Influencing the rail advocacy groups

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CHamilton

Engineer
AU Supporting Member
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I guess that this is the appropriate place to name names and do some politicking. (I hope this post doesn't run afoul of the guidelines, but figured it would be worth a try.)

First, a big shout-out to the AU members who participate in rail advocacy organizations, and who make their opinions known in other places beyond AU. These are the ones that I remember offhand: please help me add the folks I'm missing.

  • AlanB spends a lot of time commenting and replying to misinformation about rail-related issues in the press, not to mention his work on AU and OTOL.
  • jis is a very active member of the New Jersey and New York rail advocacy groups.
  • rrdude is the former head of the Texas group.
  • Occasional poster No.6 works for NARP, and is deeply involved in helping that organization become more relevant.
  • And I help the Washington and Oregon organizations with their social media efforts, and am beginning work on their websites. In addition, I manage and host the rail-related sites shown in my sig.
Anyone who has been involved with NARP (as I have since 1979) has no illusions about its strengths and weaknesses. (I could go on and on, but won't do so here.) But NARP is, for better or worse, the best passenger rail advocacy tool we have, so it's time to improve its relevance.

The NARP Council is its representative body. A couple of AUers are running for seats on the Council this spring, and I would encourage the NARP members among this group to consider voting for us.

  • Anderson (William "Cliff" Dunn) is running for the Council from Virginia.
  • I (Charles Hamilton) am running for an at-large Council seat.
Am I missing anyone?
 
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It is very very important to get young blood (in spirit if not physical age) into the NARP Council. One of NARP's biggest problems is too much old thinking sitting their blocking progress IMHO of course.

I would really like to see NARP aggressively push for implementation of the PIPs. We have not heard a peep from NARP on that matter.Ideally, NARP should be maintaing a PIP scorecard and scoring Amtrak actively on its progress or lack thereof. But unfortunately, NARP seldom holds Amtrak's feet to fire for anything. That has got to change. It needs to become a so called "loyal opposition" not just a "lapdog marketing tool".

BTW, any of you planning to go to the NARP shindig in Washington DC including the Day on Capitol Hill this year (late in April)? I am planning to be there.
 
It is very very important to get young blood (in spirit if not physical age) into the NARP Council. One of NARP's biggest problems is too much old thinking sitting their blocking progress IMHO of course.

I would really like to see NARP aggressively push for implementation of the PIPs. We have not heard a peep from NARP on that matter.Ideally, NARP should be maintaing a PIP scorecard and scoring Amtrak actively on its progress or lack thereof. But unfortunately, NARP seldom holds Amtrak's feet to fire for anything. That has got to change. It needs to become a so called "loyal opposition" not just a "lapdog marketing tool".

BTW, any of you planning to go to the NARP shindig in Washington DC including the Day on Capitol Hill this year (late in April)? I am planning to be there.
Thanks, jis, I agree. And yes, both Cliff and I are planning to attend the NARP event in April. See you there!
 
Great idea for a topic.

When/how is the election?

Another good thought for this forum is upcoming meetings of NARP and the various advocacy groups. In addition to the April event, the NARP Mid-Atlantic meeting is on Saturday 22 March. I would imagine that a few AU'ers will be there.
 
ESPA's Annual Meeting is in Schenctady on 1 March. Unfortunately I won't be able to go to it though I am registered for it. I just learned that I need to fly out to Portland OR that weekend to attend a Memorial gathering for my Ph. D. adviser who passed away around Thanksgiving.

See:

http://www.esparail.org/index.php/content/2014_annual_meeting

for full information.
 
I would really like to see NARP aggressively push for implementation of the PIPs. We have not heard a peep from NARP on that matter.Ideally, NARP should be maintaing a PIP scorecard and scoring Amtrak actively on its progress or lack thereof.
Just for the possibly existing group of readers not familiar with that abbreviation: What does PIP stand for? And what exactly should this PIP scorecard look like? Can you possibly give a concrete example?
 
Performance Improvement Plan.

They're on Amtrak's website, you should go read them. They lay out specific improvements that can be made. The report card would evaluate Amtrak on how well they're implementing those improvements.
 
Performance Improvement Plan.

They're on Amtrak's website, you should go read them. They lay out specific improvements that can be made. The report card would evaluate Amtrak on how well they're implementing those improvements.
While I wouldn't necessarily call Amtrak's website a labyrinth, it can be a bit tedious navigating around it.

Here's the page where the PIPs are listed.
 
It is very very important to get young blood (in spirit if not physical age) into the NARP Council. One of NARP's biggest problems is too much old thinking sitting their blocking progress IMHO of course.

I would really like to see NARP aggressively push for implementation of the PIPs. We have not heard a peep from NARP on that matter.Ideally, NARP should be maintaing a PIP scorecard and scoring Amtrak actively on its progress or lack thereof.
I'm not actually sure how one "holds Amtrak's feet to the fire" on most things. Congress can, but Congressmembers seem incapable of the detail-level thinking and nuance necessary to do anything this specific properly. (Or, more fairly, they can't bother themselves with it when more important things are afoot.)

Most times I've seen a rail pressure group try to pressure for something detailed, it hasn't actually worked. (NJ-ARP has been notably unsuccessful; RailPAC even less successful.) The exceptions are usually extremely *locally* based groups, which can manage to get a set of local mayors (etc.) backing a project, which can eventually get something done. I suppose that means that for each recommendation in the PIPs we would have to assemble a local pressure group for it. The trouble is that the people who benefit from (for instance) the Capitol Limited / LSL PIP proposals are a rather geographically diffuse group.

In short, I'm not at all sure what the correct approach forward is, speaking in broadly political / lobbying terms. For something like "Get Chicago to maintain the trains properly and turn them on time!", we might be able to do something with national advocacy, because this is pointing out something which Amtrak management is obviously already embarassed by, and which other Amtrak departments are getting annoyed by. For something like the LSL rescheduling, I'm not currently seeing a sensible way to use outside pressure and I'm not sure it'll help.
 
I am not sure that anyone can directly do anything about the Chicago situation from outside. If the Amtrak Board cannot fix Amtrak managerial incompetence, then we are all screwed anyway. But I think shining a bright light on the inaction on the PIPs could be a useful thing to do if it comes from a body like NARP. NARP has taken up the cause of Sunset East, but for incomprehensible reasons, has chosen to completely ignore the PIPs which at least in some sense have a better chance of seeing the light of the day since most are much less expensive a proposition and with large potential returns when compared to Sunset East.

BTW, whatever makes you think that Amtrak management is embarrassed by anything? Just curious. If they are so embarrassed where is any sign of any action to address said embarrassment. Yes Stadler saying that "We have failed" is a good start, but something else needs to happen after that IMHO. I am waiting with baited breath.....
 
You're not going to see much public evidence any time soon of efforts to fix the Chicago problems if they are what we currently suspect they are. One method involves accumulating dossiers over time and works better with a certain amount of stealth on the part of management. The other involves setting up shops in other cities and has a very long lead time.

Stadtler saying "We have failed" is a very good sign of embarrassment.
 
I don't know why NARP is ignoring the PIPs. I don't think NARP pushing for implementation of the PIPs will help them get implemented, at all...

... but it would be more useful than the quixotic campaigns to restore Sunset East or to maintain the Raton Pass route, so you have a point there.

Heck, if I were involved with running NARP, I'd already be saying "We want to make sure that the rerouted Southwest Chief can run as fast as possible and will stop in downtown Wichita and downtown Amarillo". I'm sure you can think of internal political reasons why this isn't happening at NARP.
 
Performance Improvement Plan.

They're on Amtrak's website, you should go read them. They lay out specific improvements that can be made. The report card would evaluate Amtrak on how well they're implementing those improvements.
While I wouldn't necessarily call Amtrak's website a labyrinth, it can be a bit tedious navigating around it.

Here's the page where the PIPs are listed.
jerichowhiskey, and RyanS, thank you very much. I thought that's what PIP stood for, still I did not read any of those PIP reports before. After reading the 2012 one, it seems to me that those "initiatives" for every route are only very minor improvements. Also minor improvements seem to matter. It appears to me though that it could be just as important to chase the big improvements, lobbying for additional funding for Amtrak as well as high-speed rail or commuter rail / rapid transit / light rail / streetcar projects.

While being aware of the current political situation in Washington D.C, still some observers might wonder, in case a small country like Switzerland is able to set up a permanent funding mechanism to provide circa 5.57 billion US$ annually solely for inter-city rail (local rail systems like metros or trams have separate, different funding mechanism there), why wouldn't a way bigger country, actually the richest country on earth, not be able to (instead of just the 1.4 billion US$ in Amtrak subsidies) possibly provide a permanent federal funding mechanism with 5.57 billion US$ annually for at least a common fund for inter-city rail (so Amtrak long-distance) as well as federal contributions to local systems combined, if not setting up two separate mechanisms like that?
 
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Nathanael, on 10 Feb 2014 - 6:11 PM, said:
I don't know why NARP is ignoring the PIPs. I don't think NARP pushing for implementation of the PIPs will help them get implemented, at all...

... but it would be more useful than the quixotic campaigns to restore Sunset East or to maintain the Raton Pass route, so you have a point there.

Heck, if I were involved with running NARP, I'd already be saying "We want to make sure that the rerouted Southwest Chief can run as fast as possible and will stop in downtown Wichita and downtown Amarillo". I'm sure you can think of internal political reasons why this isn't happening at NARP.
One of the underlying reasons I've heard is that NARP is membership-driven and that some of these campaigns are very popular among the membership. In particular, I suspect the Sunset East has a lot of support as a pet project in the Southeast.
 
I guess that this is the appropriate place to name names and do some politicking. (I hope this post doesn't run afoul of the guidelines, but figured it would be worth a try.)

First, a big shout-out to the AU members who participate in rail advocacy organizations, and who make their opinions known in other places beyond AU. These are the ones that I remember offhand: please help me add the folks I'm missing.

  • AlanB spends a lot of time commenting and replying to misinformation about rail-related issues in the press, not to mention his work on AU and OTOL.
  • jis is a very active member of the New Jersey and New York rail advocacy groups.
  • rrdude is the former head of the Texas group.
  • Occasional poster No.6 works for NARP, and is deeply involved in helping that organization become more relevant.
  • And I help the Washington and Oregon organizations with their social media efforts, and am beginning work on their websites. In addition, I manage and host the rail-related sites shown in my sig.
Anyone who has been involved with NARP (as I have since 1979) has no illusions about its strengths and weaknesses. (I could go on and on, but won't do so here.) But NARP is, for better or worse, the best passenger rail advocacy tool we have, so it's time to improve its relevance.

The NARP Council is its representative body. A couple of AUers are running for seats on the Council this spring, and I would encourage the NARP members among this group to consider voting for us.

  • Anderson (William "Cliff" Dunn) is running for the Council from Virginia.
  • I (Charles Hamilton) am running for an at-large Council seat.
Am I missing anyone?
Me -- I'm a member of WisARP, the Wisconsin chapter of NARP. I've testified at State DOT meetings. I've also manned the booth at various public events.
 
ESPA's Annual Meeting is in Schenctady on 1 March.
*Sigh* -- again I'm not going to make it. Maybe next year I'll go.
One of the severe problems is that for those of us in *poorly served* areas to get to the meetings, we have to drive for a couple of hours minimum (possibly much more). And being rail advocates, you can imagine what we think of that...

It's worth noting that ESPA's remarkably non-computer-savvy, with it not being possible to register or pay over the computer, which really should be fixed -- I can renew my NARP membership online, but not ESPA.

While I do know *how* to set up online payments, I am nobody's first choice for a website maintainer (my schedule is far too erratic to trust me with it). I wish I knew someone I could shanghai into doing it, but I don't.

Anyway, this raises a point which I've been thinking about. Rail advocates in areas unserved by rail may have some serious problems reaching meetings, and may have little luck organizing locally due to the total absence of any rail service of any kind locally (out of sight, out of mind).

And then, even if they do organize and even get local government support (Scranton!), they seem to be stymied by the intergovernmental issues. I don't know where to start with breaking this sort of logjam.

It was mentioned that NARP may be pushing for ideas popular among the membership. I'm not at all sure this is really the membership as a whole. I suspect NARP is driven by the portion of the membership who manages to get to the meetings and events, which is going to be biased towards areas with existing service, and in the areas with no rail service will be biased towards the nostalgic. The rather old-school style of the organization discourages online involvement, and the same is true of ESPA.

Not that there's anything wrong with meetings and events.
 
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