"Getting There" - China Leads The World

Which is the number one country in the world for transportation?  Certainly not the United States.  Not even countries in the EU.  No, you have to look farther east, as Marco Polo did in 1271, to find the future… in China.

I’m so tired of ignorant Americans chanting “we’re number one”, when we are not.  Not in healthcare, education and clearly not when it comes to using transportation to bolster our world trade.

Compare our crumbling interstate highway system, much of it built during the Eisenhower administration, to China’s superhighways, twice the mileage of our own.

Or look at our decaying railroads versus the 15,000 miles of high speed rail on the Chinese mainland, making Amtrak’s Acela look like a toy train (145 mph vs. 220 mph, one train for 300 passengers per hour vs. China’s 1000 passenger trains departing every 15 minutes).

We keep hearing of the Trump administration’s plans for rebuilding our infrastructure, but nothing ever comes of it.  We pay lip service to that crucial investment but never appropriate it as the priority it should be.

Meanwhile, China keeps spending $300 billion a year on its roads, rails and ports… much of that money coming from bargain-loving American consumers. Crucially, part of that investment is focusing overseas, creating a new Silk Road to markets in Europe and Africa.

Beijing has promised $8 trillion in loans to developing countries to build deep water ports and rail terminals to service China’s 1000+ container ships delivering its products overseas.  Compare that to the US’s merchant marine fleet, just 175 American owned vessels.

China has invested heavily in the port city of Gwadar Pakistan, linked to western China by rail.  And in the tiny African nation of Djibouti, positioned strategically at the mouth of the Red Sea, China not only built and owns the super-port there but has established its first overseas military base there with 400 troops.

Djibouti itself is just a toe-hold in Africa, but the port is connected by a Chinese-built railroad to nearby land-locked Ethiopia, one of the wealthier countries in Africa and anxious to acquire Chinese-made products.

Of course, China is only doing what other empire-building countries like Great Britain and the US did in the past, issuing loans to countries that they’ll never be able to repay while providing lucrative markets for their products… kind of a lose-lose situation for the debtor markets.  When Pakistan and Djibouti can’t repay those Chinese loans, use your imagination to guess what they’ll have to give up instead.

To protect those Chinese-built ports and megaships, China’s People’s Liberation Navy is enjoying rapid growth, soon to rival the US Navy’s capabilities in the Pacific.  By 2030 they will have 530 warships and submarines.

Even the land route from China to Europe is being revived with rail.  There are now three trains a day departing the industrial and technology hub at Xian traveling Marco Polo’s old route west through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Georgia carrying containers filled with electronics and textiles.

The transcontinental journey takes about two weeks but is cheaper than air and faster than shipping.  It’s not a bullet train, just efficient low cost transportation through 60 countries with 5 billion potential customers.

So while the Trump administration battles China with tariffs and empty rhetoric (like calling COVID-19 “Kung Flu”), the Chinese leadership is playing the long game. 

We are not only getting outspent by Beijing, but outsmarted.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

"Getting There" - Racial Justice on the Railroads

In the history of American transportation, there is one crucial intersection between railroads and civil rights:  the formation in 1925 of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car porters by A. Phillip Randolph.  This was the first predominantly African-American labor union in the US.

PULLMAN CARS

It was in 1859 that George Pullman launched the first deluxe railroad sleeping cars bearing his name.  They were an instant hit, offering middle and upper-class passengers the comforts of home.

All of the Pullman Car conductors were white but the porters who tended to the passengers were black.  Many of them were former slaves as Pullman theorized they would be used to the subservient roles of lugging baggage, making up the sleeping berths and serving the white passengers’ every whim.

After they retired for the night, passengers would place their shoes in a small compartment accessible from the corridor where the porters would retrieve and shine them.

LONG HOURS, LOW PAY

Pullman’s porters had to be on call 20 hours a day, serving passengers and tending to boardings at intermediate stations

Porters worked 400 hours per month with their time off being uncompensated.  They had to pay for their own uniforms, meals and shoe shine kits.  Between runs, even away from home, they paid for their own lodging. The hours they spent before and after each trip preparing and cleaning the car were also unpaid.

In 1926 the average porter earned $72 a month in wages and averaged $58 a month in tips.  In contrast, Pullman’s white conductors (who had a union) earned $150 for a 240 hour month, plus benefits and a pension.

Still, Pullman’s black porters made a good income compared to others, allowing many to enter the middle class in railroad hub cities like Chicago and St Louis.

NO RESPECT

As one historian put it, a Pullman porter had the best job in his community and the worst job on the train.  There was no room for promotion.

Passengers often referred to Pullman porters by demeaning names like “boy”, or “George”, applying the first name of the cars’ owner.

UNIONIZATION

In 1925 A. Phillip Randolph started organizing The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters under the rallying cry “Fight or be slaves”.  It took a decade of court battles and the threat of a national strike before the union was recognized in 1937, giving porters a big wage hike and a 240 hour per month work schedule.

Randolph and others in the Brotherhood went on to become leaders of the civil rights movement.  One porter, Edgar D. Nixon, helped organize the Montgomery Alabama bus boycott after Rosa Parks’ arrest in 1955.  While Nixon was working the rails he had a young minister assist in that battle… Martin Luther King Jr.

Among other famous Pullman porters were future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, activist Malcolm X and photographer Gordon Parks.

By the 1950’s train service was in decline and in 1959 Pullman closed up its sleeping car business.  Some porters went on to work with the legacy railroads and a few were still around when Amtrak took over.

In 1995 a museum dedicated to Randolph and his work for the Pullman porters was opened in Chicago in one of the original row houses George Pullman constructed as worker housing at his plant.  The museum is now collecting the names and histories of past porters and their descendants to celebrate Randolph’s contribution to black history 

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

"Getting There" - Where's The Legislature?

Where the heck has the Connecticut legislature been for the past few months?  With so many pressing issues, why haven’t they met?

Oh, they’ll tell you it’s because of safety that they couldn’t convene. But we know better.  Plenty of state legislatures… even the US House of Representatives… have carried on the people’s business virtually or well-masked while our pols went AWOL.

No, Connecticut’s lawmakers finished the budget and just scurried home, leaving the running of the state to Governor Lamont by executive order.  Now they’re jealous of his success.

Ned Lamont is no Andrew Cuomo, but most Nutmeggers think he’s done a pretty good job as his poll ratings have never been higher: 78% of respondents in a recent Q Poll said he was doing a good job handling the pandemic.

So now our legislators are saying they’ve been left out?  Seasoned members of the House tell me their leadership “ceded governing” to Lamont while others told me, “I’m anxious to come back.  I shake hands for a living”.  Well, not anymore.

Not that legislators haven’t been busy.  Doubtless your State Rep and Senator’s been filling your social media feed with pictures of them passing out face masks, gathering donations for food drives and dining al fresco to help local business. 

And your mailbox is doubtless stuffed with their long, anguished e-letters about “living in extraordinary times” and “adapting to the new normal”.  They talk about helping constituents navigating the state’s bureaucracy, which is their job.

All that’s super.  But what about fulfilling their real responsibility… making laws?

Having quarantined, done their volunteer photo-ops and social media updates, now, finally, they’re ready to get back to their work.

BEWARE THE IMPLEMENTER

Sometime this month our lawmakers will return to Hartford for a quick session but one fraught with danger… not to their health, but to the public good.   They’re going to meet, debate and vote on “the Implementer”.

You see, after a bill becomes law, legislators must “implement” it to make it go into effect.  Easy stuff… if that’s all they do.

But instead, The Implementer may become a giant Christmas tree, laden with special bills, good and bad, taken in one up-or-down, all-or-nothing vote.  Some of these “emergency certified” bills have had hearings, but most have not.  Why slow up the lawmaking process by actually engaging the public?

Worse yet, in this hyperspeed law-making process, many lawmakers aren’t even given time to read, let alone understand, what they are voting on.  Leaders just deliver a 500-page document that they then must vote on in 48 hours.

Think of all the topics these lawmakers played hookey on for the past three months:  sports betting, vaccine mandates, absentee ballot reform, police accountability and, yes, transportation investment.

Lawmakers didn’t have the guts to vote on tolls.  So why rush through these crucial issue now instead of waiting ‘til the next session?

Should our elected representatives vote on these issues in just 48 hours without putting these “ill-conceived, poorly drafted, and hastily reviewed” bills (as one Republican called them) through the usual committee review, public hearing and debate process?  I think not.

Even if we agree on the need for some of these measures, shouldn’t they all be reviewed and voted on separately, not force-fed as an all-or-nothing “dog’s breakfast” (as one veteran described it to me)?

However well-intentioned, the end does not justify the means.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

"Getting There" - The Cranky Commuter

Call me a curmudgeon, but I’m getting cranky about transportation these days.  For example:

FACE MASKS:

Why is it so hard for train and subway passengers to wear a face mask?  Does the MTA really need to do a PSA campaign (with pictures!) showing that a mask around your neck or not covering your nose and mouth isn’t protecting anyone?  Apparently so.  Non-compliant passengers are either stupid or uncaring, or both.

Here’s the solution:  just like the old days when Metro-North had smoking and non-smoking cars, let’s have masked and unmasked cars.  Let the unmasked idiots ride together, get sick and stop commuting, freeing up more space for the rest of us.

THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT

The LIRR has a nifty new app that riders can use to see which cars on their train are crowded and which ones aren’t, encouraging social distancing.  If Metro-North really cares about social distancing, bring that app to our trains, now.

COFFEE, TEA OR NOTHING?

The airlines say they want us to fly again, but they’re doing little to make us feel safe.  They proclaim that passengers should wear face masks, but they don’t enforce the rule.  They say they’ll keep middle seats empty, but don’t.  They can sanitize each plane ‘til the cows come home but it won’t protect us from one unmasked, asymptomatic bozo.

Now the airlines have suspended drink and food service, instead handing out plastic bags with small bottles of water and a few snacks… but no booze.  Passengers can BYO food, but not alcohol.  I guess the airport bars, if they’re open, will be really busy as passengers self-medicate before their next flight.

TRAFFIC & TRUCKS:

As I predicted, as New York City opens up commuters are opting for the relative safety of their own cars instead of taking the train.  That means traffic on our highways is building again, approaching pre-pandemic levels of congestion. 

Meantime, where are the Connecticut State Police?  Why are trucks driving faster, often in the left hand lane, with impunity?  And why does I-95 sound like a speedway at night, with muscle cars and motorcycles defying the speed limit and common sense as they treat the interstate like a drag strip?

AMTRAK CUTS

There’s good news (some) and bad (lots of it) about Amtrak.

On-time performance is getting so good that some trains are arriving ahead of schedule.  That shows how padded the old timetable has been.

The other good news is that Amtrak’s next generation of Acela is undergoing testing and should be in service by 2021.  Too bad there won’t be any passengers to ride them.

Though train service from Washington to Boston is slowly returning, ridership is not.  At least not yet, especially in other parts of the country.  So the railroad has announced it is cutting daily service to just three days a week on long distance runs outside of the northeast, starting October 1st. 

My rail fan friends are going nuts over the announcement, but to me this makes sense.  If there’s no ridership, why run shorter but still near-empty trains?  While the Northeast Corridor trains used to come close to turning a profit, the long distance trains have always been a money loser.  So in tight times, let’s prioritize and put the trains where the passengers are.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

"Getting There" - What Does On-Time Really Mean?

You’re on a Metro-North train headed for Grand Central, nervously looking at your watch.  “Will we be on time?  Will I be late for the meeting?” you ask yourself as you pass 125^th Street, usually just 11 minutes from the final stop.

Then, you hit congestion and the train crawls through the Park Avenue tunnel, stopping and starting.  You’re going to be late, and sure enough your train pulls onto the lower level platform five minutes after the scheduled arrival time.

But technically, your train is not late.  It’s on time.

How?  Why?  What feat of magic does Metro-North use to claim that train isn’t late?  Well, it’s just S.O.P.:  standard operating practice.

If a train arrives within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its schedule, Metro-North… and most other North American railroads… consider it to be “on time”. 

Given a running time to GCT from CT of anywhere from 57 minutes (from Stamford)  to 2+ hours (from New Haven), a 5:59 margin of error is worth 5 – 10% on an average trip.  Wouldn’t we all like to be given that kind of margin of error in evaluating our work?

But Metro-North looks like a Swiss timepiece for OTP compared to Amtrak. Their standards for “on time” vary with the length of the trip:  up to 250 miles, the railroad gets a 10 min leeway.  But on longer runs, say from Chicago to California, their trains get a 30 minute leeway.

Trust me, land-cruises on trains like the California Zephyr and Southwest Chief are almost never, ever on time, even with a heavily padded schedule.  In June 2019 the Sunset Ltd from LA to New Orleans was on time less than 10% of the time.

It’s not uncommon for long distance to trains to arrive hours, even days, late due to weather, freight traffic or track conditions.  Quite justifiably, Amtrak passes the blame for these delays to the freight railroads over which all trains outside of the Northeast must run.

There have been major court cases about what priority the “host (freight) railroad” must give Amtrak’s trains, and so far the nation’s passenger railroad has come out on the losing end as the freight operators prioritize lucrative cargo over grumbling humans.

But between Washington and Boston, Amtrak owns the tracks (except for the 56 mile Connecticut portion from Greenwich to New Haven) so they’re in much more control of their operations and won’t get stuck behind coal and oil trains.

Of course, all of this pales in comparison to real railroading countries like Japan and Switzerland where you can set you watch, be it a Casio or Patek Philippe, by the trains’ arrival and departure.

Years ago I was at a small station in rural Switzerland waiting for a train to Zurich and was chatting, in my pretty-good French, with the platform conductor asking him if the train was going to be on time.  “But of course, monsieur” he said, “to the minute!”

I tried to explain to him about Metro-North and Amtrak’s margin of error and he just looked at me like I was crazy.  “That is not a railroad,” he said.  “This is an on-time railroad,” he proclaimed as my train arrived, to the second!

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

"Getting There" - HOW SAFE IS THE TRAIN ?

As New York City businesses reopens it’s expected that one million people will get back to work, some of them from Connecticut.  But how they get to those jobs is the big question.

While I’ve written for weeks that I expect many Nutmeggers will opt first for their personal automobiles, the resulting traffic mess will soon have them reconsidering a return to Metro-North and the city’s subways.

The big issue, of course, is keeping everyone safe by maintaining social distancing and requiring face masks for all riders.

MORE TRAINS & SUBWAYS

Metro-North has already expanded rush hour service by 26% over their scaled-back “essential service” levels.  They’re also keeping 14 train sets strategically placed along the system to quickly add service if crowding occurs.  Railroad President Catherine Rinaldi says the new timetable coming out June 15th will further expand rush hour service.

The MTA’s 6400 subway trains and 4700 buses will be back to full service to minimize crowding.  Transit advocates are encouraging New York City to add more express bus lanes, minimizing travel times (and exposure) for passengers.

Fares are still being collected on all Metro-North trains, but only off-peak fares, even in rush hours.  But you must have a pre-bought ticket or smartphone no app… no cash is accepted.

On New York City buses, all boarding will be by rear doors, so no fares will be collected.

KEEPING IT CLEAN

For many weeks now the commuter trains, subways and buses have been undergoing daily disinfection as workers wipe down all surfaces, handrails and touch points.

The MTA’s new Innovation Officer, Mark Dowd, has also been experimenting with portable UV light systems to blast the virus from subway interiors.  It takes about 15 minutes to disinfect each train with the UV, meaning the entire fleet can be treated in a day.

After the UV treatment all surfaces are treated with a biocide coating which can kill the virus for days or weeks.   Dowd says if the system proves successful it will be brought to Metro-North by July.

Air filters on all trains and buses will be changed more frequently, but they aren’t fine enough to capture tiny airborne viruses.  So ventilation will be a major concern especially as ridership increases.  That’s why face masks are so important.

THE FACE MASK CULTURE

In crowded Japan commuters have worn face masks for over a century, some because they may be ill and, being considerate, don’t want to infect others.  It’s just part of their culture and will probably part of ours, going forward.

On Metro-North face masks have been required for several weeks.  On the city’s subways, 4000 volunteer MTA workers will be handing out face masks to those who don’t have them.  Hand sanitizer dispensers will be available throughout the system.

But even with a mask and sanitizer, keeping a safe six-feet from fellow passengers will be nearly impossible.  That’s why employers are being asked to stagger work hours, avoiding the arrive-by-9 and leave-at-5 crush. 

Will riders come back?  Metro-North President Rinaldi told me “it will take years, if ever” for ridership to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Is it safe to ride Metro-North?  I think so.  Properly masked and gloved, I wouldn’t hesitate to get back on the train.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media

"Getting There" - A Passport to the Suburbs

When COVID-19 hit us this spring, more than just our normal rail commuting patterns were disrupted.  One young entrepreneur’s business simply imploded… but now he’s coming back, stronger than before.

Joe Colangelo is founder and CEO of Boxcar, the NJ-based company that bills itself as the “Air B&B of parking,” matching commuters with empty parking spots near train stations in Stamford, Darien, New Canaan and Stratford.  Before COVID-19 his business was red hot.  But by early March he knew it was doomed as people stopped commuting and demand for parking evaporated.

“We’re lucky our business fell 100%,” he told me.  “It forced us to try new things. I’m not the smartest guy in the world but I can figure out what people need.”

And what they needed by mid-March was food.  So Boxcar partnered with local produce distributors that were hurting because their restaurant clients were shut down, and developed a contact-less food box drive-thru service.  For $50 you could drive to a local parking lot, pop your trunk and have a big box of fruits, veg, milk and eggs placed in your trunk.

Boxcar is now doing 1000 food boxes a week in six NJ counties and gaining hundreds of new subscribers, building their database.  They’ve recently added fresh oysters from the Hamptons, do-it-yourself pizza kits and even Mother’s Day cupcakes made by a local baker who’d otherwise lost his business.

Now other service industries are asking Boxcar to market their work, like at-your- home car detailing and landscaping.

“They handle their expertise and we do what we do best, the tech and the customer service,” says Colangelo.

His latest family-friendly offering is drive-in movies.  Even before New Jersey’s governor had allowed them, Colangelo used his municipal contacts to develop a plan so when the state said “OK”, he sold out his bookings in one hour.

Boxcar hires the AV company to set up their gear.  The $25 per car is split 50-50 with the movie studio, and up to 200 families get to enjoy a “night out.”  So successful has his plan been that 70 towns in the tri-state area are asking him to bring the drive-in concept to their residents.

During all of this business transition Boxcar hasn’t had a single layoff.  In fact, they’ve added staff, given everyone a raise and are still profitable.

“Expanding beyond commuter parking was always part of my long-term plan,” says the former US Navy officer turned Booz Allen Hamilton consultant.  So in a way, he’s grateful that the pandemic accelerated his plans.

“What I’m looking for is points of friction.  People are leaving the city for the suburbs, but that comes with challenges,” he says.  “That’s what we want to help them solve.  We see Boxcar as a ‘passport to the suburbs’.”

Colangelo still has hope for his commuting clientele.  He’s getting a lot of requests now from Fortune 500 companies seeking van pools for their city-bound employees, not just to avoid mass transit but for safety and contact tracing.

“Our software knows exactly who is on every van every day.  So if anyone gets sick, we can immediately notify everyone they came in contact with.  You can’t do that on mass transit,” says Colangelo.

“I’m desperate for a reason to be bullish on mass transit,” he laments.  “But right now I just don’t see any.”

Nor do I, Joe.

Posted with permission of Hearst CT Media