Special Report — Analysis by Noel Braymer — After failing in March to come up with a package for the June election, the legislature and governor with major horse trading and political arm twisting produced a 37 billion dollar set of bond issues for the November 7th election. This is down from the original 68…
Reported by Paul Dyson — For the benefit of new readers, the CRCC exists to coordinate activities of the various regional governments who are attempting to expand rail passenger service on the coast route between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The meeting was rather poorly attended, Pete Rodgers of SLOCOG, Mike Powers of SBCAG, Eric…
Amtrak’s Sunset Limited, trains 1 and 2, have not had a good on time performance for years. Now, they are saddled with, call it whatever you want, a downgraded food service mandated by Amtrak management
Reported by Paul Dyson, RailPAC President — This is the first of these meetings that I have attended and so some of these observations may be old news to many of you. Although the Task Force is meant to focus on the core line from West Los Angeles to Ontario Airport, the majority of those…
SPECIAL REPORT — Food and beverage service on Amtrak doesn’t have to be something akin to a national shame. It has the potential to be pleasant, profitable, and nourishing. It has the potential to be good, rather than a necessity begrudgingly dished out by a common carrier with no ambition for good passenger service. There…
By RailPAC Director and Review Editor Noel T. Braymer — Major airports generate lots of traffic. LAX alone averages over 160,000 passengers a day. Airports are also major employment centers, with many airport employees commuting to the airport every day. Further, airports are commercial centers with many businesses that want to be close to the…
By RailPAC President Paul Dyson — I’m writing this on 24th of February on a typical news day; an attack on a Saudi Refinery, controversy over a toll road route through a state park, and Burbank is the sixth sootiest city in the US. Everyday there are reminders of the wrong direction of our transportation…
Fresno — Reported by Russ Jackson HOT RUMORS in Washington DC are that Norman Mineta will resign as DOT Secretary “in the next 30 days,” and Congressman Bill Thomas, (R-Bakersfield) who announced his retirement this month, will become the next Secretary of the Treasury if Secretary Snow resigns. No speculation about a replacement for Secretary…
By RailPAC Director and Review Editor Noel T. Braymer — One of my favorite TV shows is “Mythbusters” on the Discovery Channel. A group of eccentric but technically qualified people put “urban legends” and “common wisdom” to the test to see if they can be true. An example of this is the “fact” that “if…
By RailPAC President Paul Dyson — It’s a great honor for me to take on the duties of President of RailPAC. Our organization has been very effective in the past in uniting rail passenger advocates and politicians behind a policy of affordable, incremental investments in improving mobility in the state of California. We identified surplus…