Rising fuel costs and limits of sky space are raising questions as to whether airlines can really double the number of air travelers in the foreseeable future. And, the planet damage caused by greenhouse gases the airlines spew into the upper atmosphere is bound to attract a carbon tax on those low air fares we”™ve been enjoying. The fact that nearly all of us now live beneath some plane”™s flight path is evidence there is a limit to the sky.
Let”™s look at the status of planes and trains in the lower Hudson Valley:
Â
Westchester County Airport
The ballooning number of travelers has made the facility”™s relatively new parking garage inadequate. Cars are scattered all over the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, there is only one Beeline bus that serves the airport. Formerly an airport dominated by business travelers, it is now overwhelmed with vacationers.
Â
Stewart International Airport
The new player in regional airports has been around for a long time but with the Port Authority now in charge it will take on a significantly larger role in regional air travel when the rehabilitation and new interchange between the Thruway and I-84 are complete. The airport will also be reachable by rail when the 3-mile link between the Port Jervis line is extended directly into the airport. However, only if you live in Rockland, Orange or points south will the link be usable. If an east-west commuter rail running between Suffern and Port Chester was selected among the six alternatives in the state study on the Tappan Zee Bridge, Stewart could be just a train ride away for all Westchester residents and business travelers.
Â
Amtrak
With stations in Yonkers and Croton-on-Hudson, the entire U.S. is reachable by rail, with tracks traversing all the way to Seattle, Portland, San Francisco or Los Angeles. An Amtrak station in Stamford opens up the whole Northeast by rail. The public rarely considers this option for travel either for business or pleasure. Yet a significant number of air travelers could easily choose Amtrak in getting to short-distance destinations ”“ Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago (overnight), etc. ”“ with comparable stress-free time expended.
To look at the map of today”™s Amtrak system is to weep, especially when compared to the cobweb of rail lines that traverse Europe. A look at the history of Amtrak may explain where we are today but it hardly excuses it. In 1970, Congress created Amtrak in order to take over the money-losing passenger rail service previously operated by private freight railroad companies in the U.S. By May 1, 1971, more than half of all Amtrak passenger routes were eliminated, creating today”™s skeletal system.
Â
Over the years Congress and whatever political party was in charge apparently decided the future of the nation lay in the mobility of the automobile and the truck, not on fixed rail. Eisenhower had pushed for the completion of the interstate highway system and, of course, everyone wanted to use it.
An examination of the current distribution of federal transportation dollars tells the story. In fiscal year 2002, the Department of Transportation”™s appropriations bill included $31 billion for highways, $13.6 billion for aviation and $1.05 for Amtrak, amounting to budget dust. In most years Amtrak receives a mere 1 percent of all transportation funds.
To give further perspective to this travesty, the state of California has invested some $100 million a year on passenger rail over the last 10 years and now claims nearly 16 percent of Amtrak”™s national total. These trains are consistently achieving double-digit ridership growth proving that investment in passenger rail will reap benefits. Weren”™t we told Californians were wedded to their cars?
The big question is ”“ why are we spending billions to keep the airlines going when the industry has been deregulated and is supposed to be standing on its own? To be sure, it took a hit on 9/11 but that was then ”“ this is now. Can one imagine what an image makeover Amtrak would get if all the stations had the glitz of airports? Instead, consider some of the stations I saw in a cross-country Amtrak trip taken in the spring of 2006. In Winnamucca, Nev., there was what looked like a Beeline bus stop with all the Plexiglas shot out and the remnants of a bonfire in front of the bench. In Grand Junction, Colo., what must have been a beautiful station was closed off with a chain link fence. In Deming, N.M., there was just a tilted park bench on gravel, separated from the town by an elevated superhighway. The original station had been moved and therefore did not qualify for historical designation. The message to the public is clear ”“ Amtrak is not a player.
Something is very wrong with this picture.
Â
Surviving the Future explores a wide range of subjects to assist businesses in adapting to a new energy age. Maureen Morgan, a transit advocate, is on the board of directors of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester. Reach her at mmmorgan10@optonline.net.
Â
