connecticut.
In July of 2004, a Shore Line East train was outfitted with an extra car carrying bombing sniffing and metal detecting equipment (on loan from manufacturer GE, which is obviously eyeing lucrative contracts). Passengers boarding the train at all stations first had to enter the “security car” and as the train moved along, were screened for explosives. That’s right… they got on the train and then were screened. But isn’t the idea to keep the bombs off of the trains, not find them in transit?
What can realistically be done to improve safety on our trains and subways? In my view… not much. There are hundreds of miles of track, scores of stations and thousands of passengers to control. Consider some of the possibilities:
• ID checks before boarding? For what purpose… and of what deterrence value?
• Airport-style “secure zones” and screenings at stations? Can you imagine thousands of riders arriving 60 – 90 minutes before departure to queue for pat-downs twice each day? They’d abandon the trains and be back in their cars in a flash.
• A cop on every train? Be honest: do you really think a determined suicide bomber would stop at his grizzly task if he saw a cop on the train? And with a ten-car Metro-North train carrying more passengers than a 747, what good is a cop at the front of the train if something happens a quarter-mile behind him in the rear car.?
• Bomb-sniffing dogs on every train? Maybe. But we don’t have anywhere near enough trained canines to handle the hundreds of trains each day on Metro-North.
So what’s a commuter to do? In my view… rely on your own instincts. Be watchful of your surroundings, unattended bags and suspicious behavior. As they remind us: If you see something that doesn’t look right… say something.
Shortly after the Madrid bombings, I was on a Metro-North train headed into the city when a passenger came into my car, spoke softly with the conductor, and sat down. Two other passengers followed him, now speaking in more excited tones. They said there was a “dark skinned man” in the other car sweating profusely, looking at his watch, reading an Arabic newspaper and playing with something in his briefcase. The conductor radioed ahead and our train was stopped in the Bronx. MTA Police in body armor boarded and took the man off the train.
To my eye he looked like any other commuter. Sweating, perhaps because he’d run for the train. Looking at his watch, maybe because he was late for an appointment. Fumbling with something in his briefcase, trying to find his Blackberry. Reading a foreign newspaper, to catch up on the news in his native tongue. The gentleman looked Indian, not Arabic, but he offered no resistance when he climbed off the train. Inquiries later said he was not a suspect and just released.
Paranoia? Xenophobia? Or have our enemies really won and left us terrorized? I’m still riding the train and taking the subways. But I don’t linger in Grand Central, a perfect target for a suicide bomber.
In all honesty, the debacle over the Detroit jet bombing attempt convinces me that our government can do nothing prevent the inevitable… further terrorist attacks right here in the US.
December 27, 2009
Saving Money on Metro-North Train Tickets
With the new year we were supposed to see a 1.25% fare hike to help pay for the new M8 cars (the first of which arrived just before Christmas). But, true to her word, Governor Rell has stalled that fare hike until mid-year, closer to the time we may actually be riding in those new railcars which must first undergo months of testing.
But 2010 is bringing more closings of ticket windows at stations as Metro-North tries to save money and encourage greater use of ticket machines. Human ticket vendors are anachronistic. If your station still has one, it probably won’t by next year.
All of which got me thinking: do Metro-North riders know the cheapest way to buy tickets? If not, read on! For demonstration purposes, let’s say you want to go from Darien to Grand Central. You can find the fare charts for your travel by clicking here (or at www.mta.info)
The most expensive way to ride Metro-North is buying a ticket on the train. Not only do you pay the fare, but a penalty of $5.75 to $6.50 per ticket (in the Darien example, totaling $18 one way). That’s not a mistake you’ll make more than once.
Tickets bought from machines or ticket agents are at the regular fare, peak ($12.25) or off-peak ($9.25). No discounts.
Roundtrip tickets offer convenience, but no discount. Seniors and the disabled get a 50% discount off the peak fare ($6.00) but cannot ride in morning rush-hour. Seniors also do not have to pay the on-board ticket purchase penalty.
Traveling with kids is cheap. Up to four kids (5 – 11 years old) can travel for $1 apiece with an adult, but again, not in the morning rush-hour.
Ten-trip tickets (peak) are convenient, good for one year, but offer no discount (at $122.50). Ten-trip tickets (off-peak) are also good for one year, but offer a 15% discount ($78.75). Either kind of ten-trip ticket can be used by more than the purchaser, even if multiple people are traveling together.
Weekly tickets are a true bargain ($84), offering unlimited rides Saturday through Friday, peak or off-peak. But they can only be used by one person. Assuming five rush-hour roundtrips in a week, the weekly ticket offers a 30% discount over one-way peak tickets.
Monthly tickets are an even better deal ($264). Again, assuming a typical Monday thru Friday commuter taking rush-hour trains, the monthly ticket “commutes” their fare by an almost 50% discount. (This, by the way, is how the term “commuter” came into being. Look it up!)
If you can get your employer to participate, such programs as TransitCheck can save you even more money by allowing you to spend up to $230 per month in pre-tax money for use of mass transit. This can save you $1000 a year in taxes depending on your tax bracket.
But what’s the cheapest way to buy Metro-North tickets… one-ways, roundtrips, ten-trips, weekly and monthlies? Online! MTA’s “WebTicket” gives you an additional 5% discount, so a one-way ticket from Darien to NYC is only $11.64 (vs $12.50), and a ten-trip off-peak is $74.81 (vs $78.75).
Postage is free and the tickets arrive within a couple of days after placing your online order in a very non-descript, white envelope, so watch carefully. Now, just why it’s cheaper to buy a ticket online than in-person, I do not know. But with almost everyone having access to the internet (and assuming they have a credit card), this is the best bargain in the increasingly costly game of saving money on train tickets.
(PS: Amtrak fares vary widely by day and time of travel. There’s no discount for buying tickets online but they do offer ten-trip tickets and monthly tickets at a discount, but with a lot of restrictions).
For the full story on Metro-North ticket types and potential discounts, click here. Happy traveling!
December 14, 2009
Some Progress on Rail Station Parking
Finally some good news: we’re making a little progress on getting more parking at our rail stations. The CDOT Rail Station Parking Taskforce, created with great fanfare by Governor Rell in February, is starting to reach consensus on some solutions to our parking problems. An interim report is due this month, but it looks like the group will continue its mission of increasing access to our trains into the new year.
Given this year’s five percent decline in rail ridership caused by the recession, it hasn’t been too bad when it came to finding parking or seats on the train. But with the new M8 cars due to come online in 2010 (admittedly, a year behind schedule), now’s the time to plan for an expected increase in rail ridership. Heck, that’s something we should have done a decade back.
The recession also seems to be squeezing out some parking permit “hoarders”… the folks who waited years for their permits, don’t use them often but don’t want to give them up. This year, a lot of those hoarders took a pass on renewals. And that means new permits can be issued and some names can come off the waiting lists.
Towns have also done a better job of “scrubbing” those lists, removing the names of the dead, those who’ve moved away or got permits elsewhere.
One experiment that didn’t work was Darien’s plan to offer discounted parking permits for more distant lots. Priced at $200 vs the usual $315, almost nobody was interested. But that’s Darien.
Other ideas to increase parking that came from the Taskforce include…
1) Building decked parking structures at some stations. Of course, there’s no money and dubious interest from the towns.
2) Offering a centralized website showing real waiting list times in each community.
3) Developing a legal secondary market for parking permit “rentals” or sell-backs to issuing towns.
4) More bike and moped racks at all stations.
5) Offering incentives for car-poolers: better spaces, lower rates.
6) Improving pedestrian access to stations, such as sidewalks.
7) Offering a “guaranteed ride home” from stations for those dropped off.
8) Providing ZipCars (hourly car rentals) at key stations.
9) Improving security in station parking lots.
10) Providing van-pools from stations to key employers.
Meantime in Stamford, the gridlock continues. Plans to replace the existing station garage have not moved forward, despite a waiting list of hundreds of would-be parkers.
CDOT’s initial attempts to find a private developer who would turn the garage into an office building / condo palace turned up little interest. So now the agency is pumping money into temporary repairs to the crumbling structure.
The city of Stamford would have some say over use of the parking garage site for anything other than just parking, so they commissioned their own study of the station and surrounding roads. Of course, their recommendations don’t have to be followed by CDOT, which owns the garage and the station and didn’t even participate in the consultant’s work.
Private developers seem ready to build parking within walking distance of the Stamford station, but at what cost to users? It already costs $70 per month to park at the state-owned lot adjacent to the station, so what might the market rate for parking be at a private lot? And will commuters really want to walk several blocks to the station having been spoiled for decades with a state-owned lot with a sheltered walkway right into the waiting room?
Given this year’s five percent decline in rail ridership caused by the recession, it hasn’t been too bad when it came to finding parking or seats on the train. But with the new M8 cars due to come online in 2010 (admittedly, a year behind schedule), now’s the time to plan for an expected increase in rail ridership. Heck, that’s something we should have done a decade back.
The recession also seems to be squeezing out some parking permit “hoarders”… the folks who waited years for their permits, don’t use them often but don’t want to give them up. This year, a lot of those hoarders took a pass on renewals. And that means new permits can be issued and some names can come off the waiting lists.
Towns have also done a better job of “scrubbing” those lists, removing the names of the dead, those who’ve moved away or got permits elsewhere.
One experiment that didn’t work was Darien’s plan to offer discounted parking permits for more distant lots. Priced at $200 vs the usual $315, almost nobody was interested. But that’s Darien.
Other ideas to increase parking that came from the Taskforce include…
1) Building decked parking structures at some stations. Of course, there’s no money and dubious interest from the towns.
2) Offering a centralized website showing real waiting list times in each community.
3) Developing a legal secondary market for parking permit “rentals” or sell-backs to issuing towns.
4) More bike and moped racks at all stations.
5) Offering incentives for car-poolers: better spaces, lower rates.
6) Improving pedestrian access to stations, such as sidewalks.
7) Offering a “guaranteed ride home” from stations for those dropped off.
8) Providing ZipCars (hourly car rentals) at key stations.
9) Improving security in station parking lots.
10) Providing van-pools from stations to key employers.
Meantime in Stamford, the gridlock continues. Plans to replace the existing station garage have not moved forward, despite a waiting list of hundreds of would-be parkers.
CDOT’s initial attempts to find a private developer who would turn the garage into an office building / condo palace turned up little interest. So now the agency is pumping money into temporary repairs to the crumbling structure.
The city of Stamford would have some say over use of the parking garage site for anything other than just parking, so they commissioned their own study of the station and surrounding roads. Of course, their recommendations don’t have to be followed by CDOT, which owns the garage and the station and didn’t even participate in the consultant’s work.
Private developers seem ready to build parking within walking distance of the Stamford station, but at what cost to users? It already costs $70 per month to park at the state-owned lot adjacent to the station, so what might the market rate for parking be at a private lot? And will commuters really want to walk several blocks to the station having been spoiled for decades with a state-owned lot with a sheltered walkway right into the waiting room?
November 27, 2009
Aviation's Tailspin
Anybody who reads this column knows how I feel about flying. I loathe it! I would sooner endure an overnight sleeper-car on Amtrak than three hours of turbulence on a Regional Jet. Talking to friends and business associates, I find I am not alone in my dislike of air travel.
The airline business is in a tailspin. Airlines keep cutting air fares to hold market share while also cutting staff pay and, many fear, safety.
Their fleets are smaller and so too are the jets. On routes that used to see 737s you’re lucky to be on a Canadair RJ. And forget about 767’s on transcons. They’re now run with 737’s or A320’s. Empty seats? Not anymore!
Since 9/11 we’ve seen 70,000 jobs lost in the airline business.
On a recent trip to Cincinnati, the guy driving my cab told me he used to be an avionics repairman for Comair before they closed their hub there. He recounted a really sick joke: “What’s the difference between an airline pilot and a pizza? Well, a pizza can feed a family of four.”
Underpaid pilots work up to 14 hours while flight attendants, who make $17,000 a year to start (minimum wage), must endure endless abuse from justifiably outraged customers. But these customer-facing employees shouldn’t be blamed for managements’ decisions. Pilots, mechanics and stews keep seeing pay cuts while the management desk-jockeys give themselves bonuses.
And what happens to the passengers? We’re merely cattle.
Imagine my delight at the recent news that the US Dept of Transportation has fined three airlines $175,000 for last summer’s stranding of a jet filled with passengers, overflowing toilets and screaming babies for six hours on the tarmac after a weather-related diversion.
Continental and operator ExpressJet will ante up $100,000 and, for refusing to allow passengers to offload in Rochester MN, Mesaba Airlines will pay $75,000.
Though these kinds of horror stories of airline indifference seem to occur monthly, this is the first time airlines have been fined. And the Feds say it won’t be the last. But why these paltry fines and not a law?
The proposed Airline Passenger Bill of Rights is still languishing in Congress despite the lobbying efforts of FlyersRights.org organizer Kate Hanni. As she points out, the Geneva Convention grants better treatment to POW’s than the FAA affords human air travelers.
Here’s what the laws are asking for:
1) Essential services onboard: adequate food, water, HVAC and medical kits.
2) The right to deplane if your flight hasn’t taken off three hours after leaving the gate.
3) Creation of an air passenger complaint hotline at the DOT.
We’re not even talking about airlines a la carte pricing for checked bags, blankets and seat selection. Or whacking us with a $30 per ticket holiday surcharge, just because they can. This is basic stuff. Survival.
While waiting on lawmakers to do something for consumers, FlyersRights reminds travelers there are things they can do to protect themselves:
1) If you get bumped because of overbooking and are not offered compensation, protest. Federal law says if you’re delayed by one to four hours you are entitled to $400. For a two to four hour delay, double your ticket price up to $800. Traveling to Europe, up to $900.
2) Pack light so you can carry-on. But always bring three days worth of medicines.
3) If you must check your bags, weigh them at home and don’t trust the airline scales. A recent consumer agency sweep in NYC found 8% of scales tested were inaccurate.
4) Never pack valuables, fragile or electronic items. They may be broken or stolen. And don’t wrap holiday gifts or the TSA will make you unwrap them.
We may never return to the glamorous days of air travel when one dressed up for the flight. But I’d be happy with just a little leg room, a free can of soda and a little consideration when things get delayed. Is that so much to ask?
The airline business is in a tailspin. Airlines keep cutting air fares to hold market share while also cutting staff pay and, many fear, safety.
Their fleets are smaller and so too are the jets. On routes that used to see 737s you’re lucky to be on a Canadair RJ. And forget about 767’s on transcons. They’re now run with 737’s or A320’s. Empty seats? Not anymore!
Since 9/11 we’ve seen 70,000 jobs lost in the airline business.
On a recent trip to Cincinnati, the guy driving my cab told me he used to be an avionics repairman for Comair before they closed their hub there. He recounted a really sick joke: “What’s the difference between an airline pilot and a pizza? Well, a pizza can feed a family of four.”
Underpaid pilots work up to 14 hours while flight attendants, who make $17,000 a year to start (minimum wage), must endure endless abuse from justifiably outraged customers. But these customer-facing employees shouldn’t be blamed for managements’ decisions. Pilots, mechanics and stews keep seeing pay cuts while the management desk-jockeys give themselves bonuses.
And what happens to the passengers? We’re merely cattle.
Imagine my delight at the recent news that the US Dept of Transportation has fined three airlines $175,000 for last summer’s stranding of a jet filled with passengers, overflowing toilets and screaming babies for six hours on the tarmac after a weather-related diversion.
Continental and operator ExpressJet will ante up $100,000 and, for refusing to allow passengers to offload in Rochester MN, Mesaba Airlines will pay $75,000.
Though these kinds of horror stories of airline indifference seem to occur monthly, this is the first time airlines have been fined. And the Feds say it won’t be the last. But why these paltry fines and not a law?
The proposed Airline Passenger Bill of Rights is still languishing in Congress despite the lobbying efforts of FlyersRights.org organizer Kate Hanni. As she points out, the Geneva Convention grants better treatment to POW’s than the FAA affords human air travelers.
Here’s what the laws are asking for:
1) Essential services onboard: adequate food, water, HVAC and medical kits.
2) The right to deplane if your flight hasn’t taken off three hours after leaving the gate.
3) Creation of an air passenger complaint hotline at the DOT.
We’re not even talking about airlines a la carte pricing for checked bags, blankets and seat selection. Or whacking us with a $30 per ticket holiday surcharge, just because they can. This is basic stuff. Survival.
While waiting on lawmakers to do something for consumers, FlyersRights reminds travelers there are things they can do to protect themselves:
1) If you get bumped because of overbooking and are not offered compensation, protest. Federal law says if you’re delayed by one to four hours you are entitled to $400. For a two to four hour delay, double your ticket price up to $800. Traveling to Europe, up to $900.
2) Pack light so you can carry-on. But always bring three days worth of medicines.
3) If you must check your bags, weigh them at home and don’t trust the airline scales. A recent consumer agency sweep in NYC found 8% of scales tested were inaccurate.
4) Never pack valuables, fragile or electronic items. They may be broken or stolen. And don’t wrap holiday gifts or the TSA will make you unwrap them.
We may never return to the glamorous days of air travel when one dressed up for the flight. But I’d be happy with just a little leg room, a free can of soda and a little consideration when things get delayed. Is that so much to ask?
November 15, 2009
The MTA's Really Big Dig
We all know what happened when Boston decided to bury its downtown elevated interstate highway, known as the central artery. What was intended to be a seven-year, $2.5 billion project became a ten-year, $14.6 billion engineering nightmare.
Well, heads up fellow commuters and taxpayers! New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, (parent of Metro-North) has similar designs on our beloved Grand Central. Nicknamed the “East Side Access” project, the goal is to bring the Long Island Railroad into Grand Central.
The plan would use the lower level of the already built 63rd Street subway tunnel, allowing some LIRR trains from Queens to enter Manhattan and then follow a new, very deep tunnel under existing Metro-North tracks beneath Park Avenue. Trains would terminate 14 stories under Grand Central on eight tracks with up to 24 trains arriving per hour. Exiting passengers… an estimated 162,000 per day (compared with the 115,000 who arrive and depart from Connecticut)… would be whisked upward on high speed escalators, to the west side of GCT, into an underground concourse complex stretching from 43rd to 48th streets.
Estimated cost for the project… $8 billion… about the same as rebuilding the entire World Trade Center complex. Actual cost, factoring in inevitable delays (they’re already a year behind schedule), cost over-runs and typical under-estimation by politically sensitive designers… who knows, maybe double that? And for what gain?
The only reason for the East Side Access project is to give LIRR riders better access to midtown. Is the subway ride connection from Penn Station to GCT really all that bad? Imagine what we could do with $8 billion to improve commuter rail service in the tri-state region.
What would an almost doubling of passengers in GCT (by adding LIRR to existing Metro-North riders) mean for Connecticut commuters? Well, if you think the station’s crowded now, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. And just imagine the already jam-packed Lexington Avenue subway station with even more riders!
The currently under-utilized GCT would quickly be maxed out for trains and platforms, making much-needed expansion of service to Connecticut a real problem.
True, diverting some LIRR trains into GCT might free-up “slots” in Penn Station for Metro-North trains (which would travel there by way of the Hell Gate bridge), but don’t count on it, what with New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and LIRR also vying for more trains in Penn Station.
If all of this concerns you, don’t get your knickers in a knot. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. The money’s already been appropriated and the project should be finished in 2015.
What role did Connecticut play in this boondoggle? Zero… nada… zilch. New York’s MTA didn’t ask our opinion or seek our approval. Though Connecticut Dept. of Transportation is Metro-North’s biggest customer, our state still has no seat, no vote and no say on the MTA or Metro-North Boards. Governor Rell said she’d change that, but never did.
Connecticut commuters pay the bills and New York’s MTA calls the tune, building a really “big dig” that benefits Long Island but penalizes us. What’s wrong with this picture?
Editor’s Note: For more info on the East Side Access project, see http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/capconstr/esas/index.html
Well, heads up fellow commuters and taxpayers! New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, or MTA, (parent of Metro-North) has similar designs on our beloved Grand Central. Nicknamed the “East Side Access” project, the goal is to bring the Long Island Railroad into Grand Central.
The plan would use the lower level of the already built 63rd Street subway tunnel, allowing some LIRR trains from Queens to enter Manhattan and then follow a new, very deep tunnel under existing Metro-North tracks beneath Park Avenue. Trains would terminate 14 stories under Grand Central on eight tracks with up to 24 trains arriving per hour. Exiting passengers… an estimated 162,000 per day (compared with the 115,000 who arrive and depart from Connecticut)… would be whisked upward on high speed escalators, to the west side of GCT, into an underground concourse complex stretching from 43rd to 48th streets.
Estimated cost for the project… $8 billion… about the same as rebuilding the entire World Trade Center complex. Actual cost, factoring in inevitable delays (they’re already a year behind schedule), cost over-runs and typical under-estimation by politically sensitive designers… who knows, maybe double that? And for what gain?
The only reason for the East Side Access project is to give LIRR riders better access to midtown. Is the subway ride connection from Penn Station to GCT really all that bad? Imagine what we could do with $8 billion to improve commuter rail service in the tri-state region.
What would an almost doubling of passengers in GCT (by adding LIRR to existing Metro-North riders) mean for Connecticut commuters? Well, if you think the station’s crowded now, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. And just imagine the already jam-packed Lexington Avenue subway station with even more riders!
The currently under-utilized GCT would quickly be maxed out for trains and platforms, making much-needed expansion of service to Connecticut a real problem.
True, diverting some LIRR trains into GCT might free-up “slots” in Penn Station for Metro-North trains (which would travel there by way of the Hell Gate bridge), but don’t count on it, what with New Jersey Transit, Amtrak and LIRR also vying for more trains in Penn Station.
If all of this concerns you, don’t get your knickers in a knot. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. The money’s already been appropriated and the project should be finished in 2015.
What role did Connecticut play in this boondoggle? Zero… nada… zilch. New York’s MTA didn’t ask our opinion or seek our approval. Though Connecticut Dept. of Transportation is Metro-North’s biggest customer, our state still has no seat, no vote and no say on the MTA or Metro-North Boards. Governor Rell said she’d change that, but never did.
Connecticut commuters pay the bills and New York’s MTA calls the tune, building a really “big dig” that benefits Long Island but penalizes us. What’s wrong with this picture?
Editor’s Note: For more info on the East Side Access project, see http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/capconstr/esas/index.html
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