Milano Passante Route Out To Tender Railway Gazette International September 2004: City News NINE COMPANIES have prequalified for a contract to operate the first service through Milano’s Passante cross-city tunnel, which is due to open throughout on December 10 2006. Lombardia region announced on July 23 that it would issue the final invitation to tender shortly. The nine-year contract covers the operation of a service linking Varese, Gallerate, Segrate and Piotello. Designated S5, it is one of nine routes in the new Lombardia regional rail network to be launched with the December timetable change this year. Varese — Piotello services will be operated using a fleet of 15 new TSR regional trainsets being acquired by the region at a cost of €108m. Trains will run hourly from Varese and half-hourly from Gallerate every day of the year, with extra services at peak times. Connections will be provided at Piotello with trains to Bergamo, Brescia and Cremona. In the longer term, services could be extended to Treviglio following the completion of quadrupling works. The route is the first in the region to be put out to competitive tender, and Lombardia has budgeted for a basic subsidy of €7.7m a year. The prequalified bidders include Trenitalia, Ferrovie Nord Milano and local metro operator ATM. According to the city council member for infrastructure and mobility, Massimo Cosaro, opening the rail network to competition is expected to drive up the quality of service. Bids are due to be invited this month for two further concessions in the region. One covering Milano — Molteno — Lecco and Como — Lecco will also start in December 2006 and run for nine years. The other covers integrated rail and bus services between Brescia, Iseo and Edolo; this will run for seven years from December 2005.

Yong-in Automated Metro Contract Railway Gazette International September 2004: City News THE SOUTH Korean city of Yong-In announced in July that it had awarded a 35-year build-transfer-operate concession for an 18.5km automated light metro linking the Seoul metro with Yong-In and the Everland theme park (RG 2.02 p66). The 15 station double-track light metro will be built by the Yong-In LRT consortium of Bombardier, Daelim Industrial Co, Hanil Engineering & Construction Co, Korea Development Co, Hanjin Heavy Industries Co and Iljin Electric Co. The line will be operated by a fleet of 30 driverless vehicles under the supervision of Bombardier’s Cityflo 650 automatic train control. The contract for the five-year design and build portion of the concession is valued at US$600m. For this phase, Daelim Industrial Co is co-leading the concession with Bombardier, which has a US$200m share of the contract. The separate operations and maintenance contract was awarded solely to Bombardier. It is worth US$120m over the first 10 years, with options for four further five-year terms totalling US$294m.

Köln Stadtbahn Makes Progress Railway Gazette International September 2004: City News MAJOR construction works are underway in Köln for the first phase of the 4km north-south U-Bahn needed to relieve the busy tunnel between Appellhofplatz, Neumarkt and Poststrasse. Running from the main station and Breslauerplatz to Marktstrasse, the line is now scheduled to open in 2010, when the city’s Stadtbahn network will be altered to take advantage of the new tunnel (MR00 p39). The line will have eight stations and will shorten journey times on key routes; the trip from Breslauer Platz to Chlodwigplatz, for example, will in future take 6min rather than 14min as at present. Utilities diversion is largely complete, and traffic is being diverted away from worksites along the alignment, most of which requires the construction of two single-bore tunnels. Phase I is costing €550m, with 90% of the funding provided by federal government and the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

Bonds To Build London Projects Railway Gazette International September 2004: City News MAYOR of London Ken Livingstone has been authorised by UK Secretary of State Alistair Darling to issue bonds to raise £2.9m for transport projects in the capital. ‘This ground-breaking agreement means that London, for the first time, has the opportunity to make long-term decisions on planning major capital projects without the fear that funding will be withdrawn in future years’, said Commissioner of Transport for London Bob Kiley, citing his experience of bond funding at New York MTA. Projects to be taken forwards include an extension of DLR’s City Airport branch in tunnel under the River Thames to an interchange with South Eastern Trains at Woolwich Arsenal. The section of the North London Line between Canning Town and Stratford will be converted from heavy rail, so that DLR services can reach the CTRL station at Stratford International by 2009. Also set to go ahead is the first phase of the East London Line extension project, which will continue the route north from Shoreditch on a new viaduct and reinstated tracks to reach Dalston Junction by 2010. At the southern end, ELL trains will use Network Rail tracks from New Cross Gate to Crystal Palace and West Croydon.

Second Moscow Airport Service Launched Railway Gazette International September 2004: City News MOSCOW Mayor Yuri Luzhkov joined the celebrations on July 29 to mark the launch of Russian Railways’ second dedicated airport rail service in the capital. He was joined at Moscow Kievskaya station by RZD President Gennady Fadeyev, Moscow Railway President Vladimir Starostenko and the Chairman of Vuknovo International Airport’s board of directors Dmitry Panin. Under a programme costing 646m roubles, of which 376m has been spent so far, a 33km freight line has been upgraded to an express commuter route, joining Moscow with a station near Vuknovo Airport, linked by a 1.5km bus shuttle. The line will later be extended in tunnel under the runway to a station below the main terminal building. RZD also hopes to extend the route to serve Sheremetyevo Airport. Revenue service to Vuknovo began on August 1 using standard EMUs. The initial service of 18 trains/day in each direction is expected to handle around 20% of the airline passengers using the airport — last year’s 2.8 million total is forecast to rise to 5 million in 2005. A check-in facility at Kievskaya will open on December 1, and a fleet of 18 Sputnik EMUs now on order for the route is due to enter service on January 1, cutting the journey time to 35min. RZD is expected to complete an initial study this month for a dedicated shuttle service between St Petersburg’s Baltic station and the two terminals at Pulkovo Airport via Predportotwaja.

Electrification Starts In Venezuela Railway Gazette International September 2004: First Report LAST MONTH was due to see electrification work start on the 43km Tuy Medio suburban railway being built between Caracas and Cúa in Venezuela. Contracts to build the double-track standard-gauge line were originally awarded in 1992 to a consortium of Italian, Japanese and Venezuelan companies. The line is intended to provide a commuter service between the capital and the satellite city of Tuy Medio, offering an end-to-end journey time of around 20min. This will be substantially faster than the trip by road, where traffic congestion is a serious problem. In Caracas the route terminates at La Rinconada on the south side of the city, where there will be interchange to Line 3 of the Caracas metro — contracts for the metro extension from El Valle to La Rinconada were awarded to the Frameca consortium in September 2002 (RG 11.02 p672). Numerous delays have plagued the Tuy Medio project, and the latest construction timetable envisages that the line will open in March 2006. Just over 80% of the work has been completed, but sufficient progress had been made by mid-June for Venezuelan President Hugo Ch.vez to make an inspection trip over part of the route.

New York Plans $27.3bn Capital Spend Railway Gazette International September 2004: Analysis ‘PROGRESS that MTA has made in the last 20 years to restore and maintain the core system must not and cannot be eroded’, emphasised New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Executive Director Katherine N Lapp on July 29, unveiling investment proposals for the agency’s fifth five-year capital programme. MTA hopes to spend an unprecedented $27.3bn in 2005-09. `The capital programme sets forth prudent plans that define the core needs for bringing the entire system into a state of good repair, accomplishing normal replacement, and instituting system improvement’, explained Lapp. Maintenance and upgrades to existing subway and commuter rail infrastructure would account for $16.1bn, new lines or extensions such as the Second Avenue subway and the Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access would be allocated $9.9bn and the region’s highways, bridges and tunnels would get just $1.3bn. Noting that $48bn had been spent over the past 20 years, Lapp said ‘the results have been remarkable. On-time performance at Long Island Rail Road has increased from 85% in the early 1980s to 93.1%, and Metro-North’s performance rose from 80.5% to 97.5%.’ Mean distance between subway car failures increased from 11246km in 1981 to over 225000km in 2003. The budget gives New York City Transit $12.1bn for maintenance and rehabilitation work, with another $2.4bn for Long Island Rail Road and $1.6bn for Metro-North. Funding would come from federal, state and local governments as well as MTA’s bridge and tunnel tolls and the sale of bonds. Major investment elements include the purchase of 960 new subway cars and 1300 new buses for New York City Transit, rehabilitation of 55 stations, and further investment in automated train supervision and communications-based train control. LIRR would be able to start adding a new third track on its main line between Bellrose and Hicksville, build a new maintenance depot to serve the Port Jervis branch and acquire a further 170 M-7 EMU cars to complete the replacement of its M-1 fleet (RG 8.04 p474). Metro-North would buy 100 new dual-voltage M-8 cars to accommodate growing traffic and begin replacement for M-2 cars on the New Haven Line, with the state of Connecticut covering 65% of the cost. MTA would also buy 36 more M-7s, and fund rebuilding work on the Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines, plus rehabilitation of 25 stations. The budget also covers Phases 2 and 3 of a programme to replace the railway’s century-old workshops and depot at Croton-Harmon. MTA says an additional $500m would be spent ‘to continue post-9/11 security investments to harden vulnerable assets and implement systems for conducting targeted surveillance, controlling access, stopping intrusion, and providing command and control systems to support incident response.’ Other funding sources will be required for two further rail projects. A $2bn extension of the No 7 Flushing subway line from Times Square to the west side of Manhattan would be financed by the city, whilst a direct link from Lower Manhattan to JFK International Airport would be funded by Washington and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Meanwhile, MTA has requested proposals from marketing companies to develop sponsorship schemes for transport facilities, including subway stations, bridges and tunnels. It hopes to raise sponsorship revenue to help close a short-term operating budget deficit estimated at over $1bn. MTA has awarded a $43.4m contract to Rail Works Corp subsidiary L K Comstock & Co for the second phase of resignalling on the No 7 Flushing Line over the next four years. The work includes renewal of the interlockings at Queensboro Plaza, 33rd Street and 74th Street in Queens, and of lineside and relay room equipment. Comstock completed Phase I of the Flushing Line project, from 111th Street interlocking to the Main Street terminal, towards the end of 2003.

Engineers May Redesign Signals Along Light-Rail Line Minneapolis Star Tribune August 28, 2004 Traffic engineers have worked all summer to reduce Hiawatha light-rail related traffic delays on Hwy. 55, which runs parallel to the line through south Minneapolis. To help keep trains on time, the approach of a train trips traffic signals so that trains do not stop for cross traffic. Each time a train preempts the signals, vehicular traffic has to wait. And some delays have been several minutes. Adjustments included revamping the timing of the left- and right-turn arrows on Hwy. 55. Now officials have concluded that all possible changes have been made to the signal equipment, so they’ll next turn their attention to shortening the preemption cycle. This will require a redesign of the signal system — at some expense, said Josh Collins, spokesman for the Hiawatha light-rail project. Collins said the cost of the redesign, how long it might take and who would pay for it haven’t been determined. The signal timing was set up for trains operating at 55 miles per hour. But because neighbors complained about noise from the train horns, speed was reduced to allow a lower-volume warning blast. But with the trains no longer traveling at 55 mph, signals are now tripped sooner than they need to be. “We will look at the system and see how can we adjust approach lengths and warning lengths,” Collins said. To accomplish that, traffic engineers will consider — among other things — how far in advance the signals change before a train approaches, how long the safety gates are down at cross streets and how much time trains dwell at stations as passengers get on and off, Collins said. If a train sits at a station an extra 20 seconds, the whole signal preemption cycle takes that much longer, Collins said. Transit experts from other cities with similar train-traffic issues are scheduled to arrive in late September to help with the effort.

A Streetcar Named Superburger THE GLOBE AND MAIL August 21, 2004 The TTC’s old trolleys have ended up in some unlikely places, from a diner in Shelburne, Ont., to the streets of Egypt Some people stop at Superburger for the food. But others go to the popular burger joint near Shelburne, Ont., to step into a bit of Toronto transit history: an old streetcar that now serves as a dining room for the roadside restaurant. “A lot of people stop just to see the streetcar,” according to assistant manager Debbie Crawford, who says the previous owner of the restaurant picked up the old vehicle for $1,000 after it went out of service, likely around 1990. “We’ve had lots of people tell us they rode the streetcar, they drove the streetcar. They take pictures of it.” Shelburne isn’t the only unlikely place that these old Toronto Transit Commission streetcars have ended up. Designed during the Depression and known as PCCs (short for Presidents’ Conference Committee), the old cars were first introduced in 1938 and have turned up in places as far-flung as Tampico, Mexico, and Alexandria, Egypt, which bought more than 100 PCCs from Toronto in the mid-1960s, running them hitched in pairs before a good portion of them were reportedly destroyed during the Six Days War with Israel in 1967. Others have gone to Cleveland, Philadelphia and San Francisco — which now operates a popular vintage streetcar line — as well as transit museums scattered across North America, including the Halton County Radial Railway Museum in Milton, Ont. Fort Edmonton Park also has a Toronto PCC, which was a gift to the Edmonton Radial Railway Society from the TTC. And in Kenosha, Wis., visiting Torontonians might be taken aback when a vintage TTC streetcar — in the old maroon and cream colours — pulls up at a stop, one of five Toronto PCCs running in the town of 91,000 on the shores of Lake Michigan. Developed in the 1930s by a group of transit-system presidents and streetcar makers from across North America, the PCC streetcar was smoother and faster than the standard public-transit vehicles of the time. It was meant to take on the upstart private automobile. The TTC put its first PCCs on the St. Clair Avenue line, and hung onto them even as car-crazed transportation planners in the postwar United States began to abandon streetcars. At one time, Toronto had the world’s largest fleet of PCCs — which were used by transit systems across North America — with 744 in active service for much of the past century. In 1979, the PCC’s successor, the Canadian Light Rail Vehicle, first appeared, built by the Ontario-government-created company, UTDC Inc. The reviews were negative from the get-go: The new wheels were too noisy, and had to be changed. The windows didn’t open, and had to be retrofitted. But they gradually replaced the PCCs, almost all of which were sold off at fire-sale prices when they were decommissioned. The last regular-service PCC rolled out of the station in 1995. The TTC’s two remaining PCCs, now restored, sit in a far corner of the transit authority’s east-end streetcar yard looking flamboyantly retro, like ‘57 Chevys on rails, all maroon-and-cream curves. This last pair is barely used now, hauled out occasionally for private charters — stag parties, weddings, bar-hops, movie shoots — at about $130 an hour. Some critics still think the PCC is superior to its replacement. Former city councillor Howard Levine argues that we are now paying for the extra weight of the newer CLRV, which comes in at 25 tonnes, five tonnes heavier than its forebear. The 20-per-cent increase has given the streetcar tracks a pounding they weren’t designed to handle, he says, and the results have become clear over the past few summers, with major downtown arteries clogged for massive track- repair projects. “Everybody knows this; the TTC knows this,” says Mr. Levine, who was part of the Streetcars for Toronto Committee that fought TTC plans to scrap the streetcar system in the early 1970s. But the TTC’s general superintendent of streetcar maintenance, Orest Kobylansky, says the city’s streetcar tracks lasted longer than the 15-year life that was budgeted, despite being almost completely neglected during the belt-tightening 1990s. And Stephen Lam, the TTC’s superintendent of vehicle engineering, says the newer streetcars have a much more sophisticated air-suspension system, which greatly reduces the amount of stress put on the tracks. Also, the newer streetcars’ axles are farther apart, better distributing the weight. Whatever the merits of the current streetcars, they don’t seem to inspire the same loyalty among transit enthusiasts that the PCCs still do. A group of American transit fans travels to Toronto almost yearly, chartering a PCC to take them on a tour of the city. And a local entrepreneur, called Time is Ticking, is now hocking a commemorative TTC watch, emblazoned with a PCC on its face. While the TTC had once planned to refurbish 21 PCCs at around $200,000 a pop and run them along the Harbourfront line, the scheme was abandoned in 1995. There are a now a dwindling number of drivers on the TTC staff who learned on the PCC. And while the vintage streetcars always draw smiles when they are put on the streets for charters, they had their flaws. One afternoon in 1980, just before rush hour, streetcar driver Harold Jenken — now a supervisor at the TTC’s Russell streetcar yard — lost the brakes on a PCC, heading east on Queen Street West, toward Yonge Street. His emergency brakes didn’t stop him until Victoria Street, forcing pedestrians to dive out of the way. “They were fun to drive,” Mr. Jenken says, laughing. “But they were hell to stop.”

FasTracks Looks Like Real Deal For Metro Area Rocky Mountain News August 28, 2004 If you are at all optimistic about Denver’s future, the FasTracks proposal seems like a decent deal for taxpayers. On Nov. 2, metro voters will be asked to approve a .4-cent increase in the Regional Transportation District sales tax. That brings the RTD tax to a full penny on the dollar. In exchange, we get the bulk of a truly metrowide mass transit system: 137 miles of light rail, diesel-powered commuter trains and rapid-transit bus lines. That’s a darn good deal that will only get better with time. Over 20 years, the tax would pay off the bonds sold immediately to build the $4.7 billion system. What do you think .4 cents will be worth in 2024? And let’s not forget the Coors Field example. The baseball stadium was completed nearly 10 years ago with a .1-cent sales tax used to pay off $161 million in bonds. Because of the thriving economy in the late 1990s, the bonds were paid off in nine years, instead of the planned 20. With better economic times, that can happen again. In context, we pay 22 cents state sales tax on every gallon of gasoline. That’s been a constant since 1991. We also pay 18.4 cents federal tax on every gallon of gas. I’ve been taking light rail lately, mostly on weekends, and I like it more and more. At this point, I drive from my home east of the Yale exit down to the Broadway/Interstate 25 light-rail station and catch a ride downtown for $1.75. Once I sit down — if I can find a seat — my hassles are over. I don’t have to fight traffic, look for a parking space, pay for a parking space — any of it. At some point in 2006, thanks to T-REX, I’ll be able to take light rail downtown from the stop at the Yale exit. I can’t wait. You sit in your seat, you look out the windows and goshdarnit if you don’t feel like you’re in a real city. In fact, what great city in the world doesn’t have mass transit? I can remember back in 1997, during the failed Guide the Ride mass transit campaign, RTD sought the same-sized tax increase to fund a $6 billion expansion of light rail and bus service. The plan was more expensive and much less precise, and voters rightfully did not trust a truly dysfunctional RTD board, which has been replaced. At any rate, I was asked to moderate a panel discussion sponsored by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce. Present were representatives from Portland, Ore., and San Diego, Western cities with established light-rail transit systems. I watched their slide shows with envy: the office buildings and condo developments and shops that had grown up around each stop. I visited Toronto the following year and met with the people who had developed that city’s transit system. They demonstrated how light rail aided the city in its ability to plan future growth along specific corridors while stemming urban sprawl. Driving T-REX every workday, it’s hard not to be excited by the possibilities evident from a light-rail line extending to Park Meadows. Much of the track is laid, the bridges are built, even many of the overhead lines are in. At the Hampden station, Sullivan-Hayes has razed the old Howard Johnson’s for a new retail development, in a pattern that will be repeated at each transit stop. If you ride the existing southwest line, look at the Hampden exit there and what the city of Englewood has done with the former Cinderella City shopping center. It truly has maximized the opportunities brought by light rail. Along those lines — no pun intended — the Urban Land Institute has been holding public meetings this year along each proposed FasTracks line, educating residents and businesspeople about the economic development possibilities that surround each light-rail stop. On Tuesday, at the annual Colorado Congressional Transportation Summit, Dallas pollster David Hill presented some results from a poll of metro Denver voters taken in April. “Mass transit seems surprisingly acceptable here,” Hill said. “It’s more popular here than in many parts of the country, especially the West.” Nearly 90 percent of those polled said that, even if they don’t use RTD’s rail or buses, it helps them by getting other cars off the street. More than 85 percent said that having a great transportation system will help attract high-quality jobs and employers to the area. Sixty percent disagreed with the notion that mass transit needs to charge high- enough rider fees that the system pays for itself without any taxpayer subsidy. Remember that Denver had 250 miles of electric streetcars from 1890 to 1950, when the system was torn down to make room for more cars. In World War II, when gasoline was rationed, ridership increased to more than 110 million passenger trips a year. With oil nearing $50 per barrel, we may be coming full circle.

Streetcars On Display; Arrive At The CNE Via ‘The Better Way’ The Toronto Sun August 29, 2004 WHEN I WORKED at the CNE back in the 1970s, I was always fascinated by the huge crowds that would arrive each day and depart each evening using the “better way.” Both the Dufferin and Exhibition streetcar loops and bus terminal near the Auto Building were always busy as thousands of visitors would come and go using the TTC streetcars. The busiest of the three arrival points was the old streetcar loop located south of the Coliseum. While I refer to this loop as “old,” it certainly wasn’t the first streetcar loop to serve fair-goers. The Transit Toronto Web site (Transit.toronto.on.ca) gives a brief history of all the facilities starting with the one used as early as 1916 by the predecessor company to the TTC, the privately owned Toronto Railway Company. It’s Bathurst streetcars ran to the Ex via an old bridge south of Front, curving westerly and running through (!) the grounds of historic Fort York to a loop at Strachan. A major route change came with the replacement of the fragile, old humped-back bridge south of Front St. with a new structure. In reality, it was the old steam railway bridge formerly located over the Humber River north of Lakeshore Rd. Now all CNE-bound streetcars would proceed south on Bathurst, over the recycled bridge, then west along the newly created Fleet St. and into the grounds to a new loop built in front of the Coliseum, a building erected in 1923. Interestingly, this structure was actually designed with its main entrance facing north. Here, the architects thought, would be where the streetcars would load and unload. Somehow, the building got turned around and the front became the back and vice-versa. For the next 60 plus years, the TTC’s East Entrance loop remained south of the Coliseum and it wasn’t until June 1996 that the present East Entrance streetcar loop opened right where officials had planned it those many years ago. While on the subject of streetcars and the CNE, each seems to have an affinity with the other. In fact, the Exhibition was only a few years old when in 1883 an experimental form of public transportation vehicle was demonstrated before hundreds of awe-struck fair-goers. For a variety of reasons, the experiment was less than a total success and it wasn’t until 1885 that the project, which was being supervised by a pair of pioneer wizards in the new age of electricity, Chicago’s Charles Van Depoele and Toronto’s John J. Wright, proved its real worth thanks to the successful introduction by the two men of a brand new method of electrical current collection, the under running trolley pole. ELECTRIFICATION The trolley pole and overhead wire would soon be adopted far and wide. The Exhibition electric line continued in service during each succeeding fair until electrification of the first city streetcar route (Church St. in 1892) made the initial Van Depoele-Wright project obsolete. As the TTC acquired new streetcar models, the Commission would send one of the cars to the Ex to introduce it to the public. The Peter Witt (the TTC’s first “new” streetcar) was put on display in 1921, the PCC in 1938 and the present CLRV model in 1978. The latter car was part of the Centennial Square display that I put together while I was the CNE’s Centennial Manager. Four years later, the prototype ALRV (the stretched CLRV) was displayed at the fair. - In honour of the TTC’s original “Red Rocket,” a special limited edition commemorative watch has been created by Seiko Epson Corp. and offered for sale, with the TTC’s approval, by the Time is Ticking Co. The watch will feature an image of the PCC on the face with the TTC’s Yonge subway 50th anniversary logo engraved on the back. Orders must be placed before Sept. 13, 2004. Call 416-925-5520 or see Magma.ca/%7Ewatches. Thanks to the suppliers, I have a trio of watches to award to three readers. Forward your name and telephone number to “PCC” c/o Sunday Sun, 333 King St. East, Toronto, ON, M5K 3C3. A draw from all entries received by Sept. 24, 2004, will be made and the winners notified by phone and asked the skill-testing question, What does PCC stand for?

US Railroads Face Gridlock Next Month Financial Times August 30, 2004 From the dockyards of Los Angeles to construction sites in Texas, US industry is warning of gridlock on the railroads next month as record freight volumes threaten to overwhelm the nation’s railway infrastructure. Train operators have struggled to cope with high demand since early this year, when many underestimated the strength of the economic recovery and were forced to ration access to the network. Their biggest customers fear that recent attempts to increase capacity have come too late to prevent a deterioration in services during the forthcoming peak season. The Association of American Railroads is hosting an emergency meeting with railroad operators and government regulators in Kansas City next week. With 42 percent of US freight reliant on rail transport, the gathering is likely to attract international attention. The period after Labor Day next Monday is traditionally the busiest time of the year as the start of the corn harvest coincides with imports of goods for the run-up to Christmas. At the port of Long Beach, cargo is backing up on the dock as ships from China queue to offload containers. Art Wong, port spokesman, said: “Our ordinary turnround time is three or four days but in the last couple of months that has drifted up to as long as a week.” Other industries fear delays will get much worse when they have to compete for space with a bumper grain harvest. Corn is forecast to hit record levels thanks to ideal weather conditions in the Midwest. Coal miners — the largest users of rail — have begun to warn that new transport constraints could even hit profits this year despite their own record-breaking volumes. Deck Sloan, [CRCT], spokesman for Arch Coal, said: “We have seen some modest improvements in recent weeks, but we are concerned about whether that will be sustainable through the peak grain season.” At the bottom of the pecking order, users of rock complain that rationing of capacity by Union Pacific, the largest railroad, has dealt a “crippling blow” to the construction industry. Michael Stewart, president of the Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association, said: “There is significant concern on the side of the construction materials industry, particularly with regard to UP and the upcoming peak season.” Union Pacific is hopeful that its plan to add 5,000 staff and 745 locomotives is beginning to help but it concedes that training new drivers and engineers can take months, and new track is years away. Instead, the railroad is one of those rare companies hoping that recent signs of a gentle slowdown in US economic growth will prove real. It also predicts that the peak season may be spread out longer elongated this year, particularly if high grain volumes drive down prices and delay exports. Roger Nober, chairman of the government’s Surface Transportation Board, says: “All this shows how hard it is to bring surge capacity on line quickly in an industry where it has been tough to make money. I think the carriers are doing everything they can; whether it is enough we will have to see.”

Former LIRR Stop; Old Station Open For Business; Space Under The Tracks Is Leased To Tenants, From A Gas Company To An Oil Change Service To A Motorcycle Shop; Some Use It For Storage Newsday (New York) August 30, 2004 The last commuter trains pulled out more than 40 years ago, but a former Long Island Rail Road station in Ozone Park remains a bustling place. Businesses and individuals lease space under the old tracks for a variety of reasons — from storing bricks and beer trucks to manufacturing motorcycles and ironwork. Ozone Park was once an elevated stop on the railroad’s Rockaway Branch that connected Rego Park with Rockaway. The city has owned the property since the financially troubled and pre-MTA LIRR sold it in 1953. Train service ended in 1962. Now, even with leases that run only month to month, the arrangement probably won’t change anytime soon. It would cost a fortune to either tear down or bring the line back into service. The leased spaces are found beneath the old station and its raised approaches in an area that runs from Rockaway Boulevard south to 97th Avenue, and the narrow strip of land between 100th and 99th streets. Structural support beams and the arches that hang from station platforms act as property dividers. Tenants refer to their leased spaces as bays. A good spot Arthur Iacometta has four bays near Rockaway Boulevard and operates what is one of the most blatant retail business here — Quick Lube. Motor vehicles enter off 99th Street, have their oil changed, and then exit onto 100th Street. Iacometta’s electrical and air-conditioning contracting businesses also are based out of the closed station. “As offices go, it’s about a five,” he said of Arco Electrical’s bay, with its dropped ceilings and paneled walls. “But for a place under the old LIRR tracks, it’s a 10.” Most tenants use their bays for storage, keeping cars, trucks, heavy equipment and miscellaneous junk there. Bugzy Beverage’s beer and soft-drink distributorship is on the other side of 100th Street. The company’s delivery trucks are parked behind chain-link fences in bays directly opposite its small warehouse. “If we didn’t have that, we’d have to put the trucks inside,” said owner Chate Mohan. “There’d be less room.” Instead, the warehouse is stacked and crammed with pallets of beer and large bags of empty bottles and cans. Arrangement works well The Department of Citywide Administrative Services is the landlord of the Ozone Park property, and a spokesman said the agency has no plans to demolish or sell portions of it. Besides the cost, doing so would complicate any future efforts to reactivate the rail line. Several tenants said they are not worried about someday being ordered to clear out of their bays. “People here have a good relationship with the city,” said John Fisher, owner of Macro Gas Co. “As long as you do nothing illegal, they won’t throw you out.” Macro is one tenant who would have to move if trains ever resume passing overhead. The company, which occupies the northern corner where Liberty Avenue crosses 100th and 99th streets, keeps stacks of propane tanks and other flammable gases under the old tracks. Up 100th Street, the inside of Hygrade Ironwork & Cabinetry’s bay is enclosed with metal sheets. It has no windows and is dimly lit by four florescent tubes, and looks nothing like owner Kumar Bisram’s former workplace. Bisram lost his computer job at Goldman Sachs about a week before the Sept. 11 terror attacks. That made what had been a part-time occupation his full-time job. Now, he cuts, welds and grinds sections of iron that wind up on railings and gates. “I’ve got to survive,” he said, after shoveling wood shavings into the stove that heats the room. “You do what you’ve got to do. Hopefully, I’ll get bigger later.” Proud owners Just up the street, Eddie Lights stood behind a long bar in a large room that seemed to get most of its light from television sets and flashing traffic signals. He is the owner of Dilligaf Cycles New York City, which has been here for about six years. “We build and repair motorcycles, and we have a lounge for our customers,” he said. The lounge is surprisingly large and clean. Motorcycle handlebars are mounted to the black door that serves as the entranceway. Just beyond the south wall is the factory where motorcycles are built. An average of five or six of the customized machines are rolled out of the shop each year, and Lights said customers have come from as far west as Arizona and California. The bays belonging to Olympic Fence on 99th Street have been painted white with yellow trim, and U.S. flags flutter from the railing on the former passenger platform. “This is where I work, and I like to work clean,” said owner Michael Costanza. Costanza said his rent nearly doubled earlier this year, but admitted his payments to the city are still reasonable. A Citywide Administrative Services spokesman said prices in the local property market — not budget deficits — determine the rents. Costanza said he hopes the old station remains unchanged because “we’re happy here.”

The Race For Railways Of China And India United Press International August 30, 2004 High energy costs, and few prospects of petroleum prices worldwide falling significantly lower any time soon, are certainly increasing the allure of both energy-efficient cars and public transport. So perhaps it’s not surprising that two of the world’s most populous countries are stepping up efforts to develop high-speed railway networks. But while state-of-the-art train systems may or may not significantly improve the lives of those in India and China, European and Japanese companies are eager to win the new, potentially lucrative contracts. In the case of India, it appears at first blush that Japan has an edge over its rivals as the Indian government announced last Friday that it would be turning to Japanese technology to meet its needs. But China Monday announced that it awarded contracts to Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Alstom of France, and Canada’s Bombardier to help upgrade the country’s railway network, which currently meets only 35 percent of cargo demand. Meanwhile, the most lucrative of all Chinese railway projects to date — namely, to connect Shanghai and Beijing by high-speed rail — remains under consideration as Alstom, which built France’s sleek TGV network, continues to compete with Japanese and German companies As the quest for the lip-smacking project continues between the rival companies, it is clear that politics has as much to do with the bidding as does technological know-how. So the situation regarding China remains unclear. But for now, Japan seems to be ahead in getting a foothold in the vast Indian market. Last Friday, Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Shoichi Nakagawa said that the country would cooperate with the government of India to build a high-speed rail network currently being planned by using its bullet-train technology. The plan was formally announced following Nakagawa’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Moreover, the Japan External Trade Organization, the government’s international investment relations agency, will be sending in an group of specialists by September to assess exactly how to go forward with the plan, including what technologies could be used for the project and how much the undertaking will likely cost. The project is ostensibly about improving the transportation network for Indians. One potential route is between Mumbai in the south and Ahmedabad to the west of the country, where there is already considerable traffic between the respective commercial and industrial cities that are about 310 miles (500 kilometers) apart. For the Japanese, the plan seems to be a logical one. Japan boasts one of the most, if not the most, efficient train systems in the world, with the expansive networks nationwide being popular with both short-distance commutes and long-distance travel across the country, especially when travel by car can be unpredictable due to frequent road congestions. But according to some Indians, the Japanese experience won’t necessarily translate well on the subcontinent. “Inter-city trains work well in a country like Germany, where the time taken to travel via a high speed train is comparable to the time required to fly to the destination. … India, in contrast, is a large country, and flights would still be quicker than trains,” reported the Business Standard of India. Transport analysts point out that the flight between Mumbai and Ahmedabad is only an hour, while the train trip would be almost 2A1/2 hours. Meanwhile, train tickets may actually end up costing more than plane tickets, they argued. Of course, an hour-long flight can easily end up taking two or three times longer than that, as travelers must get to an airport that is usually in the outskirts of a major city, and then spend time checking in as well as going through security clearance. Train stations, on the other hand, are often found in the city center, and trains usually do not require security checks. But while customers themselves can choose whether to travel by land or by air, India will at least be able to absorb some of the technological know-how of bullet trains under the latest agreement. Furthermore, India will be building the railway with loans from the Japanese government as part of Japan’s official development assistance, which is offered at concessionary interest rates with a 40-year repayment period. One catch for being an ODA recipient, however, is that at least 30 percent of the equipment that Indian Railways is to procure must be from Japan. And that’s precisely why Japanese companies are excited about the project. “This could be a dream project” of about $10 billion, one major Japanese industrial group executive was quoted as saying anonymously in the daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun. The Japanese financial daily went on to point out how top executives of such companies as Mitsui & Co. and Marubeni have made a point of visiting the country in recent weeks, while leading Liberal Democratic Party members accompanied railway entrepreneurs, including the top brass of Japan Rail, on a visit to India in July. Whether Indians will be able to be as excited about the railway network and actually make full use of it remains to be seen.

Orange Line Gets Court Win; Cost Plans Appeal As Work Continues The Daily News of Los Angeles August 31, 2004 Opponents of the San Fernando Valley Orange Line failed Monday to persuade a judge to halt the project and planned to try other legal tactics even as crews stepped up work on the $330 million busway. Dug-up intersections that sat idle during the 23-day shutdown were back under construction as Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe told Citizens Organized for Smart Transit that his court had no authority to stop the project while the appeals process is under way. But legal experts were divided on which court has jurisdiction to consider COST’s request for an injunction to halt construction, which is 40 percent complete. COST attorneys said they plan to return to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, which temporarily stopped the project Aug. 2 after also ordering the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to conduct an environmental study on alternatives to the busway. Because of confusion over what the appellate court had ruled, the MTA continued the shutdown for a week after the order halting construction had lapsed. And once it was sorted out, the MTA asked the state Supreme Court to overturn the appellate court order for the environmental study. The state Supreme Court has 90 days to decide whether it will even consider the case. Despite the continuing legal confusion, MTA leaders welcomed Monday’s decision as a victory for the project, which lost $1.5 million during the shutdown. “This is a victory for common sense,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said as he stood on the steps of the courthouse after the hearing. “This project will provide a viable, dependable and quicker alternative for Ventura Freeway commuters and the public-transit-dependent. We are grateful for the court’s action.” But COST, which has been fighting to shut down the project ever since the appellate court agreed in July that the MTA must study a system of Rapid buses as an alternative, says construction shouldn’t continue until that study is done. “Why would you continue to spend money on a project when you’re supposed to be analyzing an alternative?” COST Chairwoman Diana Lipari said. “Obviously, MTA’s committed to this project — and that’s our point. They were never willing to consider our point. Ever. We think (Rapid buses) will serve more riders in the Valley and at least be equal to, if not beat, the commute (time of the busway).” The MTA launched the court-ordered study weeks ago, despite its request to the state Supreme Court to reverse that order. The MTA has argued that Rapid buses were only a pilot project when the busway went forward in 2002, and the new study could take nine months and spike the Orange Line’s price tag by $100 million, threatening amenities once planned along the route. Even if the MTA ultimately determines that Rapid buses would be feasible, the agency could opt to continue with the Orange Line. BUSWAY UPDATE About 25 percent of the construction crews were back at work Monday following a 23-day work shutdown on the Orange Line busway. Workers are concentrating on stabilizing a retaining wall under the San Diego Freeway, and completing improvements at Woodman and Oxnard avenues; and Mason Avenue and Victory Boulevard.

Critic Blasts Proposed Cost Estimate For FasTracks Plan Rocky Mountain News August 31, 2004 A rail transit critic said Monday he doesn’t think the Regional Transportation District can build its FasTracks project for the $4.7 billion it is proposing. But the head of RTD — a friend of the nationally known critic — said he absolutely can. Wendell Cox, who helped Los Angeles get its rail system off the ground in the 1980s but who now argues against rail, gave a presentation against the FasTracks proposal to about 30 people at the Independence Institute office in Golden. “One thing RTD cannot do is deliver the whole system for anything like $4.7 billion,” Cox said. “Which of the six lines is not going to be built? Because you’re not going to build them all for $4.7 billion.” FasTracks is a package of six new and three expanded light rail and diesel commuter rail corridors, a bus rapid transit line and expanded suburban bus service. Voters in November will decide its fate when they vote on a 0.4-cent sales tax increase needed to fund it. Cox said pre-construction estimates are “routinely low” for large projects, and he cited cost estimates in several other cities where rail lines ended up costing more and transit agencies built less than promised. Cal Marsella, RTD general manager, said FasTracks’ costs have been verified by independent analysts hired by the Denver Regional Council of Governments, which conducted a review of the entire plan. “What Wendell is thinking about is when you first do a major infrastructure study and there’s no preliminary engineering done,” Marsella said “The costs are usually stated for the year of the study, and if it were built then that’s what it would cost. “But the cost we put in FasTracks is inflated to the year of construction. DRCOG called in outside experts to validate all our costs, including our inflation factors. This has been subjected to a whole lot of scrutiny. I am absolutely confident that we are going to build it for the price we advertised. The numbers are solid.” Cox said rail transit systems across the world, with the exception of Hong Kong, fail to relieve traffic congestion. “There is no place in the world where transit is reducing traffic congestion,” Cox said. He advocated highway expansion to address projections that Denver’s average rush hour speed will drop from 27 mph now to 16 mph in 20 years. “That’s unacceptable,” Cox said. “You can build your way out of congestion. It’s just a matter of will.”

Hoboken Bomb Scare Delays Riders The Record (Bergen County, NJ) August 31, 2004 HOBOKEN — A bomb scare stopped all trains, ferries, and buses at the Hoboken Terminal on Monday, delaying thousands of commuters during the evening rush hour. A conductor spotted a package on a North Jersey Coast Line train soon after it arrived in Hoboken about 5 p.m., said NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel. The conductor notified NJ Transit police, who evacuated the entire Hoboken Terminal and brought in a bomb-sniffing dog, which gave a “positive indication” that the package contained an explosive. It was later determined to be harmless. Rail, ferry, and bus service at the terminal was halted for about an hour, delaying 12,000 to 15,000 commuters, Stessel said. The closing also affected three New Jersey-bound PATH trains, two of which were rerouted to the Pavonia/Newport station in Jersey City. The third train, carrying 400 to 500 passengers, waited in a tunnel for about 30 minutes until receiving clearance to proceed to Hoboken, a Port Authority spokesman said. The FBI and NJ Transit police opened a criminal investigation into the incident. Peter Welding of Montclair was walking to the terminal when he encountered police officers and mobs of people. “It was definitely eerie,” Welding said. “There was police tape everywhere, and people were just standing around.” Ferries waited in the Hudson River and trains either stopped in their tracks or brought passengers to the Secaucus Junction station until police could determine whether the package — described only as a box — was an explosive device, Stessel said. He declined to comment on whether the package bore a resemblance to an actual bomb or may have been placed purposely on the train. Numerous agencies responded to the terminal, and within an hour investigators determined that the package was harmless, Stessel said. Train, bus and ferry service resumed around 6 p.m., with express trains making extra stops. Jerrett Wells of River Edge gave up waiting for his Pascack Valley Line train and sat on a concrete barrier as he tried to call his wife for a ride home. While he was pleasantly surprised with the ease of his morning ride into Manhattan, Wells simply shrugged his shoulders at the suggestion of more commuting hassles with the Republican National Convention in Manhattan. “There is nothing anyone can do about it,” Wells said. “There is no point in yelling about it. As long as we all get home safe, that is all that matters. … It could have been a lot worse.” Officials ask that anyone who may have seen the package or traveled on the North Jersey Coast Line’s train No. 2312, which started in Bay Head, Ocean County, to call (888) TIPS-NJT.

Las Vegas Monorail Shut Down After Tire Falls Off KVBC-TV News — Las Vegas September 1, 2004 This week, the Las Vegas Monorail has been getting its biggest test since opening two months ago, with ninety thousand conventioneers in town for Magic, the Men’s Apparel Guild In California show. But things came to a crashing halt today, literally. News 3’s Tom Hawley reports from Sky 3 with details. The monorail mishap happened just after the system opened at eight this morning, when a northbound train just east of Harrah’s Hotel suddenly lost a tire, which plummeted into the parking lot below. This is not the first problem the trains have encountered. A drive shaft fell from a train back in January, which resulted in a three day delay in testing while a safety attachment was installed. Then last month, an operator accidentally opened the doors on the wrong side, sixty feet of above the pavement, while the system was briefly in manual mode instead of its normal computer operation. The worker responsible was suspended. Today’s problem left those on board briefly stranded, before the train limped to the next stop at low speed. As of this hour, the entire monorail operation is closed down. The company that runs the monorail says it will be closed until at least tomorrow, maybe longer, depending on how long it takes to identify the problem and make sure it won’t happen again.

Toll Roads Can’t Replace Mass Transit The Denver Post September 1, 2004 Peggy Catlin seemed miffed when asked whether building a series of toll roads in and around Denver would make the FasTracks plan to expand commuter and light-rail service in the metro area unnecessary. Of course not, the assistant executive director of the Colorado Department of Transportation and the acting director of the Colorado Tolling Enterprise replied. Highways and mass transit should be integrated into a single regional transportation system, she said. Absolutely, agreed Scott Reed, spokesman for the Regional Transportation District. RTD will coordinate the construction of rail lines if voters approve a November ballot issue to fund FasTracks’ 12-year, $4.7 billion cost with a sales-tax increase. Expanded rail services and new toll roads “are definitely not mutually exclusive,” Reed said. “The more options, the better.” Remember that as the election approaches, because some folks who hate mass transit may ask you to think of toll roads as an alternative and vote against FasTracks. CDOT paid 600 grand to a consultant that last week told the agency this area could support six new toll lanes on existing roads and one new tollway. Those voluntary toll roads will complement, not take the place of, a decent mass transit system. They are a piece of the puzzle, not a panacea, for the rush-hour gridlock that has spread with suburban sprawl. The experts say that based on their training. I say it as a veteran of Chicago’s electric rail system. The Illinois Central Gulf commuter train turned an otherwise hour-long, rush-hour commute on 8- to 12-lane expressways into a 37-minute, 30-mile run into the city. Nevertheless, toll roads were a favorite of the Colorado governor’s Transportation Finance Task Force. In a March 2004 report, the task force identified tolling as one of its “Big Ideas” for the future and called for “immediate implementation of any financially viable and environmentally cleared projects.” Toll roads are “one way to look at financing additional road construction,” Catlin explained. In a state that has run out of highway construction money because of constitutional restrictions on revenue collections, creative financing is all that’s left. Catlin talks of leveraging $3 billion in badly needed area road projects by letting private companies sell bonds to build public roads and pay off those bonds with tolls collected on those roads. The taxpayers aren’t going to have to pick up the tab for any more than $300 million — 10 percent — of this, Catlin promised. Private bond holders shoulder all the financial risk if toll collections are not enough to pay off the debt, she added. That’s good news. The toll-road plan is based on a revenue stream that no one can guarantee. The tolls CDOT envisions are self-imposed. Individual drivers decide whether to move from free lanes into the toll lane of a given road. Transportation officials swear they can predict that behavior with enough certainty to make this work. But the Achilles’ heel of this grand design for better traffic flow exposed itself two days before CDOT released its list of prospective toll roads in and around Denver. Speaking to a transportation summit sponsored by the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce last week, pollster David Hill explained how reluctant drivers are to pay tolls. Hill, one of the country’s most respected samplers of public opinion, talked about studies in Florida, California and Texas. None showed enthusiasm for paying tolls to get to work faster. Now, that’s something to think about as the FasTracks vote approaches. Toll-based transportation plans are iffy at best. But even if this one attracts the money required to pay for itself, without mass transit, there are still no guarantees that it’ll make your drive to work any more bearable.

New York Plans $27.3bn Capital Spend Railway Gazette September 1, 2004 ‘PROGRESS that MTA has made in the last 20 years to restore and maintain the core system must not and cannot be eroded’, emphasised New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Executive Director Katherine N Lapp on July 29, unveiling investment proposals for the agency’s fifth five-year capital programme. MTA hopes to spend an unprecedented $27.3bn in 2005-09. ‘The capital programme sets forth prudent plans that define the core needs for bringing the entire system into a state of good repair, accomplishing normal replacement, and instituting system improvement’, explained Lapp. Maintenance and upgrades to existing subway and commuter rail infrastructure would account for $16.1bn, new lines or extensions such as the Second Avenue subway and the Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access would be allocated $9.9bn and the region’s highways, bridges and tunnels would get just $1.3bn. Noting that $48bn had been spent over the past 20 years, Lapp said ‘the results have been remarkable. On-time performance at Long Island Rail Road has increased from 85% in the early 1980s to 93.1%, and Metro-North’s performance rose from 80.5% to 97.5%.’ Mean distance between subway car failures increased from 11246km in 1981 to over 225000km in 2003. The budget gives New York City Transit $12.1bn for maintenance and rehabilitation work, with another $2.4bn for Long Island Rail Road and $1.6bn for Metro-North. Funding would come from federal, state and local governments as well as MTA’s bridge and tunnel tolls and the sale of bonds. Major investment elements include the purchase of 960 new subway cars and 1300 new buses for New York City Transit, rehabilitation of 55 stations, and further investment in automated train supervision and communications-based train control. LIRR would be able to start adding a new third track on its main line between Bellrose and Hicksville, build a new maintenance depot to serve the Port Jervis branch and acquire a further 170 M-7 EMU cars to complete the replacement of its M-1 fleet. Metro-North would buy 100 new dual-voltage M-8 cars to accommodate growing traffic and begin replacement for M-2 cars on the New Haven Line, with the state of Connecticut covering 65% of the cost. MTA would also buy 36 more M-7s, and fund rebuilding work on the Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines, plus rehabilitation of 25 stations. The budget also covers Phases 2 and 3 of a programme to replace the railway’s century-old workshops and depot at Croton-Harmon. MTA says an additional $500m would be spent ‘to continue post-9/11 security investments to harden vulnerable assets and implement systems for conducting targeted surveillance, controlling access, stopping intrusion, and providing command and control systems to support incident response.’ Other funding sources will be required for two further rail projects. A $2bn extension of the No 7 Flushing subway line from Times Square to the west side of Manhattan would be financed by the city, whilst a direct link from Lower Manhattan to JFK International Airport would be funded by Washington and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Meanwhile, MTA has requested proposals from marketing companies to develop sponsorship schemes for transport facilities, including subway stations, bridges and tunnels. It hopes to raise sponsorship revenue to help close a short-term operating budget deficit estimated at over $1bn. H�MTA has awarded a $43.4m contract to Rail Works Corp subsidiary L K Comstock & Co for the second phase of resignalling on the No 7 Flushing Line over the next four years. The work includes renewal of the interlockings at Queensboro Plaza, 33rd Street and 74th Street in Queens, and of lineside and relay room equipment. Comstock completed Phase I of the Flushing Line project, from 111th Street interlocking to the Main Street terminal, towards the end of 2003

Never On A Sunday: Making The Switch To Auckland’s Public Transport System Is Not As Easy As You Would Think; Marketing Maestro NZ Business September 1, 2004 The Aucklanders amongst us are constantly being exhorted to leave our cars at home and make better use of this city’s public transport system. The problem is apparently a complex one (although I am not entirely convinced that it is, in fact, complex at all) and has engaged the brains of politicians both local and national, city planners, engineers, as well as experts and specialists in a whole range of bizarre professions. However, the real problem with Auckland’s public transport has, in my humble submission, been the absence from that long list of experts of a marketing brain. And I am convinced of this based on the premise that, had there been a marketing brain within a thousand paces of the whole issue, we would surely see a very different public transport service offering. And how can I be so sure of my contention? Because I have a wife and son who are sufficiently open-minded, selfless and community spirited to have recently decided to use bus rather than car and have found the entire experience less than edifying — and those dear readers who know me well already appreciate that this is all the evidence I need to make broad, sweeping generalisations about any major issue. Having made the selfless shift away from the internal combustion engine and onto the bus network. Mrs Meredith has observed and/or experienced a range of issues which the completion of Marketing 101 by just one person within the public transport system would surely have ensured did not occur. Those issues include the fact that: - Buses are frequently late. - Buses are frequently full. - Bus connections frequently don’t work. - Bus drivers frequently have the interpersonal skills of an amoeba — and yes, there are notable exceptions and they are heroes and should be paid more. - Bus journeys frequently take up to twice as long as the equivalent journey by car. Despite all of the above, Mrs Meredith, not one to give up without a fight, decided to stick with the bus, even to the extent of deciding that she and our son should purchase weekly tickets rather than struggle with cash and coinage at the commencement of every daily journey. It was with this in mind that on a journey through the city late last Sunday afternoon, Mrs Meredith decided to “pop in” to Britomart and purchase said weekly tickets. Oh what a naive old thing Mrs Meredith revealed herself as being. Of course she could not achieve her objective. The bus ticket office thingy was closed. Of course it was. It was Sunday. The intercity train ticket thingy was open but not the bus equivalent. Now there’s integration for you. Fortunately, the chaps at the train thingy told her that she could purchase the requisite weekly ticket at nearby Starmart (a flash sort of “open all hours’ dairy). Full of warmth and admiration for the hard working, “Sunday’s just another day for us”, TranzRail people, off she trotted to the nearby Starmart — whereupon she enjoyed the company of the proprietor of the Starmart who, perfectly charmingly, advised her of his distress at his inability to fully meet her purchasing requirements. The problem was that, whilst Mrs Meredith wished to purchase TWO weekly tickets, well, things being what they are in the retail trade, the said proprietor was embarrassed at having a stock of just one. But all is not lost, she was reassuringly advised, there is another Starmart, operated as luck would have it, by another thoroughly decent fellow engaged in his business to the benefit of all those weary travellers through life and in need of milk, bread or weekly bus tickets — and he is doing all of this no more than a kilometre or so away. Feeling a little weary now and getting ever further away from the Britomart hub of this fine city’s integrated public transport system, Mrs Meredith bid the proprietor of Starmart a tired yet cheerful “adieu” and headed for the business premises of the aforementioned colleague. A while later she arrived, whereupon she inquired as to the stock situation in respect of weekly bus tickets and was relieved (indeed, euphoric) to learn that the stock situation was indeed quite healthy and that her purchasing requirements could, therefore, be readily met. The transaction was completed. Over 40 minutes had passed since Mrs Meredith’s arrival at Britomart. Three potential suppliers of weekly bus tickets had been explored. One had failed completely, by dint of being closed. The second partially failed having not been able to meet the requirements of her bulk order of two tickets. And the third was able to complete Mrs Meredith’s requirements with the supply of a second weekly bus ticket. Mrs Meredith triumphantly displayed her two weekly bus tickets for our son to admire. On the reverse of these tickets he noticed a remarkable phrase, clearly not penned by a marketer. It read “It’s Easy on the Bus”. Yeah. Right. I am reminded of something Warren Buffet said which I share freely here with all those involved in the public transport issue — ”You don’t need to have extraordinary effort to achieve extraordinary results. You just need to do the ordinary, everyday things exceptionally well”.

About 5 Percent Of Those Fined On Public Transport Pay Up; Fare Evaders Take System For A Ride The Advertiser September 1, 2004 JUST 500 of the 9512 people fined $1.6 million for fare evasion or behavioural offences on buses and trains last financial year have paid their fines. Transport SA figures reveal 5306 of the on-the-spot fines issued — worth $900,000 — have been referred to the State Government’s Fines Payment Unit for enforcement. A further 2227 of the $170 fines issued — worth $378,000 — were withdrawn on appeal, with the most common reason being it was a first offence or extenuating circumstances. The balance was simply written off because there was insufficient evidence and taking the matter to court was unlikely to produce a successful prosecution. Last year’s figures almost mirror those of the previous financial year in which 10755 fines were issued. Of those, only 537 were paid on time and 3377 referred to the Fines Payment Unit for enforcement. Almost half — 4568 — of the fines issued in 2002/03 were written off for reasons including insufficient evidence or a false address while another 2073 were withdrawn on appeal. Opposition Transport spokesman Robert Brokenshire said yesterday the low number of fines being paid was “a real cause for concern. The actual number is below 10 percent, which is a pretty ordinary rate of collection so obviously there is a problem there,” he said. The most common offences that attract a fine are travelling without a ticket, failing to validate a ticket, travelling on a concession ticket without carrying a concession card, offensive language, consuming alcohol and putting feet on a seat. A Transport SA spokeswoman said the number of offences had decreased last financial year for several reasons. These included the increased profile of inspectors on trains and regular station “lock downs” in which all passengers at suburban stations are screened. The introduction of electronic barriers at the Adelaide station preventing passengers from entering and leaving without a valid ticket had also lowered fare evasion. “The reasons for the number of expiation notices that remain unpaid by the due date and are subsequently enforced is unclear,” the spokeswoman said. Possible reasons included some offenders not being able to pay the fine and offenders giving false names and addresses when detected. A large number of fines are withdrawn on appeal following criticism of a previous zero tolerance policy on passengers who were unable to produce a valid ticket. “Persons who can prove their failure to produce a ticket or concession card was a genuine mistake and there was no deliberate intent to defraud may appeal and have the notice withdrawn, providing they have not been reported for a similar incident in the preceding 12 months,” the spokeswoman said. There are 218 people authorised to conduct ticket inspections — 99 on buses, 112 on trains and seven on trams.

Critical Mass Transit; This Miami-Dade Transit Special Report Is Brought To You By The Letters K, L, And S And By The Numbers 3, 11, And 27 Miami New Times (Florida) September 2, 2004 Miami Beach resident Jeff Bradley is legally blind. The 53-year-old freelance writer is among the thousands who, through necessity, rely on public transit to get around Miami-Dade County. “I drove a car until 1985, when I lost my peripheral vision,” Bradley says. “I live on the Beach because it’s easier to get a bus between here and downtown Miami. If I have to get to Kendall or somewhere west, forget about it. That would take me a whole day.” Bradley’s love-hate relationship with the Miami-Dade Transit Agency began in 1995, when he gave up Manhattan skyscrapers for the condo canyon along Collins Avenue. “Buses were old and ratty,” he says of the Metrobuses he rode nearly a decade ago. “Seats were covered in water from leaky bus roofs. It was abysmal. But they’ve gotten new buses on the Beach. That’s a good thing.” Some problems persist. “Some of these bus drivers need classes in public relations,” Bradley opines. He adds that buses serving Miami Beach run late or don’t show up at all. According to public records, Bradley has complained to Miami-Dade Transit on several occasions, most recently on June 9 via the transit agency’s Website. “On Tuesday, June 8 at precisely 1:08 p.m., a southbound K bus passed me at 41st Street and Sheridan Road, Miami Beach, presumably because I wasn’t precisely at the bus stop, but I was running towards it waving my arms,” Bradley wrote. He pounded on the side of the bus, but the bus driver ignored him. “I understand bus drivers get a lot of grief, but he’s a public servant for Pete’s sake,” Bradley fumes later. “There is no reason for such callous behavior.” Bradley is not alone in his feelings. On an average day, Miami-Dade Transit fields dozens of phone calls and e-mails from irate transit users who gripe about late or no-show buses, not to mention rude bus drivers. Recently, New Times pored over hundreds of those complaints; interviewed dozens of transit users to gauge how the Metrobus system is working; and spent a week riding on Metrobus to experience life as a bus dependent. Bruce Clapp, a slight, freckled, middle-age man with salt-and-pepper hair, is sitting inside a dilapidated metal bus shelter at NE 28th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. It is a quarter to noon and the heat is unbearable. The shelter looks as if it belongs on a street corner in Baghdad. Glass shards glitter on the sidewalk. Someone has stolen the electric meter from the shelter, rendering it lightless at night. Clapp waits for a southbound 3 or a 16 to take him downtown to Flagler Street and North Miami Avenue. Clapp, age 56 and suffering from a chronic liver disorder, says he sometimes waits up to two hours for a bus to pick him up. He has a particularly jaundiced view of the system: “The bus drivers do whatever the hell they want. If they know you and they don’t like you, they won’t stop for you.” The transit agency, Clapp says, should hire more supervisors and adopt a zero-tolerance policy with drivers who mistreat the public. “If a bus driver gets one complaint, they should be fired!” Clapp says. “And some of these drivers need to lose weight. They’re too fat.” Claudia Domenig, a 33-year-old Austrian researcher, lives on Miami Beach and uses the M to get to the University of Miami medical school campus at Jackson Memorial Hospital, located on NW Twelfth Avenue and Sixteenth Street. On November 19, 2003, Domenig says, she got on an M operated by a driver in a “foul mood.” After her trip ended, she recalls, she was e-mailing a complaint to Miami-Dade Transit about the driver’s abusive language toward a passenger in a wheelchair. The passenger, Domenig says, had simply asked the driver if his safety harness was secured properly. “The driver tells the man in the wheelchair: oeFuck you bitch! Fuck you!’ And the man didn’t do anything. I reported it to the transit agency, but I never heard back from anyone, of course.” Wencesla Rodriguez, a 56-year-old transit rider, never had a problem using her monthly transit pass until she crossed paths with a militant bus driver in Miami Beach. On October 29, 2003, Rodriguez recalls, she boarded the H at Eleventh Street and Washington Avenue. The driver demanded she show some identification to go with the pass, she says, then kicked her off the bus. “I’ve bought a monthly bus pass for the last five years and no one has ever asked me for an ID,” Rodriguez declares. “I got off the bus in tears.” Theo Karantalis, a 42-year-old airport employee with multiple sclerosis, has filed complaints on several occasions since 2003 about the drivers on his bus routes. His first complaint was against a bus driver moving the Airport Owl too fast for Karantalis’s liking. “This guy liked to step on the gas, so I told him to slow down,” Karantalis says. “The driver told me to pipe down and mind my own business.” In another incident, a driver lost his temper when Karantalis was too slow to load his bicycle onto the bike rack. “The guy yells at me: “You pulled this shit on me the other day, now hurry it up!’” This past June, Karantalis claims, the driver of the 37 forced him to remove his bicycle from the rack and get off the bus, insisting the bus was not a bike-carrying route. “I take the 37 every day and never had a problem using the bike racks!” Karantalis exclaims. “The driver told me he had no time for conversation as he was running late.” Carlos Rubi lived in Miami for seven years before relocating to Los Angeles two months ago. The 36-year-old advertising executive brags about the bus service in the City of Angels. “It’s the complete opposite of Miami,” Rubi gloats. “The buses actually show up on time and stop when you tell them to. “You waste a lot of time waiting for a bus in Miami,” he continues. “I used to take the 3, and it would always run at least 40 minutes late in the evenings.” Oscar Vera, Rubi’s former roommate, still lives in Miami, near Biscayne Boulevard and NE 33rd Street. Vera uses the 3 bus to get to his job at Aventura Mall, where he is a manager at Zara, a women’s clothing store. Vera says he usually treks to the bus stop two hours before his 2:00 p.m. shift. “One day I got to the bus stop at 11:30 a.m.,” Vera recalls, seething. “It’s 1:20 p.m. and still no bus. So I call a friend to drive me to work. When we’re by 65th Street and Biscayne Boulevard, I see not one, but four buses heading north to Aventura Mall. That’s just wrong.” Vera says the wait is no better on the way home. “If you miss the bus at 10:55 p.m., you have to wait until 12:30 a.m. for the next one,” Vera grumbles. “You know how many S buses going to Miami Beach come by during the time I’m waiting for the 3? Five or six! I could understand if this was Colombia or Argentina, but c’mon now.” Stephanie Hammer, a 38-year-old operations manager for financial services firm Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, uses Metrobus to get to the Coconut Grove Metrorail station, where she takes the southbound train to get to Morgan Stanley’s office at 1111 Brickell Ave. Hammer, who lives in Allapattah, regularly rides the 7, 11, 24, or 27, but she claims that none of the routes show up on time. “On Flagler, it’s horrendous,” Hammer gripes. “You’ll sit for a whole hour and then three buses pull up at the same time. That is just terrible service.” At the end of her work day, a late bus can cost Hammer money as well as stress and inconvenience. If she doesn’t pick up her daughter from day care by 6:00 p.m., Hammer says, she has to pay a ten-dollar fine for every fifteen minutes she is late. “The 27 is supposed to be at the Metrorail station at 5:04 p.m., 5:19 p.m., and 5:34 p.m.,” Hammer explains. “Any one of those buses will get me to day care on time. But sometimes the buses aren’t showing up until 5:50 p.m., which doesn’t help me.” For Barry Robinson, late and no-show buses are causing him problems with his new employer in Doral. Robinson, who moved to Miami in February, has to catch two Metrobuses and Metrorail to get to his job. “I was reprimanded by my boss because I was late to my job on three different days within a two-week period because of a Metrobus that never showed up,” Robinson grouses. “At this point I’m leery about investing sixty dollars for another monthly transit pass. I need to get a car.” Metrobus drivers are no different than other drivers in Miami-Dade County. They cut you off. They speed through school zones. They run you off the road to change lanes. They gab relentlessly on the cell phone instead of focusing on the road. And they cause accidents that could be easily avoided. According to Miami-Dade Transit statistics, bus drivers have been responsible for 1473 collisions with other vehicles since 2002. The numbers don’t include accidents with stationary objects such as telephone poles and concrete walls. But not all hazardous situations are caused by accidents. Many complain that aggressive drivers use the buses as instruments of intimidation. Last March 3, Alejandro Delgado, a county employee, says he was almost clipped by a Metrobus while trying to walk across the intersection of NW Seventeenth Street and Ninth Avenue. Delgado was in the crosswalk when a bus barreled toward him. “The bus driver was making a right at the intersection,” Delgado recalls. “He sees me, blows his horn, and made his turn at a pretty fast speed. I had to back up so that he wouldn’t run me over. The driver was laughing at me, too.” Last February, Meagan Randall, program director for the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce, claims she was forced into oncoming traffic by a bus driver who pulled into her lane on Collins Avenue between Seventeenth Street and Lincoln Road. “I beeped my horn at him, but he just ignored me,” Randall says. “I was shaken by the bus driver’s lack of attention.” Bay Harbor Islands resident Raymond Lechler was riding his bicycle on the right-hand shoulder of 96th Street and Collins Avenue on October 28, 2003, when a T almost knocked him over. “The bus driver made no attempt to go around me,” Lechler says. “When I caught up to the bus, the driver proceeded to yell profanities and give me the finger.” On September 25, 2003, Rafael Ortiz was driving his black Lexus GS300 on Collins Avenue and 71st Street in Miami Beach when the driver of an S blocked him from changing lanes. “He was speeding up to stop me from getting into his lane,” Ortiz says. “I end up on the far left lane and the bus pulls up on my passenger side. The driver starts screaming at me. I’ve seen many cases of road rage in my life and I did not want to be the victim of one, so I sped off.” Ortiz says when he parked his car, he noticed the bus heading toward him. He crossed the street and watched the bus driver stop the Metrobus right next to his Lexus. “He gets out to look inside my car,” Ortiz continues. “He then spits and punches the windshield. The county needs to conduct background checks on these drivers before letting them loose on the streets. This guy is endangering people’s lives, including mine.” Miami-Dade Transit director Roosevelt Bradley (no relation to bus rider Jeff Bradley) says Miami-Dade Transit is trying to solve some of its obvious problems. “The people are expecting and demanding quality service from MDTA,” Bradley says. “If we find out that a bus driver mistreats a customer, we will take action and that person won’t be working for MDTA. That is how strongly I feel about it.” Miami-Dade’s citizenry, beset by single-occupant car-caused congestion approaching Third World levels, feel strongly about the issue as well. On November 2, 2002, residents put their faith in local government and approved the People’s Transportation Plan, an ambitious $17.9 billion public works project to improve streets, sidewalks, and traffic lights throughout the county; expand Metrorail by 88 miles; and most of all, pay for an immediate overhaul of the county’s decrepit Metrobus system. Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas led a successful campaign to win support for the plan. Penelas and Co. enticed voters with promises of citizen oversight over billions of dollars in public funds and 24-hour transit service with new and improved bus routes. Other components of the plan included free rides for county residents 65 and older, as well as the purchase of several hundred community circulators, minibuses that run in neighborhoods where public transit has been virtually nonexistent. By a two-to-one margin, residents voted to tax themselves an additional half-cent on the local sales tax, which today stands at seven percent. Bradley insists Miami-Dade Transit has made some improvements. For example, he says, buses are being outfitted with video surveillance cameras that can record up to 72 hours of footage. He predicts 9000 new bus signs will be erected throughout Miami-Dade by the end of 2005. The large, circular, green-and-blue reflective signs include route schedules and maps in three different languages: English, Kreyol, and Spanish. Plans also call for roughly 3000 new bus shelters to be installed throughout unincorporated Miami-Dade in the next two years. “If people encounter a problem on a Metrobus, I want them to call me. If you ride the bus system, and you’ve been mistreated, or you see someone being mistreated by a bus operator, let me know,” Bradley says. One morning in July, the southbound 3 stops at NE 28th Street and Biscayne Boulevard. Two mothers with their children take up the entire front row of seats on the bus. About six or seven people standing in the aisle rock back and forth every time the bus jerks to a stop. Ricardo, a bald, dark-skinned man who is missing some of his bottom front teeth, grumbles something about kicking Miami Police Chief John Timoney’s ass a couple of decades ago when Miami’s top cop was a police rookie in New York. “Check it out!” Ricardo tells me. Behind the wheel is a petite black woman in her mid-30s. At every stop, she showers people with a radiant smile. Angela P. Jones has been driving Metrobuses for the past twelve years. Her regular routes are the 3 and the 16, which travel between downtown Miami, Aventura, and North Miami Beach. Jones shows no sign of stress or contempt. “I try to be nice to people even though they scream, cuss at you,” Jones says. “Sometimes they even spit on you. People just seem ready to brawl whenever you don’t show up at the exact time they get to the bus stop. I just go with the flow.” Jones pulls into the downtown Miami bus terminal near the Stephen P. Clark Government Center, where people can transfer to Metrorail or other buses traveling to Miami Beach, Coral Gables, West Miami, and other areas of Miami-Dade County. At least four buses are in the terminal, including the C, which travels to Miami Beach via the MacArthur Causeway. The C driver is arguing with a potbellied teenager wearing round eyeglasses. The driver doesn’t want to allow the teen to board, though after consulting with a supervisor, he does. “Yesterday this kid was cussing out elderly folk on my bus,” the driver says. “I told him to stop, but he wouldn’t listen to me.” He has been driving buses for eight years. William, who declined to give his last name, says the salary offsets the public abuse and the stress. “J-O-B, baby,” William quips. “That’s all I need. But it’s rough, man. People want you to be on time every day. Sometimes you can’t help being late because of traffic.” Later in the day, the westbound K, headed for downtown Miami, pulls up to the curb at Eighth Street and Washington Avenue in Miami Beach. The K’s driver is Herardo San Juan, a lanky Cuban who has been operating public buses for seventeen years. In three years he can retire with his full pension. “People sometimes bring their personal problems on the bus,” San Juan says. “So you learn to give people the benefit of the doubt. But I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut because arguing with the customers is not going to make a difference.” At 8:41 on another July morning, two buses approach the intersection of West 68th Street and West 28th Avenue in Hialeah, near one of the designated bus stops for the Hialeah Gardens Connection. With his right thumb, the driver of the first bus points me to the bus behind his. The electronic sign on the second bus isn’t working, so a large 282 is stenciled in black marker onto a piece of paper pasted to the windshield. I wave to the bus in an attempt to stop it. The driver sees me, yet keeps going. “Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I yelp. As if my voice-cracking beagle squeal was going to stop her. By luck, she comes to a halt about a quarter of the block down from the designated bus stop to let off a passenger. I run. Get on. Out of breath and pissed off, I ask her: “Why didn’t you stop?!” “That’s not the designated bus stop,” she retorts. A bit later, Ms. Congeniality arrives at the Wal-Mart off the Okeechobee Road exit of the Palmetto Expressway. In a great feat of wisdom by the Miami-Dade Transit Agency, both the southbound and northbound 282 share this same stop. A crowd gazes at the bus, perplexed by the paper sign. Maybe some people are headed south to the Metrorail station, maybe not. Who knows? We’ll never know because the bus driver didn’t stop to inform the people waiting at Wal-Mart which direction she was headed. “I’m only supposed to stop if they signal me to stop,” she snorts. “Y’all people who ride the bus don’t understand that we have to follow rules and regulations. Y’all just want us to do what y’all want us to do. When you become a bus driver, you can do whatever you want.” Since 2002, Miami-Dade Transit has fired three bus drivers as a result of customer complaints. Another 21 bus drivers have been suspended from work, while 32 operators have received written reprimands. Miami-Dade County employs 1479 full-time and part-time bus drivers. Of those, 1332 are black, 491 are Hispanic, and the remainder are white, Asian, or Indian. Almost half of the black drivers (633) are women between the ages of 21 and 60. Since the People’s Transportation Plan was approved, the transit agency has hired 639 new bus drivers, who earn a starting salary of $13.14 an hour. The average Miami-Dade bus operator earns $17.50 an hour. Miami-Dade Transit has 834 buses in its fleet. The county has purchased 170 buses in the two years since voters approved the PTP. Most of the new buses were put on routes serving Miami International Airport and tourist destination Miami Beach. For example, the J Metrobus route has the luxury of new buses equipped with passenger reading lights and overhead compartments for people to store their belongings. The transit agency plans to buy up to 341 more minibuses and replace 700 regular buses by 2008. The agency operates buses that are eighteen years old and have logged more than a million service miles. Transit director Roosevelt Bradley predicts the county will have a state-of-the-art fleet consisting of more than 1200 buses by 2008. As of today, Miami-Dade Transit operates 99 bus routes including ten new ones: the 99, the Coconut Grove Circulator, the Little Havana Circulator, the Sweetwater Circulator, the Flagami Connection, the Coral Gables Connection, the Hialeah Gardens Connection, the Little Haiti Connection, the Coral Way Max, and the Midnight Owl. According to a draft analysis of Miami-Dade Transit users, 60 percent of bus riders are female; 86 percent are black or Hispanic, and the remainder are categorized as nonwhite Hispanic or other. About 77 percent of all transit users have an annual household income of $40,000 or less, and 40 percent are either unemployed or retired.

Monorail Technicians Missed Warning LAS VEGAS SUN September 2, 2004 Technicians should have seen warnings that a 60-pound tire assembly powering the Las Vegas Monorail was unstable the day before the tire fell more than 20 feet off the train and prompted the ongoing shutdown of the system, the man in charge of the monorail management company said this morning. In a preliminary investigation, Transit Systems Management, parent of the Las Vegas Monorail Co., found that technicians employed by Bombardier Transportation working at the system’s control center near the Sahara hotel probably saw warning lights indicating a problem but failed to investigate their cause, Cam Walker, president and CEO of Transit System Management, said this morning. “It’s very frustrating and we’re outraged that alarms did go off and our operator did not appear to follow the procedures to investigate those,” Cam Walker said. “It should have been prevented.” No one was injured when the tire came loose from the monorail train and landed in a parking lot west of Koval Lane between Sands Avenue and Flamingo Road, near the Harrah’s passenger platform, about 8 a.m. Wednesday, Todd Walker, a spokesman for the monorail, said. The tire, used to guide the driverless train along the elevated track, fell to the ground into a parking lot and did not damage any property, he said. Bombardier, the Canadian company contracted to build and operate the monorail, and the employees involved in this incident will likely face some kind of disciplinary action stemming from the investigation, Cam Walker said. The company and construction partner Granite Construction amassed more than $12 million in fines stemming from the six-month delay in opening the system, according to the company. Cam Walker said it was too early to tell how severe the punishment would be. “I don’t really know right now,” Cam Walker said. “I know I’m the president and there has to be something.” A Bombardier employee was suspended Aug. 16 after he mistakenly opened a set of doors to a train while it was carrying passengers 25 feet off the ground. The passengers inside were transferred to another car while technicians inspected it, Todd Walker has said. In January, while the system was still in the testing phase, a drive shaft fell from the train while it was in an enclosed area. No one was injured and testing was suspended for three days, Todd Walker said. The two malfunctions are unrelated, he said. “There’s never been a tire or a wheel that fell from the monorail,” Todd Walker said. “It’s completely separate from anything that’s happened in the past.” A team of engineers from McLean, Va.-based Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm brought in to investigate the malfunction, this morning was still trying to determine exactly how the tire assembly could have fallen from a moving train, Cam Walker said. The monorail trains were evacuated after the accident and remained out of service this morning. Monorail officials did not have an estimate as to when the $650 million system will reopen, Todd Walker said. Passengers aboard the monorail would likely not have felt the 20-inch tire coming loose from the train, Todd Walker said. “On board you wouldn’t have noticed it,” he said. “The only risk would have been to people on the ground.” The closure came during the biannual MAGIC fashion expo, which ends today. The convention, billed as one of Las Vegas’ largest, brings in about 90,000 people and was considered the first large-scale test of the monorail. Wednesday’s evacuation was the most serious in a series of glitches that has plagued the privately funded monorail since it opened July 15. In July the system temporarily left riders stranded at the MGM Grand after malfunctioning doors locked the passengers inside for about 10 minutes. The first leg of the system was pushed back more than six months, as engineers and technicians worked to correct a succession of computer and mechanical glitches. Contracts required the trains to run trouble-free for 30 days before the system opened. The monorail runs about four miles from the MGM Grand to the Sahara hotel and has seven stations along the way. At 4 p.m. monorail representatives stood at the station’s entrance to offer would-be riders water and refunds for pre-purchased tickets. Jim Crawford, of South Carolina, declined to get a ticket refund, but was glad to take a cup of water, as the National Weather Service reported temperatures Wednesday reaching 107 degrees. “I’m gonna need this now because I guess I’m going to have to walk down the road there and wait for a hotel shuttle,” Crawford said. “I’m a little disappointed, just because I have to find another way back and it’s hot out.” Christian M. Chensvold of Los Angeles shared Crawford’s disappointment. “It’s just such a great form of transportation, that’s why I’m disappointed it’s not working right now,” Chensvold said. “I really liked using the monorail this week. It allowed me to be self-reliant and I didn’t have to wait for a cab or bus. It was just clean and fun, and now I have to find a shuttle, which I’d rather not ride.” Stacey Wieties of Arkansas said she had gotten spoiled riding the monorail to and from the MAGIC convention for the past week. “I loved riding it,” Wieties said. “It was so easy. We could go back and forth and didn’t have to wait. I’m really going to miss riding it tonight. We got so used to riding it everywhere, now that we can’t use it tonight, I’m really going to miss it.” Monorail advertising executive Gary Johnson said the train’s representatives were equally frustrated. “We were excited about MAGIC because this was our chance to really show the monorail off,” Johnson said. “So this is disappointing for us too. If the monorail wanted to pick a bad time for this to happen, this is it.”

America’s Drivers Getting More Aggravated KIRO-TV News — Seattle September 2, 2004 America is a nation of aggravated drivers, and they are growing more aggravated by the year, according to a new survey. Bad roads, traffic delays and personal worries all play a part in increasing frusrtration, but other drivers may be the biggest factor. Forty percent of drivers describe driving as “aggravating” and “more aggravating than two years ago,” according to the poll conducted for Drive for Life, a driver safety awareness initiative. Both men and women agreed other drivers are the prime source of their aggravation, but the behaviors that set them off divide the genders. Men complained of drivers who talk on cell phones and drive while distracted, while women are more bothered by aggressive behaviors like speeding and tailgating. One in four men admitted to driving angry, compared to one in five women. All that anger takes a toll: 18 percent of Americans polled said aggressive drivers pose the biggest threat on the road, second only to drunk drivers. Another finding was that 37 percent of teenage drivers admit to driving while emotionally upset — more than twice the rate for older people. The all-around angriest, most aggravated, most dangerous age group on the road was those in their early 20s, who were most likely to describe themselves as fast and aggressive drivers, least likely to wear a seat belt or require a passenger to wear one, and most likely to have received a traffic ticket within the past two years. A poll of 1,100 licensed drivers was done to find the figures. Drive for Life is sponsored by AAA, Volvo Cars of North America, Partners for Highway Safety, the National Association of Police Organizations and the National Sheriffs’ Association.

North-line Trains Running By 2009? Official Lays Out Transit Plans At Community Meeting In Cornelius Charlotte Observer September 2, 2004 Diesel-powered trains could be running between Mooresville and uptown by 2009 or 2010, carrying commuters at speeds up to 79 mph, a Charlotte transit official told a community meeting Wednesday. About 75 people attended the meeting in the Cornelius town hall, a short walk from one of the proposed stations. Charlotte Area Transit System is beginning detailed planning for the 30- mile line, which would travel on a Norfolk Southern freight track that now carries one train a day. By 2010, the track could be carrying 25 trains daily, said David Carol, project manager for CATS. Norfolk Southern may operate the passenger trains for CATS. The trains and track would cost $210 million to $230 million. More money would be needed to build a maintenance yard and an uptown train station. Carol said the project was affordable only if the Federal Transit Administration and the state paid a large share of the cost. Federal money is becoming harder to win, he told the audience. So CATS must work to keep the price down and ridership strong to make the project cost effective. The north line is one of five routes planned by CATS. Construction is expected to start late this year on the first route, a light-rail line from uptown to near Pineville. The freight track runs from uptown, through Derita, to W.T. Harris Boulevard and the Eastfield/Hambright Road area and then along Old Statesville Road to Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and Mooresville. The north Mecklenburg towns have been planning for the trains for years, adopting plans that will concentrate homes, apartments, shops and offices around the stations. Many passengers are expected to come from those new communities. By fall 2005, the towns will begin planning the designs of their stations. “We want these stations to scream: `Welcome to my town,’ “ Carol said. Trains would run every 20 or 30 minutes during rush hour and hourly at other times. They’d operate between Davidson and uptown in 35 minutes and from Mooresville to uptown in 50 minutes. Even after stopping at several stations, that’s faster than driving. Carol said dozens of railroad crossings would be closed or consolidated — a change that he admitted would be unpopular with nearby residents. Cornelius resident Ernie Sappington told Carol he didn’t want trains running next to his house. He argued the trains should be run down the median of Interstate 77. “Let them put it in your back yard and see how you like it,” Sappington said. The trains weren’t needed, he said, but a woman in the audience interrupted to say plenty of those there wanted trains. Consultants estimate 300 to 500 people would ride each train, which would stop on West Trade Street at what is now the uptown Greyhound station. The state and CATS plan to replace that bus depot with a station that would serve Amtrak, the north Mecklenburg commuter trains, streetcars, local and express buses as well as Greyhound.

Japanese Transportation Delegation Offers California’s Leaders Insight on High-Speed Rail Business Wire September 2, 2004 A consortium of Japanese transportation officials today provided California’s leadership with a look at how Shinkansen, also known as the “Bullet Train,” offers Japan safe and reliable transportation, citing the success of moving more than 6.9 billion passengers during the past 40 years. The Japanese-California High-Speed Rail Symposium drew public officials and policy makers along with Bay Area business leaders and transportation experts to this first day of a two-day California visit. The second stop will find the delegation in Los Angeles tomorrow to provide Southern California leadership the opportunity to learn about the history of Japanese high-speed rail and how it will benefit their community as well. In his introduction Gino Antoniello, Vice President of Sumitomo Corporation of America commenting on high-speed rail said, “They are doing transportation right in Japan. The Shinkansen technology’s tremendous economic and environmental benefits in Japan are astounding.” The three-hour long seminar held at the Palace Hotel featured a sharing of experience from Japan that provided historical as well as operational information and perspective for leaders interested in implementing California’s high-speed rail system. On hand to provide technical expertise were the operators of the Shinkansen; the director of engineering (railway division) of the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure & Transport; the manager of research and development for the Central Japan Railway Company; and the director of Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency. Reacting to the speakers, Mehdi Morshed, executive director of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) said, “We are listening to system operators who have decades of experience providing safe and reliable technology in rail. What Japan did a half a century ago, we can do today in California. It’s interesting to hear about the distinctive features of Japanese high-speed rail, which parallels the needs for California: safety, high-efficiency and environmentally-friendly.” The timing of the symposium comes as the CHSRA yesterday ended its public comment period for the Draft EIR/EIS. The planning document will guide the development of the state’s first-ever high-speed rail project slated to travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than 2 1/2 hours. “In California it is our goal to establish high-speed rail as the transportation choice in California by building the backbone of transportation for the Third Millennium,” said Joseph Petrillo, chair of the CHSRA. “Connecting the state and its existing rail infrastructure will benefit all. This technology is well-established in Japan, and we are eager to learn from their experience and unbelievable safety and environmental record.” The Seminar will be held tomorrow at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel (506 Grand Avenue, Los Angeles) from 2 — 4 p.m. The Japan Overseas Rolling Stock Association, in cooperation with the CHSRA sponsored the event. �

Transport Policy Challenges Belief Irish News September 4, 2004 AS one who spent 30 years in town and transport planning in Britain, I read your growing correspondence regarding transport here with a degree of incredulity. I am convinced the solution can be relatively inexpensive, provided those taxed with solving the problems do not have antagonism towards public transport and a seeming love affair with the car (which appears to be the case). Their lack of vision is astounding. Over two decades ago, it became obvious in Britain that transport problems, especially in larger conurbations, were insoluble without a good public transport system to provide an alternative to the car. Belfast is a relatively small city but has an enhanced importance as the hub of Northern Ireland’s economy. Situated in an enclosed coastal river valley, arterial road and rail routes, the sea terminal and airports combine to make it a congested area. The local Department for Regional Development, as many of your correspondents correctly state, is attempting to solve transport problems by concentrating on more and more road building. This will never solve the problem, as UK and latterly Dublin planners have long since realised. Ironically, Belfast’s road network of motorways, bypasses and slip roads is really far too extensive for the relatively light traffic outside an hour at the morning and evening peaks. All it does is encourage abnormal use of the private car. Sit on the M1, the M2 at Sandyknowes, or on the Sydenham bypass at peak times and it is often a case of ‘spot the commercial vehicle’, such is the proliferation of cars, 95 percent of which are driver only. These drivers are further feather bedded by the abnormal amount of free parking, legal and illegal, around the university/Holyland and Markets areas to name but two. How and why the residents tolerate this amazes me. Their streets are reduced to single lane traffic — a danger to pedestrians and a hindrance to delivery and public service vehicles. The total lack of vision by the government is further evidenced by a seeming desire to spend millions on often unnecessary schemes to widen the M1 and M2. This only accommodates the ‘driver only’ cars and so it goes on. A far less expensive alternative would be to designate ‘lorry only’ and public transport lanes and at same time discourage the private car. Even with current policy it will come to this anyhow inside a few years. I know — I’ve witnessed it. Currently the piece-meal bus lanes in Belfast are a farce, with illegal parking adding to the problem of start/stop bus lanes. The transport problems of Belfast — and indeed the province — will not change until the authorities realise that continuing to try and build their way out with more new roads isn’t an answer. Improve the existing ones, but abandon schemes that encourage more cars, congestion and growing pollution. The frequency of bus and rail services must be greatly increased, with a much better and attractive fare structure. Free parking must be abolished. Belfast is the only major city I know with free parking to the detriment of its own residents. The fact that the city and the International airport — both with adjacent rail tracks — have no rail connection speaks for itself. At small expense both could quickly remove hundreds of cars from our roads. Light rail could be built on the former rail track in east Belfast to serve Ballybeen, Comber and Ards. Similarly a link is essential to Carryduff. Why the government wishes to build park and ride (P&R) sites at Sandyknowes and in the Dunmurry area (near M-ways) is unbelievable when all that is required is to enhance P&R sites at local rail stations with major new sites at Templepatrick and adjacent to the rail line near Sandyknowes. The ludicrous consideration to close a main rail link between our major cities is further madness. This appears to be a legacy of the department’s love affair with the car and would simply encourage traffic from the north west to further congest the Belfast conurbation whereas a fast attractive rail service would take scores of cars off this route. An extension of the Portadown rail line to Armagh with a cross-border link to Monaghan and possibly on to Enniskillen, would provide a safer and faster alternative into the west. This could also be done with vastly less expense than roadways. Have we got the vision? An effort must also be made to transfer some of our freight to rail, particularly from the north west and the west. Every single truck removed from our roads is one less accident waiting to happen. There must be a sea change in the present blinkered DRD policy, which wastes huge sums of money with no vision. We all love our cars but the modern world is leaving us behind as far as a good alternative public transport network is concerned. If our transport department doesn’t get its act together soon, I fear for our future. Already we are the only European country with no rail freight. FEARFUL PLANNER County Down

River Line To Start Earlier, Meet N.Y. Trains Trenton Times September 3, 2004 The River Line will begin operating 15 minutes earlier from Florence on Tuesday, allowing commuters to connect in Trenton with earlier trains to New York, NJ Transit announced yesterday. Since the light-rail line began running in March, the first train to leave Florence was at 6:23 a.m. That train started service in Florence, although the line runs from Camden to Trenton. That train arrived in Trenton at 6:43 a.m., but that was too late for commuters to connect with Northeast Corridor trains scheduled to get to New York around 8 a.m. NJ Transit had said it couldn’t begin River Line trains earlier because of an agreement with Conrail to make way for freight trains. Under the new plan unveiled yesterday, starting Tuesday the first River Line train to leave Florence will do so at 6:08 a.m., allowing it to stop in Roebling at 6:11 a.m. and arrive in Trenton at 6:28 a.m. “I’d like to thank Conrail for enabling NJ Transit to provide earlier service for our customers,” said George D. Warrington, NJ Transit executive director. “The new schedule allows our customers in Florence and Roebling to make earlier connections to NJ Transit, SEPTA and Amtrak services in Trenton.” NJ Transit noted the earlier River Line train means commuters can get to Trenton in time for the 6:43 a.m. Northeast Corridor train to New York. That train is scheduled to get to New York at 7:53 a.m. The agency also noted the Florence station has 625 free parking spaces and Roebling has 200 free parking spaces. NJ Transit also announced it’s expanding its Capital Connection bus service in Trenton. The service runs from the River Line station on South Clinton Avenue through downtown Trenton to the State House on West State Street. NJ Transit said it has added four morning trips to the Capital Connection and six afternoon trips. The trips leave four minutes after each River Line arrival and arrive four minutes before each River Line departure.

Eastside MAX Carries 172 Million In 18 Years; Line’s 18th Anniversary On Sept. 6th TriMet News & Info September 3, 2004 The Eastside MAX Blue Line has carried 172 million rides since opening in 1986 as Portland’s first light rail line. The 15-mile line, which turns 18 years old on Sept 6, links Gresham to downtown Portland. Since opening, Eastside MAX trains have traveled about 17 million miles on the Eastside, equivalent to 2,144 trips around the earth at the equator. Now the Eastside MAX Blue Line carries about 48,800 rides each weekday. MAX light rail system With the May 2004 opening of the Interstate MAX Yellow Line through North Portland, TriMet’s MAX system covers 44 miles, and has 65 light rail stations. The overall MAX system carried 89 million rides last year, and averages about 97,000 rides each weekday.

Workers Ignored Alarm Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada) September 3, 2004 The Las Vegas Monorail will approach the Labor Day weekend on the sidelines after an investigation found workers ignored an alarm that preceded a train’s loss of a tire, shutting the rail line since Wednesday morning. It’s the second time in a little over two weeks that the actions, or lack thereof, by workers for monorail operator and co-builder Bombardier Corp. have helped trigger a safety-related incident, rankling monorail officials. ‘This could have been avoided. This should have been avoided. There were indications that this should have been looked into a day earlier,’ Todd Walker, a spokesman for Transit Systems Management LLC, the local company hired to manage the monorail and oversee Bombardier, said Thursday. ‘I’m disappointed with the operator.’ Officials at Montreal-based Bombardier said actions of its Las Vegas workers were being scrutinized by Bombardier investigators brought in from out of town. ‘We definitely regret any inconvenience to the riding public,’ said Helene Gagnon, a Bombardier spokeswoman. ‘It is an unfortunate occurrence, and we’re taking all the necessary steps to prevent another occurrence.’ ‘Our primary concern is making sure the system is safe and reliable,’ Gagnon said. ‘Before the system is reopened, we’ll make sure the integrity of the system is in place.’ A reopening date was unclear Thursday. Officials at Transit Systems, who are ultimately responsible for the decision, said they were awaiting a final report on what went wrong before deciding on service resumption. That report is expected today. ‘From every indication right now, we won’t be opening for normal service in the morning,’ Cam Walker, Transit Systems president, said Thursday. ‘Certainly, we want it open as soon as possible, but the priority is safety and making sure it’s ready to open.’ He declined to speculate how soon that reopening may take place. ‘We don’t want to get into a situation like in March and April and say, ‘Yeah, we’ll really open tomorrow,’ and then not open for four days,’ he said. Investigators hoped to know by this morning why the tire-train separation took place, but already clear is the series of missed opportunities to preempt the incident. According to Cam Walker, Bombardier workers at the monorail’s control center first received an alarm Tuesday night that there was an unspecified problem with one train in particular, and the system as a whole. No one investigated the alarm, and operations were allowed to continue until the system shut for the night around 1 a.m. Wednesday. There was no follow-up on the alarm overnight, when routine maintenance is done by Bombardier, Cam Walker said. About one hour after the rail line reopened at 7 a.m., a tire known as a ‘steering’ wheel used to help guide the monorail fell from Star Trek-themed Train No. 4. The 20-inch-wide, 60-pound rubber tire landed in a Harrah’s parking lot behind the Strip. No one was hurt. ‘Procedures were not followed by the operator when the alarm went off,’ Cam Walker said. ‘When an alarm goes off, the priority of that alarm should, at the least, be checked during the off-hours, should have been identified during the night and solved before opening the next day.’ The tire fell just 16 days after another incident involving human error. Another Bombardier worker inadvertently opened a set of passenger car doors facing a steep drop-off from an elevated track Aug. 16. No one was hurt, and the worker was suspended. Gagnon said she could not comment on employee actions in the latest incident. Despite the incidents, Cam Walker said he still has faith in the monorail and Bombardier, one of the world’s largest transportation companies with clients including the famed London subway. ‘I’m confident they can work out the kinks so this won’t happen again,’ he said. All nine trains were taken off-line to allow inspections and ensure the problem was limited to just one train, officials said. ‘There’s a lot of reviewing going on to make sure we get to the bottom of this,’ Cam Walker said. ‘We have serious concerns that need to be resolved at the highest levels.’ While the monorail is down, as many as 40,000 daily riders are being forced to find other ways around the Strip. The figure includes some of 90,000 conventioneers at this week’s MAGIC men’s apparel trade show, which ended Thursday.�� The monorail, which is counting on fare box receipts to repay part of its $650 million construction cost, is losing more than $100,000 in revenues each day the rail line is idle. But officials have reserves of more than $20 million to cover contingencies. Bombardier’s revenues are pegged to the system running normally 98 percent of the time each day, so daily payments are being suspended during the disruption. An exact maximum daily payment typically due Bombardier was not immediately available. Annual payments are estimated at around $10 million per year, which would put the company’s daily take somewhere around $27,000 for each trouble-free day. Bombardier and monorail co-builder Granite Construction of Watsonville, Calif., already have been assessed more than $11 million in fines for missing a Jan. 20 deadline to have the system open to the public. The system opened July 15. Passengers holding monorail tickets can arrange for a refund by calling 699-8299.

L.A. Discovery: Look Ma, No Wheels The International Herald Tribune September 3, 2004 Something must be said right away about riding the subway in Los Angeles: It may not take you where you want to go. In an area of such sprawl, its 73.1-mile route system seems meager — you can forget Venice Beach or the Santa Monica Pier — and regular commuters complain of faraway stations with inconvenient bus connections, not to mention frequent slowdowns. But transit officials say more and more tourists are discovering the subway as it adds stations within walking distance of attractions like Universal Studios Hollywood and Old Pasadena. And for visitors on a budget, it is hard to beat a one-day pass that allows unlimited rides for $3 (single rides are $1.25) Setting off one weekend to see as much as possible only by subway (which in Los Angeles means three light-rail lines and one underground line), my expectations were low. All the people I knew were enamored of their cars. Yet as a newcomer to Los Angeles, I appreciated getting out of mine. Driving may be faster than the subway on some freeways, but certainly not during rush hour or the many times when traffic just mysteriously grinds to a halt. Ed Scannell, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said the average speed on Los Angeles freeways was 37 miles, or 60 kilometers, an hour and dropping. The trains, he said, operated at 35 to 70 miles an hour, depending on the line and the stretch. Metro Rail, as the system is called, runs three routes from downtown Los Angeles: northwest to the San Fernando Valley (Red Line), northeast to Pasadena (Gold Line) and south to Long Beach (Blue Line). A fourth line, the Green Line, goes from Norwalk to Redondo Beach and has free shuttle-bus connections to Los Angeles International Airport. The cars, which are air-conditioned, and the stations are bare of ads except for often corny ones touting the benefits of the $7 billion system (“Go Metro to Flirt,” reads one). As in New York, announcements can be inaudible or unintelligible. As in Washington, stations are clean and attractive. Many display whimsical public art like tile murals, light projections, mannequins suspended from ceilings and, at Chinatown station, a granite I Ching dial inlaid in the ground at the station’s entrance. I took off on my subway journey on a Saturday morning from the Marriott Los Angeles Downtown, chosen for my stay because of its central location. One shortcoming was immediately evident. The closest station, Seventh Street/Metro Center, was five blocks away. Under a pounding Southern California sun, riders may turn lethargic and downright grumpy as they must walk similarly daunting treks to Metro Rail “destinations” like Little Tokyo, which is five or more blocks from the Civic Center station, and the Norton Simon Museum of Art in Pasadena, nine blocks from the Memorial Park station. I studied my map and decided to start off at the Civic Center station at First and Hill streets, the designated stop for Little Tokyo, as well as two new attractions, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Disney Hall, which offers self-guided audio tours but no access to the auditorium itself, was a short two and a half blocks from the station. Just strolling around the stainless-steel sails of Frank Gehry’s striking design is worth the visit. Near the concert hall, and one block from the Civic Center station, another imposing structure, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, completed in 2002, welcomes visitors to a complex of church, chapels, mausoleum, restaurant and gift shop around a large plaza. Downstairs, a mausoleum brightly illuminated by stained-glass windows has thousands of crypts and niches for cremated and interred remains. The actor Gregory Peck is interred in one of the few burial places that have been filled. Past the restaurants and shops along First Street near San Pedro Street and an entrance to the Japanese Village Plaza, an outdoor mall, I found the Japanese American National Museum and two emotionally jarring shows. One was “Sept. 11: Bearing Witness to History,” the Smithsonian’s touring exhibition of photographs and objects connected to the attacks. The other was the museum’s permanent collection of memorabilia, photographs and artifacts from the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, including a wall of suitcases representing lives packed up at a moment’s notice. I walked the six blocks to the Civic Center station and went down escalators to catch a Red Line train to Union Station, where I planned to have lunch on Olvera Street, the Mexican marketplace on the site of the Spanish pueblo that grew to become Los Angeles. The first train on Saturday came promptly and noiselessly, with barely a swoosh. One stop and less than four minutes later I had arrived at Union Station, the Mission-style hub with splendid Art Deco detailing that is used for Amtrak and other rail lines. After lunch on Olvera Street and a stroll through El Pueblo Historic Park, across from Union Station, I hopped back on the Red Line for a 25-minute ride to Hollywood/Highland, the stop for the sidewalk stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the footprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Back underground, a five-minute ride brought me to Universal Studios Hollywood, but it was so late in the day that I decided to skip the $49.75 general admission fee for both the amusement park and a tour of television and movie studios. Instead, I contented myself with a quick stroll around Universal CityWalk, the complex of shops, restaurants and live music stages that draws hordes of young people. On Sunday, I got an early start with breakfast at the Grand Central Market, an indoor hodgepodge of produce stands, lunch counters and outlets for everything from wine sales to check cashing, five blocks from the Marriott. Around the corner at the Pershing Square station, I caught th