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New hiring, more Amtrak funding in state budget

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Illinois

* Four new prison guard cadet class and three new state trooper cadet classes are included in Gov. Pat Quinn’s budget. There’s lots of new state hiring, at least partially forced by over 5,000 retirements in the past 18 months…

But, the hiring won’t necessarily boost the total number of state employees.

According to Quinn aides, the state workforce has dropped below the 50,000 mark, primarily because of a wave of more than 5,500 retirements in the past 18 months. Under Quinn’s budget, the number of employees would grow to about 53,000. […]

“We’re basically keeping staffing level,” said Quinn budget spokesman Abdon Pallasch. […]

The proposed spending plan for the Department of Human Services calls for more than 900 new employees, including 450 workers to handle welfare-related programs.

At the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the budget includes money to hire 100 state park workers and additional conservation police officers. The new workers will restock an agency that has seen a 55 percent reduction in headcount since 2002.

* Federal law is forcing another increase…

While other parts of government may be facing potentially drastic cuts, Gov. Pat Quinn is calling for an increase in spending on Amtrak train service.

Budget documents show the Chicago Democrat has earmarked $12 million more for passenger rail service in Illinois, bringing the total spent on additional trains between Chicago and routes ending in St. Louis, Carbondale and Galesburg to $38 million.

The 46 percent increase for the fiscal year beginning July 1, however, would not mean Illinois would be getting any extra train service this year.

Rather, a 2008 federal law requires states to begin picking up a larger part of the tab for rail service. The law calls for more state aid for train routes that are shorter than 750 miles long.

Other states facing higher tabs include New York, Michigan and California.

Mike Claffey, a spokesman for the Quinn administration, said the final amount owed to the feds could be lower.

* The Tribune is not amused…

The proponents of high-speed rail say: No sweat, after the expensive upgrades the system will be much more productive. Faster trains will be a big draw for passengers, which will produce new revenues.

But Amtrak passenger revenues don’t come close to covering the cost of the service and there’s little prospect that they ever will. Who will be on the hook in Illinois? It won’t be Uncle Sam. It will be Uncle Springfield.

* And the bad news continues…

For many who had worked at Malcolm Eaton Enterprises in Freeport, it felt like getting laid off.

Malcolm Eaton, a training center and workplace for developmentally disabled adults, no longer can take on clients from Frances House, operator of several Rockford-area group homes, because the state of Illinois is so far behind in promised payments.

Frances House had sent clients to Malcolm Eaton for more than two years. There, the roughly 60 adults, mostly in their 40s and 50s, would complete small jobs and developmental training programs based on their abilities.

But with the state behind on the bills, Frances House doesn’t have the cash flow to continue the program, and now administrators and families are scrambling to find someplace else for clients to spend their days.

* Meanwhile…

For months, the Quinn administration unsuccessfully tried to force the state’s largest employee union to accept wage cuts as part of its negotiations over a new labor agreement.

Not only were the governor’s efforts unsuccessful, but a new University of Illinois study shows government workers are a relative bargain compared with their private sector counterparts.

As 35,000 members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union vote this week on a new three year collective bargaining agreement with the state, the study appears to show they were right to hold out against Quinn’s push to cut their paychecks.

The study found that state and local government workers in Illinois earn incomes that are 13.5 percent less on average than workers in the private sector with a comparable education.

“When you control for education and other demographic variables, it turns out that public sector workers suffer a wage penalty,” says Robert Bruno, a professor of labor and employment relations on the Urbana campus. “So it’s a myth that state workers in Illinois are overpaid, and to lay the blame for the state’s budget woes and underfunded pensions on state workers is just plain false.”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 8:44 am

Comments

I love trains. Have been riding them since I was a kid. Not just the commuter service into Chicago. Our family used to ride the Burlington Denver Zephyr during Christmas holiday to Colorado to visit relatives and ski. Some of my best memories from that time. Did some riding in recent years - south to visit college buddies in the 70s - out east in 2002 on Amtrak.

Unfortunately, it ain’t what it used to be. The subsidies aren’t enough to keep it afloat and are quite high per passenger mile. High speed rail is even more expensive and difficult to get up an running using current rights of way. Creating new, better connections would be VERY costly.

Curious that the cuts were for short runs - supposedly the very travel that the high speed rail was supposed to shine with. Air for long routes, HSR for short.

Comment by dupage dan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:05 am
Without intending disparagement to those in St. Louis… Who would go there for business or tourism that does not already go there if they could save a couple hours?

Great, the State is spending millions to improve a service that will never be able to support itself without more support. Can anyone say negative feedback loop?

This is how the State’s finances get worse.

Comment by Plutocrat03 Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:14 am
The short distance corridors–eg Chicago-St. Louis are where most of the ridership growth is and where the future of rail passenger travel is. The long distance corridors like Chicago-Washington DC via Cincinatti is where the huge losses incurred by Amtrak are. The states do not chip in to fund the long distance corridors, while they have chipped in for the short distance trains for some time.
In the end it all comes down to politics. The long distance corridors cross enough congressional districts to garener enough muster to keep operating despite their dreadful financial returns. Congressman X,Y and Z may all be in the Tea Party caucus and beat federal spending up and down like a rented mule, but if it means cuts to services and jobs in their sdsitrict, well that’s important government spending then.

train111

Comment by train111 Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:18 am
The current ‘HSR’ plans for Chicago to St.Louis will eventually have the trains running faster than today but still 20 minutes slower than in the 1930’s. The difference is the track; back then there was a full double line.

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:24 am
I’m looking forward for the train to Galena to begin operation. I thought 2014 was going to be the year. I’ve always dreamed of retiring there but I hate the drive from Chicago so the train will be perfect.

Comment by Wallendar Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:29 am
The hiring, targeted as it is, appears to be good news for some agencies / staffs that were decimated. It won’t repair all the damage but it should stop a lot of the bleeding.

The University report is also good news for the unions; it supports the claim that the State workforce is more highly educated these days.

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:29 am
RNUG

The difference is not the track. The big reason that we don’t have trains that run as fast as in the 30’s is that the Federal Regulations that one must navigate to run trains over 80mph are overwhelmingly ridiculous. The line, although single track in most places is not overcapacitated by any stretch.

train111

Comment by train111 Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:31 am
Re:so its a myth that state workers in Illinois are over paid.

Tell me about it

Comment by foster brooks Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:38 am
Here is the true irony. To fly from STL to Chicago costs $236 takes 1hr and 10 minutes each way. Multiple departures can leave at almost any time of day. Amtrak costs me $136 and takes 5hr and 40 minutes. Assuming you are at the airport for an hour before you leave and the train station for 5 minutes. You have to double the speed of the trains just to make the time lost to travel equivalent. What happens if Amtrak has to charge you the actual cost to move you without subsidies? Now you are paying a premium to spend an additional 4 hrs and 30 minutes. Train total time 11hrs 20 minutes (again assuming 5 minute wait at station)Plane 4hr 20 minutes (again assuming an hr for security and check in)$100 / 7hrs

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:55 am
train111

I have a train historian friend who would disagree. South of Springfield it’s not an issue right now but the northern stretch has some limitations.

The regulations today are a major hurdle but the freight traffic has been picking up on that corridor. Lots of container cars coming north from southern ports recently. And according to a another friend who works for them, UP has plans to run a lot more freight over their major N/S corridors in Illinois.

Comment by RNUG Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:55 am
Comes out to

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:56 am
my computer is acting “interesting”. What i was trying to say is $100/7hrs works out to less than 15$ and hour. Anyone know anyone who travels that far fro less than 15$ an hour????

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:59 am
Insert Cincinnatus snarky train comment here…

Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:04 am
Airports are heavily subsidized. Do you ever hear anyone asking whether an airport is going to “pay for itself”? What about a highway? does it ever pay for itself? A bike path? Then why hold trains to a different standard?

Comment by Ray del Camino Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:10 am
The retirements will continue at an accelerated rate given the incessant assault on public employees. This will necessitate more new hires. The plus side is the new hires cost less. The down side is that a lot of institutional memory will be lost and the quality of state government will continue to decline.

Comment by Norseman Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:15 am
$38 million is not a lot in comparison to the overall state transportation budget for highways, airports and other public transit to keep “regular” service afloat. The high speed rail bonanza that IL is reaping comes in part due to other states’ rejection of HSR funds that would admittely fall far short of full funding for their projects. In a way, I agree with this…better to have one fully funded project that actually might get built rather than a large handful of projects with seed money. That was supposed to be one of the lessons of earmark reform.

In IL, it could be argued that an infusion of $1 bil into Metra would have done a world more good than sinking it into a line that currently has less than 1% of Metra’s daily ridership, but I digress.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:19 am
Ray the difference is who does most of the subsidizing Amtrak cannot function without federal subsidies even with subsidies they have been in the red. Now i am not against trains where they have a purpose. The Chicago - Milwaukee area is one place for instance same with the NYC-Boston-D.C. corridor but the idea that suddenly because the train is 10% faster suddenly every one is going to take it from STL to Chicago just doesn’t make sense. Add to that we as the public are on the hook for millions in order to start this boondoggle which won’t work. If there was a demand for massive train travel then Amtrak would be flourishing.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:22 am
RNUG

True, Union Pacific has upped the number of trains on the route. Due to shifting of intermodal traffic from Yard Center in Dolton to the new Global 4 terminal near Joliet approximately 12 southbound and 5 northbound intermodal trains per week have been added to the line. How much more will be shifted remains to be seen. However, I wouldn’t think too much as it is a whole lot faster to get trains from the south to Chicgo bypassing the St. Louis metropolitan area than by going through it as you would have to do with this line. I beleive that UP has already shifted everything that stops at their Dupo intermoldal terminal and therefore everything that they would route into the St. Louis metropolitan area. I may be wrong however.

Also all the work on the rural trackage does nothing to alleviate the congestion problems in Chicago ans St. Louis–which are major causes of delay.

train111

train111

Comment by train111 Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:23 am
even with subsidies they have been in the red

Logic escapes me. If they get a subsidy that doesn’t cover the shortage from farebox recovery, and they are still in the red, there are only three possibilities or combinations thereof: raise fares, cut costs, or get a bigger subsidy. And the end result is that all the bills will be paid.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:34 am
Mason, you miss the point. Interstate highways couldn’t function without federal subsidies, nor could airports, regardless of demand. Only tollways “pay for themselves,” and they often are given tax breaks and other subsidies, too. Even regular, day-to-day automotive travel doesn’t “pay for itself,” because of the subsidies given to almost every road. Singling out trains doesn’t make sense, except that there you can point to a single budget line-item, where you can’t for other modes of transportation.

Comment by Ray del Camino Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:37 am
Ray del Camino - it’s all a matter of modern economics. The railroads of the roaring 20’s made money on passengers as a private enterprise and proudly promoted their trains in branding of their enterprise. The interstate system paid for its original construction with a 3c or 4c per gallon federal gas tax and the highway trust fund was still slushing around with money. In today’s economy, we struggle to pay for these same items directly, but somehow the bill still gets paid.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:46 am
Once upon a time, a road was an investment. You made money by the commerce that resulted from it. That money paid for the road.

Nowadays the money from the commerce that develops from the road is diverted to other purposes, making the road itself a liability.

And Ray - you can’t tell me an airport is a bad investment as opposed to trains. Think how much land you need for track, how much steel, how much maintenance, how many bridges and tunnels…flying through the air has none of that. Sure, you might need air traffic control and radar for aircraft, but there are traffic control systems for trains too.

Comment by Pinker Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:55 am
Ugh. I-55 from Pontiac to St. Louis couldn’t pay for itself from gas taxes without additional federal subsidy. Neither could I-57 from Kankakee to Carbondale.

Shut them down. Take the train instead.

“Train” is part of today’s right-wing cathecism, requiring a negative response.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 10:55 am
I-55 from Pontiac to St. Louis couldn’t pay for itself from gas taxes without additional federal subsidy. Neither could I-57 from Kankakee to Carbondale.

When farmland was selling for $400 an acre and operators were making $2 an hour, you could build lots of roads for 3c a gallon federal tax. I’m not aware of another federal funding mechanism that was used. States did chip in 10%, but mostly funded from their own state MFT’s. For that matter, when Irish immigrant labor was paid less than $1 a day and you could dump fill into Lake Michigan without an EPA permit to create an embankment, it was cheap to build an Illinois Central. Not so easy or cheap today to do either.

Comment by Six Degrees of Separation Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:07 am
===takes 1hr and 10 minutes each way===

You’ve apparently never been to an airport. Never heard of security checks or long check-in lines? No way it takes you that little time. No way. Plus, the train stations are all downtown.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:19 am
Rich

If you look at the post i assumed an Hour each way for security. (Lambert is “usually” quicker than that) The point i was trying to make is unless an hour of your time is worth less than 15$ the train makes poor business sense i.e. if i have a meeting in Chicago i save time by flying and renting a car than taking train. Add in the Airports are already built and the train is a continuing expense to upgrade for HSR. The economics isn’t there.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:41 am
===if i have a meeting in Chicago===

Bus to car rental, lines at car rental, traffic to downtown. Big savings of time. Yep.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:44 am
**Here is the true irony. To fly from STL to Chicago costs $236 takes 1hr and 10 minutes each way. Multiple departures can leave at almost any time of day. Amtrak costs me $136 and takes 5hr and 40 minutes.**

Lots of odd assumptions, but I’d like to know how it costs $136 to go from Chicago to St. Louis?

I can currently book a ticket on Amtrak, to go from Chicago to St. Louis, for $26. Round trip costs a total of $52.

Comment by dave Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:45 am
Mason, the Chicago Department of Aviation should hire you as a spokesman.

You make getting to and from downtown, and in and out of the airports, sound like a precisely timed pleasure ride.

And how about those always-on-time departures and arrivals!

Last I checked, airports do require a little maintenance as well.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:49 am
Dave i went with Amtrak site for going up on a Tuesday coming back on a Wednesday at the same time of day i priced the airfare. (To assume the same meeting requirements) now i could have waited a few more hours to get cheaper fares but it reaches the point of diminishing returns.

Rich you going to tell me it takes 7 hrs to rent a car and drive downtown and back??? Last time i had a meeting downtown i flew, they picked me up. i was at the meeting at 11:00 and back in office by 4. I cannot do that with the train.

Don’t get me wrong i love trains best way in the world to move large amounts of bulk goods across the country. Just not that great at moving passengers outside heavily developed corridors.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:53 am
THEORETICALLY, highways are funded through the gas tax, at both the Federal and State level. Of course, these monies are used for buses, bike paths and beautification programs, which may help explain why at they are currently insolvent ($35B Fed general fund money transferred in the past two years). Also insolvent is the Federal train fund. And let’s not even talk about the “shovel ready” projects that didn’t go into road infrastructure.

Comment by Cincinnatus Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:54 am
–Last time i had a meeting downtown i flew, they picked me up. i was at the meeting at 11:00 and back in office by 4.–

You were in a meeting in downtown Chicago at 11, went back to the airport, flew into St. Louis and were in your office at 4?

I take it lunch wasn’t served at your meeting?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 11:59 am
Word

I skipped lunch to get back to office to avoid traffic. It was kind of pointless anyway simple change order.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:00 pm
It’s not just time and money. Using the train forces you to get out of your current mind-set.
I used the Hiawatha to and from Milwaukee a lot the past few years and loved it. It was about $52 RT, clean, comfy, no traffic drama so I could read or study. I sat in the quiet car and didn’t have to listen to people yapping on their phones.

Comment by Belle Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:03 pm
Mason born, I’m pleased you had a fast trip like that.

I occasionally fly from Springfield to Chicago, but like to take the train back because of traffic to O’Hare, wait at the airport, etc. From downtown, a half hour making good speed to the airport, then an hour wait, hourish flight equals about two and a half budgeted hours, not much less than the 3+ hours by train, and way more expensive.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:05 pm
Mason, your company isn’t stingy with the travel budget, I’ll tell you that much.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:05 pm
Rich for you it makes sense and i agree with belle that the train is much more pleasant to ride. In fact when my wife was pregnant we took the train to TX so she could sleep. The problem i have is the Millions we will spend for what in effect is an hour total savings between STL and Chicago if it goes according to plan? When the state is broke and the Feds are broke this doesn’t seem like smart money.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:13 pm
Word

No they are more concerned with productive time than funds. One of the reasons why i love working with them.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:14 pm
Word

Also this client was firm that they wanted to see the PE to explain the change order. With what they were spending on just engineering we didn’t want to argue with them. Multiple Projects in the works so i needed to get there and get back.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:18 pm
Where’s the IL Policy Institute attacking the study that presents inconvenient evidence about state workers being more poorly paid than comparable private sector workers?

Comment by reformer Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:23 pm
Mason, the idea that the Feds are broke is a myth. They’re projecting 75% debt to GDP for the next several years. After WW2 it was around 120%.

No one went around whining that the sky was falling back then, I guess they were tougher than the current crop of conservatives.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:24 pm
STL

So if you owe 16 mil on your hous it’s ok because before you owed 20 mil?? Let’s not forget that post WW2 the economy was booming everyone on this globe wanted our products. We were the only major manufacturer not ravaged by war damage our industries simply pulled the dies for making Sherman tanks and put in the dies for Buicks. Japan had no car producers, China couldn’t produce anything more sophisticated then take out and was in the middle of a civil war, Korea and Germany were a wreck. Are any of those things true now?? What allowed us to grow out of the 120% of GDP was the amazing growth of GDP post WW2. Is that happening now is GDP growing by double digits. Do we have workforce participation in the 90% range??

No back then we were in a very unique and wonderful position. Our industry was tops in the world due to being arsenal of Democracy, all of our competition was in ruins due to War damage, now add to that a highly skilled workforce, and finally we were at the top of the technological curve with the rest of the world looking at us for innovation. None of those things are there now with the exception of the workforce.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:38 pm
STL

We are however far afield from the topic at hand. Rich i apologize for mentioning the Feds were bankrupt.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:39 pm
- Let’s not forget that post WW2 the economy was booming everyone on this globe wanted our products. -

Yeah, and just a few years before we’d been in the great depression. We got through it then, and with smart decisions like infrastructure investment, we’ll get through it again.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:43 pm
STL

I give up logic doesn’t work for you. Can you really not see the difference between 1946 and 2013????? Enjoy your dogma unfortunately the rest of us are stuck in your daydream.

Comment by Mason born Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 12:57 pm
Thank heavens the Democrats weren’t in power a century ago, or we’d be dumping and wasting billions of dollars on high speed stagecoaches.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 1:04 pm
Mason, you can insult my reasoning skills all you want, but if you think the economy will never be booming again I’d have to question your history skills.

Who knows what the next big thing will be, all I’m saying is I don’t believe the sky is falling, and as a country we’ve found our way out of tougher times before.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 1:07 pm
Taking the Amtrak to Springfield and back is lovely and graceful, especially compared to flying or driving. You can work, sleep, relax, drink, look at the countryside and experience no stress.

Most of all, Amtrak allows you the most flexible generosity in changing your travel plans, as anyone who deals with Springfield needs. You can miss a train or change your reservation with no penalty.

It is truly humane transportation. We have gotten so used to being gauged by airlines that we have come to believe we deserve it. Amtrak will give you your dignity back.

Comment by Dan Bureaucrat Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 1:09 pm
===It is truly humane transportation.===

Except when it’s late. Avoid the Texas Eagle at all costs.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 1:11 pm
According to the article, ridership on the Chicago-St. Louis line is up 85% since 2006.

The state spending $38 million a year for Amtrak hardly seems a budget-buster. It’s another option to flying or driving.

How many miles of road re-construction do you get for $38 million?

And it’s hardly an anachronistic mode of transportation, if you care to look elsewhere in the world.

VMan, your history is a bit off. The stagecoach died with the transcontinental railroad. A century ago, people were riding trains, street cars and automobiles. Commercial air travel was just a few years away. And Democrats were in power.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 1:26 pm
== You’ve apparently never been to an airport. Never heard of security checks or long check-in lines? No way it takes you that little time. No way. ==

TSA Pre Check.

I haven’t had to stand in a line more than 4 deep or take my shoes or jacket off in months.

A good self-respecting road warrior can get from the street to the gate in 10 minutes.

I do it several times a week.

Comment by Leroy Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 1:56 pm
Remember the good old days when transit and intercity passenger railroads were operated by for-profit enterprises. This changed when all levels of government began subsidizing highway and airport construction, which helped undermine privately run service. The irony is that the government had to step in to preserve what was left of these passenger rail services.

Comment by Going nuclear Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 2:06 pm
Thank heavens Democrats weren’t in power between 1897 and 1913, then from 1921 to 1933, or we’d be wasting billions on high speed zeppelins and blimps.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 2:49 pm
Thank heavens Democrats weren’t in power between 1996 and 2006, or we’d be wasting billions of dollars on windmill-powered Pontiac Azteks.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 3:06 pm
I remember listening to my grandparents tell me about the good old days of commuter lines, intra-urban rail!

Grandpa would walk to the train station to work, then walk to the store, then walk to the bank, then walk to the church, then walk to the barber, then walk to the butchers, then walk to the cigar shop, then walk to the ice cream parlor, then walk to the civic center, then walk to the movie theatres, then walk to train station to take a train to Comisky Park for a Sox game.

Grandma used to stay at home and waited for the milk man to deliver the milk, waited for the bread man, waited for the bleach man, waited for the Good Humor man, took the train to give birth at the University of Chicago Medical Hospital, walked to the church, walked to the market.

Then they got a car and saved themselves hours taking control over their own lives.

Gee, why would they then demand better car transportation instead of better mass transit?

Oh yeah - they had a life.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 3:17 pm
==Thank heavens Democrats weren’t in power between 1996 and 2006, or we’d be wasting billions of dollars on windmill-powered Pontiac Azteks. –

Even recent history is a challenge, isn’t it?

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 3:19 pm
The reason Amtrak stopped going to my hometown is because they finally figured out that the last two passengers that used it to go to my hometown died seven years ago.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 3:23 pm
The problem is “in power”.
Yeah, Clinton was president then, but he wasn’t “in power” then - I think the term is “in coitus”.

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 3:26 pm
Not to confuse you any further with facts, VMan, but Illinois Amtrak ridership has nearly doubled since 2006.

I was incorrect earlier, ridership on the Chicago-St. Louis route is up 210% during that time.

http://dot.state.il.us/amtrak/amtrak.asp

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 3:38 pm
- I think the term is “in coitus”. -

Man, really laying down some deep, groundbreaking stuff today Vman.

Comment by Small Town Liberal Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 4:10 pm
@VMan

Well…my grandparents never owned a car and thought they were a huge waste of money. They could hop on the trolley and be downtown in a matter of minutes to do their shopping and run other errands. Of course, this was during a time when most retail districts were compact and centralized, unlike the car-oriented sprawl we see today in many communities.

Interestingly, many young people living in urban areas today feel the same way about the automobile. They find walking, biking and mass transit a more efficient and enjoyable way to get around town, including going to work. If they need a car, they can rent one for a day or even a few hours and not be burdened with the cost of ownership.

Comment by Going nuclear Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 5:06 pm
-windmill-powered Pontiac Azteks-

Where were you when they needed you, VMan? A windmill may have actually improved the looks of that four-wheeled fright pig.

To the post, I’m not a big user of the rails, but I don’t think the Amtrak subsidy is at all unreasonable. The high-speed project has boondoggle written all over it, maybe because of the past overhyping of the benefits. Time will tell, I suppose.
Oh, and do you 4-hour STL-ORD portal to portal folks have your own aircraft? Because if you don’t, that’s a tough mark to make regularly if for no other reason than the vagaries of airline scheduling.
Personally, AA can make better time by car SPI-CHI than any alternative, but it ain’t relaxing.

Comment by Amonyonus Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 5:21 pm
Oops.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 5:25 pm
is there a bar car on amtrak?

Comment by foster brooks Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:18 pm
Obviously, I’m bad at math late at night. More like 10-12 cents a mile on the train. But still….

Comment by stever Tuesday, Mar 12, 13 @ 9:29 pm
This thread is just bizarre. Rich puts up several different things that happened, and it’s an instant dogpile upon Amtrak and Amtrak alone. I’m honestly rather at a loss to understand why people expend so much nervous energy to sign off on huge subsidies for airlines to deliver a $180-plus advance purchase, $350-plus walkup roundtrip fare to St. Louis, and at the same time nitpick over a few million for Amtrak to deliver a $48-plus advance purchase, approximately $90-to-$136 walkup, especially when security problems, ground transportation issues and fuel costs are steadily erasing the airlines’ advantage as a mode of transportation.

And if Amtrak can do this as is, just think what they could do if regulations and union work rules were modernized and relations with host freight railroads were better. Remarkably few people understand how the governmental neglect of rail on issues far beyond lack of investment have hurt Amtrak, commuter railroads and freight carriers alike. 1950s era regulations require overweight, overpriced equipment because they effectively require frame-on-body construction, ignoring that unibody construction has advanced far beyond to deliver better passenger protection for less weight. Various other regulations and contractual issues mean an attendant on every door and highly inefficent passenger boarding procedures. And I could go on with technical minutiae for a long time, but it adds up to both great expense for the rail operator and great inefficiency for the customer. Bring the whole enterprise into the 21st century and the case for rail would become even stronger.

From the point of view of Illinois’ precarious budget situation, it will become a lot more precarious if neglect of rail forces the state to intervene more expensively on behalf of other modes of transportation.

Comment by Angry Chicagoan Wednesday, Mar 13, 13 @ 4:17 pm