Pinching Penny’s while Blowing Bucks June 15th, 2013
By Noel T. Braymer
I went to the Metrolink Board meeting in Los Angeles on June 14th largely because I had the day off. I expected the Board to approve the 5% Fare increase on the agenda. Still, going to this meeting was an educational experience.
What is the True Value of Passenger Trains? June 7th, 2013
Story and Photos by Noel T. Braymer
In London, England they are spending 15 billion pounds which is 23 billion dollars to connect 2 existing commuter rail lines in central London with 13 miles of tunneling. This out of 24 miles total for tunneling which also includes a tunnel for a branch to Heathrow Airport for this project called Crossrail. In total this project includes 73 route miles. Crossrail which is currently the biggest engineering project in Europe is expected to open in 2018. The British are paying for the construction of Crossrail with a combination of general tax funds, local tax assessments of London Businesses and with borrowed money. The loans will be paid from the operating profits of the passenger trains. When operational 24 trains an hour during rush hours will run with 10 car trains carrying up to 1,500 passenger.
Are Public Roads Only For Cars and Trucks? June 1st, 2013
By Noel T. Braymer
My earliest memory of Streetcars was when I was about 6 years old and my father took me to my first baseball game. It was to see the now LA Dodgers playing at the Los Angeles Coliseum around 1958. What I remember most about that night were the Streetcars. They scared me a little but made an impression being large, loud with a rumbling sound as they passed, giving out sparks off the Trolley Pole and between the wheels and rails.
Metrolink:Raise Ridership Not Fares for More Revenue May 23rd, 2013
By Noel T. Braymer
With about 18 million potential passengers in Metrolink’s market, it is barely scratching the surface with about 50,000 passengers on a good day. There is no mystery how to increase rail passenger revenue. Train revenue increases with longer routes serving as many markets as possible by selling more of the highest priced and longest distance tickets. The next best thing are good connections with other trains and connecting buses to increase the number of markets for each train. Lastly it is important to keep trains in revenue service as much as possible. Transportation services sells time on seats, that is its inventory. When a train sits idle during the day or runs with empty seats that is the same as a supermarket throwing out rotten food. Markets discount food prices to sell it before throwing it out. Businesses when they need cash have a sale. They need to clear out inventory and get cash for it. Commuter train service is inefficient because outside of weekday rush hours the seats are usually empty. Trains cost money standing still, so it is better to have trains running earning revenue. Before raising fares Metrolink needs a business plan to increase revenue with increased ridership.
By Noel T. Braymer
This isn’t just my opinion. The Brooking Institute, a Washington based “Think Tank” came to this conclusion in a paper it released in October 2009. This paper is titled“Expect Delays: An Analysis of Air Travel Trends in the United States” by Adie Tomer and Robert Puentes. Looking at air corridors under 500 miles that carried the most people that could be handled by High Speed Trains as quickly as by air, the Brooking Institute found the top three air corridors for High Speed Rail were Los Angeles to San Francisco, Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Los Angeles to Phoenix. This didn’t count air travel from Los Angeles to San Jose or Sacramento or air travel from San Diego to San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Las Vegas or Phoenix which would add millions more passengers.
The Many Places Where You Can’t Go by Passenger Trains May 17th, 2013
By Noel T. Braymer
There are several major cities in this Country without intercity rail passenger service. There are many more major cities that are not connected to each other by rail passenger service. The largest city without rail service is Phoenix with a regional population of 4.3 million. That is close to the population of the Seattle area. Las Vegas with a regional population of 2.5 million, is one of the most visited city in America and has no rail service currently. Boise is the State Capitol of Idaho with a metro population of 638,000 but has no rail passenger service. Albuquerque is in danger of losing its rail passenger service and has a regional population of 1.6 million, almost the same as Albany New York.
Story and Photos by Noel T. Braymer
A recent international survey of air travelers by Skytrax rated the airports of the world. No American airport rated higher than 25th. LAX rated 109th out of 395 airports world wide. According to a story in the May 5, 2013 Los Angeles Times “What’s Wrong with Los Angeles International Airport? “ this article reports “Seating at the airport is limited, security staff are rude, signage is poor, bathrooms are in poor condition and travel between terminals is difficult and confusing”, according to Donna McSherry, who operates The Budget Travelers’ Guide to Sleeping in Airports website, which rates LAX among the world’s 10 worst.” This Times article also reports “LAX could climb the ranking, she said, by improving its signage, cleanliness, ambience and connections to mass transit. “International travelers really value having that direct connection with rail or bus service,” said Cheryl Marcell, a spokeswoman for ACI World, the trade group for the world’s airports.”
A simple way to increase Rail Passenger Miles May 3rd, 2013
By Noel T. Braymer
The Department of Transportation keeps records on many elements of this country’s transportation system. This is done by the DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration Bureau of Transportation Statistics. To measure how people travel the DOT counts the Passenger Miles traveled by different modes. For example a person riding a bike 2 miles produces 2 passenger miles. A family of 4 on a 100 mile car trip to Grandma’s produces 400 passenger miles. The DOT’s most recent data on passenger miles by travel modes has recently been published for 2010. Here are some numbers from this most recent report
Can California High Speed Rail Succeed? May 3rd, 2013
By Noel T. Braymer
The answer to that question will depend on the final evolution of this project.The California High Speed Rail Project has evolved in many ways just in the last 5 years. We can expect more changes to the California High Speed Rail Project before it is running. The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has been around since 1996. For years it was a small organization with much of its budget going to consultants. Most of its early work centered around Promotion, Public Relations and Lobbying. The Authority before 2008 did little planning on how this project would effect local communities or how this project would fit in with existing rail passenger services in the State.
Should we take the Long Distance Trains off of Amtrak’s Back? April 26th, 2013
Analysis by Noel T. Braymer
Amtrak says that they lose over $500 million dollars a year running the Long Distance Passenger Trains. But Amtrak endures this hardship because of the transportation necessity provided by the Long Distance Trains in much of rural America. Amtrak has been hinting that they would like the States to help pay for the costs of the Long Distance Trains to keep them running. This would be much like how States pay for their Short Distance Trains.
