Passenger Trains > Amtrak hires Jason Molfetas as CIO

Amtrak hires Molfetas as chief information officer
Progressive Railroading
6/26/2012


> Amtrak has named Jason Molfetas chief information officer. He will be
> responsible for helming the railroad’s information technology team,
> developing support customer service initiatives, enhancing business
> operations and improving financial performance, Amtrak officials said
> in a prepared statement.
>
> Molfetas has more than 28 years of experience in the IT industry,
> most recently as senior vice president and CIO for Recall, an
> Australian company involved in secure information management and
> logistics, digital media and data protection. Also, he simultaneously
> held the position of general manager of the firm’s operations in
> Brazil.
>
> Prior to joining Recall, he served as CIO of Westcon Group. He also
> has held global executive posts at Xerox Corp. and Pearson
> Publishing.
>
> At Amtrak, he will report to President and Chief Executive Officer
> Joseph Boardman, who said Molfetas has the leadership skills “needed
> to build the partnerships and the new technology systems” Amtrak
> requires to advance.
>
> Amtrak is seeking to adopt more technology, such as the recent
> installation of Wi-Fi on routes that cover 75 percent of passengers
> to date. In addition, the national intercity passenger railroad
> recently launched ticketing on all trains across its network,
> developed a next-generation reservation system, and deployed
> point-of-sale technology to improve onboard food and beverage sales.


http://www.progressiverailroading.com/prdailynews/news.asp?id=31463

How about allowing specific room selection when making a reservation by Internet? Just click on the empty seat you want. Or how about more specific train status info such as a map showing exactly where each train is. Major airlines do both (for planes, that is). And they have far more seats and planes to keep track of than Amtrak does.

Good luck to him. Reporting directly to Boardman is a plus for any chief information officer.

I wonder what his first orders of business might be?

1) Get the wi-fi screw up on Acela and NEC regional trains resolved. He can achieve some of that by purchasing more dedicated bandwidth, adding more than one router per train, and handling that issue like the airlines do. Resolving that would be a major achievement and get him some breathing room.

2) Improve the online seat and room selection process, as noted. There's no reason why a passenger shouldn't be able to select a specific room, if it's available. And, perhaps pay a non-refundable $20-50 etc deposit on the space.

FWIW, I suspect his first order of business will be to improve Amtrak's purchase orders and payments processing system. It's been criticized in the past, and remains an area where the company needs to be vigilant.

I want specific coach seat assignments, or at least aisle/window.
I detest the elementary school antics of mandatory train-side seat assignments, especially when it means stuffing everyone into one half the car, including noisy bulkhead seats, and the coach attendant is sitting pretty on 4 seats in the back half of the car.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/12 07:01 by joemvcnj.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I want specific coach seat assignments, or at
> least aisle/window.
> I detest the elementary school antics of mandatory
> train-side seat assignments, especially when it
> means stuffing everyone into one half the car,
> including noisy bulkhead seats, and the coach
> attendant is sitting pretty on 4 seats in the back
> half of the car.

Unlike the airlines, seat occupancy changes much more frequently on trains, where people get on and off at every stop. Such a "feature" will need to be updated semi-realtime on whatever device the conductor will have to carry.

I've seen passengers become puzzled from the "elementary school antics" when we are all stuffed in an area, yet they see empty seats in other areas of the car. On Amtrak #6, anyway, the conductor has to explain that large number of people will come onboard later, and at Sacramento, he's proved right, and the passengers calm down. I'm skeptical on whether Amtrak allowing us to choose our own coach seat assignments will make that less chaotic.

In the sleepers, the attendants seems to be on top of tracking which berths are occupied or not. When I requested an upgrade to bedroom from roomette on a #6 journey from Emeryville to Denver few years ago, the attendant had no problem figuring out whether I could do it or not. Makes sense, since most sleeper passengers travel longer distances, and there's less chaos from people hopping on and off at every stop.

If Amtrak wants to issue gagdets to conductors for managing seat assignments easier, that's a start. They can learn something from Japan, where "long distance trains" like Shinkansens and limited express trains have reserved seating coach cars (extra fee) and unreserved ones. They've been doing this for decades without relying on gadget devices, where one can request window or aisle, or special "business seats" with sockets and work tables when reserving tickets from a ticket agent.

<he's proved right, and the passengers calm down. >

Well on #30, it is a hoax. They stuff those headed to Pittsburgh in the rear coach, carry on with the nonsense that families are getting on further down the line, they do not, the coach attendant goes to bed at 10pm, and gets up 20 minutes before Pittsburgh. The car is run for his convenience, not the passengers.

< I'm skeptical on whether Amtrak allowing us to choose our own coach seat assignments will make that less chaotic. >

That is EXACTLY what they do on #49 out of NY, and #7 out of Chicago (at least the last time I rode it). Half the seat rows are marked for groups, either half the car, or alternating rows, and it works just fine.

I am tired of hearing that couples must sit on the same 2 seater. They can sit on aisle seats opposite each other and still be together. I bought my ticket 8 months prior, got on before them, so I'll sit where I want.

Greyhund, Megabus, Southwest doesn't resort to this - why does Amtrak ?

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Greyhund, Megabus, Southwest doesn't resort to
> this - why does Amtrak ?

Well, Southwest and Greyhound have NO seating assignments. I use them frequently, so I should know. It's a free for all when you board, so I don't know if that's a good example.

Seems to me this is more an employee training issue than a CIO issue, since, like I said, Amtrak #6/#5 attendants and conductors seem to handle the crowd reasonably well considering the circumstances. But if Amtrak wants to implement a seat assignment feature like the less financially healthy airlines, they are welcome to do so. However, I suggest they charge extra for that, and consider separate reserved and unreserved coach cars to make it easier to manage.

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I want specific coach seat assignments, or at
> > least aisle/window.
> > I detest the elementary school antics of
> mandatory
> > train-side seat assignments, especially when it
> > means stuffing everyone into one half the car,
> > including noisy bulkhead seats, and the coach
> > attendant is sitting pretty on 4 seats in the
> back
> > half of the car.
>
> Unlike the airlines, seat occupancy changes much
> more frequently on trains, where people get on and
> off at every stop. Such a "feature" will need to
> be updated semi-realtime on whatever device the
> conductor will have to carry.
>

(snip)

that's absolutely true.

In Italy, the hand held conductor devices update seat inventory as the conductor sells upgrades, or handles folks who want to change seats, etc. As you note, it's not insurmountable, and may not even be difficult to accomplish. It does require the ability to refresh the inventory of seats, so a wi-fi or cell signal would be necessary at least at stations.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Greyhund, Megabus, Southwest doesn't resort to
> this - why does Amtrak ?


Last time I flew SWA it was "first come(to terminal), first seated(in four boarding groups)." That is how they keep fares lower.... no computerized seat tracking.

hazegray Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> >
> > Greyhund, Megabus, Southwest doesn't resort to
> > this - why does Amtrak ?
>
>
> Last time I flew SWA it was "first come(to
> terminal), first seated(in four boarding groups)."
> That is how they keep fares lower.... no
> computerized seat tracking.

Boarding priority is now based on check-in time, starting at T-24 hours. For a fee ($10) SWA will check you in automatically at T-36 virtually guaranteeing A Group boarding. Passengers paying Business Select fares and "A List" fliers get front of the A group priority.

I actually like the SWA system. You line-up with your letter group (A, B or C) and in the numeric order shown on your boarding pass. Then you board and select your seat. Compared to the true Amtrak cattle call at New York or Washington, SWA's system is great (as long as you get an A group BP).

prr60 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> (snip)
>
> Boarding priority is now based on check-in time,
> starting at T-24 hours. For a fee ($10) SWA will
> check you in automatically at T-36 virtually
> guaranteeing A Group boarding. Passengers paying
> Business Select fares and "A List" fliers get
> front of the A group priority.
>
> I actually like the SWA system. You line-up with
> your letter group (A, B or C) and in the numeric
> order shown on your boarding pass. Then you board
> and select your seat. Compared to the true Amtrak
> cattle call at New York or Washington, SWA's
> system is great (as long as you get an A group
> BP).

Southwest spends a lot of time trying to shave a minute here, a minute there, off their travel and connection times. At Midway, they even try to make gate assignments minimize taxi distances, push back congestion, etc. It's a religion among their employees and managers to improve the flight experience, cut costs, routings, etc.

There's a lesson for Amtrak, as well. Southwest gets enormous utilization out of its equipment, with very short turns, minimal dwell, etc. Most places get frequent service, but lose service (Pittsburgh, for example) if they don't generate volume.

Southwest seems to really have their house in order. Be great if Amtrak can learn from them, but also the situation with 30, they need to look at the mainifest to figure out how to seat people, because on No. 4 one time out of LA. Same thing, and sure enough, Fullerton and San Bernadino were big stops, and the car I was on was packed!

ProAmtrak Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Southwest seems to really have their house in
> order. Be great if Amtrak can learn from them, but
> also the situation with 30, they need to look at
> the mainifest to figure out how to seat people,
> because on No. 4 one time out of LA. Same thing,
> and sure enough, Fullerton and San Bernadino were
> big stops, and the car I was on was packed!

I hate to tell you, but Southwest roared into the Philly Airport several years ago, advertised like crazy, and then abandoned most of that scheme and never advertises any more for the remaining flights!!!!!!

Amtrak's CIO priorities are far more likely to involve things like accounting systems and revenue collection, or equipment maintanence processes, than customer facing systems, much less a cutting edge seat selection system which would cost hundreds of millions.

Hopefully.

stone23 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ProAmtrak Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Southwest seems to really have their house in
> > order. Be great if Amtrak can learn from them,
> but
> > also the situation with 30, they need to look
> at
> > the mainifest to figure out how to seat people,
> > because on No. 4 one time out of LA. Same
> thing,
> > and sure enough, Fullerton and San Bernadino
> were
> > big stops, and the car I was on was packed!
>
> I hate to tell you, but Southwest roared into the
> Philly Airport several years ago, advertised like
> crazy, and then abandoned most of that scheme and
> never advertises any more for the remaining
> flights!!!!!!


Philadelphia (and Pittsburgh) had fare more service than the amount of traffic locally generated would have required. SW roared into town, advertised as you note, and didn't get the volumes to support the service they were offering.

So, you can either cut your slack, reduce services, or leave, or you can stay around and provide service at a loss. As a company that has to answer to shareholders for their use of resources, SW made the obvious choice in both cases.

But, SW is boosting service at BWI and Newark, so they're doing something right in the area.