Pacific Surfliner & San Joaquin Transfer to Local Control

[rickycourtney]

It's a bit inside baseball, but I've been closely following this for years now...

As of July 1st, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has transferred control of the Pacific Surfliner and the San Joaquin to a pair of separate joint powers authorities.

The Pacific Surfliner will now be controlled by the "Los Angeles - San Diego - San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency." The agency is governed by an 11-member board representing county transportation and planning agencies from San Diego to San Luis Obispo. Day-to-day administrative duties will be be provided, under contract, by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) . Amtrak will continue to operate the trains under contract.

The San Joaquin will now be controlled by the "San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority." The authority is governed by an 10-member board representing each county the San Joaquin passes through. Day-to-day administrative duties will be be provided, under contract, by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (who also manages the ACE commuter train). Amtrak will continue to operate the trains under contract.

So that's a lot of alphabet soup of agency names... what does it mean for most riders? Nothing at the moment. Everything is operating just the same today as it did on June 30th.

In the long run it means the line will be controlled by the local governments along the corridors and not the state government in Sacramento. These local governments have a vested interest in making sure the trains are running efficiently and meeting the needs of passengers. The Capitol Corridor provides a perfect example, it has been controlled by a joint powers authority since 1998 that has guided it through a period of massive growth.

It's worth noting that at nearly the same time the transfer to local control happened, the LOSSAN Agency was awarded a state grant of $1.675 million to setup a transit transfer pass program. No details yet on the specifics, but if it's like the Capitol Corridor's program, passengers will be able to get a free transfer to continue their journey on a local transit agency. That's a big win for passengers and the transit agencies on the LOSSAN board.

The SJJPA is also expects to add a 7th Oakland-Bakersfield trip within the next year. It's something they've been advocating for since they were created in 2013. It's worth noting that Caltrans hasn't added any service to the San Joaquin since 2002 and the 6th Oakland-Bakersfield trip was added way back in 1993.

 

[seat38a]

So is anything going to change with the "Amtrak California" branding with the handover to local control?

 

[rickycourtney]

So is anything going to change with the "Amtrak California" branding with the handover to local control?

Great question. I don't really know.
Each of the three JPA's (but especially the San Joaquin) seem to be eager to take over advertising their individual routes. So in that regard, I would be surprised to see the "Amtrak California" brand exist in any meaningful form in these new advertising efforts.

That being said Caltrans will continue to have some role in passenger rail service in the state. To my understanding they're there to provide some level of coordination between the three agencies. For example, to my knowledge, Caltrans will continue to own the equipment used on the corridors, so I could certainly see the state continuing to keep the "Amtrak California" logo on the equipment.

 

[gwschenk]

In the long run it means the line will be controlled by the local governments along the corridors and not the state government in Sacramento. These local governments have a vested interest in making sure the trains are running efficiently and meeting the needs of passengers.

OCTA, like the rest of Orange County government, only has a vested interest in doing the bidding of Donald Bren and a few other developers. They are anti-mass transit and only interested in pouring concrete to increase freeway capacity.

Putting OCTA in charge of the Surfliner does not bode well for the future. Take their ARTIC station monstrosity, for example. A failure as a train station.

 

[Paulus]

In the long run it means the line will be controlled by the local governments along the corridors and not the state government in Sacramento. These local governments have a vested interest in making sure the trains are running efficiently and meeting the needs of passengers.

OCTA, like the rest of Orange County government, only has a vested interest in doing the bidding of Donald Bren and a few other developers. They are anti-mass transit and only interested in pouring concrete to increase freeway capacity.

Putting OCTA in charge of the Surfliner does not bode well for the future. Take their ARTIC station monstrosity, for example. A failure as a train station.

This would be the same OCTA that was paying for commuter rail service before Metrolink was even a thing, has poured significant funds into Metrolink, and has been doing a reasonably good job of increasing service on that line, yes? Also, the blame for ARTIC lies with Anaheim, not OCTA.

 

[gwschenk]

OCTA killed the Center Line.

 

[Paulus]

OCTA killed the Center Line.

Which they didn't have the money to build (or probably operate once the recession hit) and which faced major political opposition from the cities it was running through. What exactly did you expect them to do?

 

[Amfleeter]

Wonder if handing off the Surfliner off to total control of Amtrak with regards to administration might have good results - they could bring in some of the managers that do so well in the NEC. I will say something - as much as people ***** about Amtrak administration of some routes, they do pretty well on the NEC.

 

[rickycourtney]

In the long run it means the line will be controlled by the local governments along the corridors and not the state government in Sacramento. These local governments have a vested interest in making sure the trains are running efficiently and meeting the needs of passengers.

OCTA, like the rest of Orange County government, only has a vested interest in doing the bidding of Donald Bren and a few other developers. They are anti-mass transit and only interested in pouring concrete to increase freeway capacity.
Putting OCTA in charge of the Surfliner does not bode well for the future. Take their ARTIC station monstrosity, for example. A failure as a train station.

OCTA is as much in charge of the Surfliner as Amtrak is. Both are contractors hired by the LOSSAN Agency.

Separately from their contracted day-to-day management duties, OCTA has 2 members on the board. They're far from the only voice... San Diego County has 3 members (NCTD, MTS & the San Diego Association of Governments), LA Metro has 2 members and the rest of the counties (Riverside, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura) each have 1 member.

 

[Paulus]

Wonder if handing off the Surfliner off to total control of Amtrak with regards to administration might have good results

Nope. Amtrak has had a significant history of completely blowing off what the states' want.

 

[seat38a]

In the long run it means the line will be controlled by the local governments along the corridors and not the state government in Sacramento. These local governments have a vested interest in making sure the trains are running efficiently and meeting the needs of passengers.

OCTA, like the rest of Orange County government, only has a vested interest in doing the bidding of Donald Bren and a few other developers. They are anti-mass transit and only interested in pouring concrete to increase freeway capacity.

Putting OCTA in charge of the Surfliner does not bode well for the future. Take their ARTIC station monstrosity, for example. A failure as a train station.

Not sure where you live but as someone who frequently rides the Surfliner and Metrolink, OCTA has got their S%&^ together more than Metro or any of the other agencies. OCTA actually understands that the LAST MILE is a problem and no amount of laying rails will get people to ride the train if the last mile is not solved. OC stations all (pretty sure) offer multi level covered parking and buses WAIT FOR TRAINS. You don't have to worry about missing the bus. While ridership on the other Metrolink lines are declining, its actually increasing on the OC line.

Your mistaking Metro's manta of if you build it, hopefully they will come, with actually solving one of the biggest core problems of using public transport in SoCal which is the last mile issue that OCTA chooses to deal with instead of laying more rails and praying for the best as ANTI public transport. Also, pretty much all of the at grade crossings have been eliminated on the line for Surfliner and Metrolink in Orange County, increasing safety, speed, reliability and horn noise abatement.