Passenger Trains > America's Subway: America's Embarrassment?

Fine article by Wendell Cox, a very knowlegable transportation scholar & writer.

http://www.newgeography.com/content/005230-americas-subway-americas-embarrassment

"....James Surowiecki of The New Yorker, who opined: "Today, the Metro is in such a state that fixing it may require shutting whole lines for months at a time. It’s yet again an example for the nation, but now it’s an example of how underinvestment and political dysfunction have left America with infrastructure that’s failing and often downright dangerous."

It is hard to imagine a more inappropriate characterization. Metro's problem has nothing to do with any national infrastructure crisis. It is a crisis of competence --- the failure of its governance system to competently manage the system.

When is the last time that the entire New York subway was closed with 12 hours notice to make repairs critical to the safety of the system? Or when was the last such shutdown of the London Underground, the Paris Metro, or for that matter the Kolkata Metro or the Caracas Metro, much less the threat of closing lines for months at a time?

How many of America's many light rail systems have shut down as a result of their having failed to sufficiently maintain their safety? There is plenty to criticize about the many new urban rail systems in the United States. They may not carry the number of passengers projected, and often have cost far more than taxpayers were told and they may not have reduced traffic congestion. But they have managed to provide safe transportation to their riders. Only one of America's rail systems has failed so abjectly in the most fundamental of its responsibilities: America's subway in Washington..."

I am not aware that Wendell Cox ever had a good word to say about any kind of rail passenger transport.  His answer to every transportation problem is pour more concrete.  His opinion would be the last that I would trust.

If Cox had his way, you would see very very, little new starts of rail transit in the past 40-50 years.  In this case, he is right about the \DC Metro.   BAD BAD management.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/16 14:22 by mundo.

mundo Wrote:
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> If Cox had his way, you would see very very,
> little new starts of rail transit in the past
> 40-50 years.  In this case, he is right about the
> \DC Metro.   BAD BAD management.

Many railfans don't like his message but fail to point out faults in the data and methodology leading to his conclusions.  Cox knows transportation planning and implementation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/16 14:55 by Geodyssey.

I see these problems as a manifestation of what I have dubbed the "Golden Spike Syndrome".  We have driving of golden spikes, pounding in the last Pandrol clip, and big ribbon cutting ceremonies, but tend to forget that anything mechanical will wear out, and electronic apparatus fails and becomes obsolete ("An 87U326 chip?  We haven't stocked them for years, and the company that made them went out of business in 1995.  Good luck finding any spares.").  Maintenance is the line item that gets cut when the budget is tight and maintenance work gets little respect compared to construction,  I'm not an expert on such matters, but I've read that Japanese culture supports keeping everything shipshape, and maintenance work is honored.  Some American management is like the guy who buys a new car and then gets stranded when the engine fails because he never changes the oil.

I agree with Late Beans 100%!  He has written some terrible articles over the years!
He's just using Washinton Metro's problems as an easy affirmation of his negative views on transit.

mp51w Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with Late Beans 100%!  He has written
> some terrible articles over the years!
> He's just using Washinton Metro's problems as an
> easy affirmation of his negative views on transit.

So what are the errors in the DC Metro article?

What do you disagree with? It has to be more than "Cox is a bad nman".

There's no reason railfans / transit fans can't also be objective observers. Cox's artice is spot-on.

I didn't see any comments to the article. There are several which could be made.

DC residents and suburban commuters were willing to let Metro bus and subway slip into disrepair as widespread crime engulfed some neighborhoods. Remember the bus routes that were curtailed when buses were caught in gunfire? But the fares were cheap compared to NY.

The suburban governments had to be dragged into paying for Metro, convinced it was a sink hole. (They are right, look at the Silver line)

Nobody was ever in charge, so faulty steel could be used in switch and train in block indicators. Jumpers went years past service life.

Life is cheap. Metro employees died regularly, and nobody cared. Not the agency not the unions not the riders. Even when incompetence started killing riders the response was muted.

The whole mess is sad.

Wiedefeld seems to be trying to drag this place into the 2000s.

Posted from Android

Geodyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So what are the errors in the DC Metro article?
>
> What do you disagree with? It has to be more than
> "Cox is a bad nman".
>
> There's no reason railfans / transit fans can't
> also be objective observers. Cox's artice is
> spot-on.

Thanks for the link. Nothing wrong with the article or what he said.

However...

TO members have discussed this topic extensively already, for at least a month now, maybe more? Easy for Mr. Cox to read through the discussions, follow the links posted by TO members, and he gets the last laugh because he does less work and still gets paid to write the article. He hasn't said anything new.

I'd say this is his "credibility article" so he doesn't look like a puppet to those who control the purse strings to the think tanks. I congratulate him for that.

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Geodyssey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > So what are the errors in the DC Metro article?
> >
> > What do you disagree with? It has to be more
> than
> > "Cox is a bad nman".
> >
> > There's no reason railfans / transit fans can't
> > also be objective observers. Cox's artice is
> > spot-on.
>
> Thanks for the link. Nothing wrong with the
> article or what he said.
>
> However...
>
> TO members have discussed this topic extensively
> already, for at least a month now, maybe more?
> Easy for Mr. Cox to read through the discussions,
> follow the links posted by TO members, and he gets
> the last laugh because he does less work and still
> gets paid to write the article. He hasn't said
> anything new.
>
> I'd say this is his "credibility article" so he
> doesn't look like a puppet to those who control
> the purse strings to the think tanks. I
> congratulate him for that.

That idea that Wendell Cox (three-term member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, etc.) gets his info by reading TrainOrders is ludicrous.
http://www.newgeography.com/category/story-topics/evolving-urban-form

Cox, and the article, is correct. DC Metro's failures are the result of mismanagement at the highest levels. In light of that, maybe you should re-read some of his other work.

Interesting that DC's "new" light rail line is also a mess.

Geodyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That idea that Wendell Cox (three-term member of
> the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission,
> etc.) gets his info by reading TrainOrders is
> ludicrous.
> http://www.newgeography.com/category/story-topics/
> evolving-urban-form
>
> Cox, and the article, is correct. DC Metro's
> failures are the result of mismanagement at the
> highest levels. In light of that, maybe you
> should re-read some of his other work.
>
> Interesting that DC's "new" light rail line is
> also a mess.

I've already looked up his background 4 years ago when he wrote articles regarding California's Transit Villages. I was unimpressed (but not disagreeing) since his article didn't dig too deep. Even if my "stealing idea from TO" jab was ludicrous, I'd expect a think tanker article to be more in depth, and furthermore, more timely. Don't forget to mention that his appointments to the Transportation Commission was 1977-1985, more than 30 years ago.

I find YOU more insightful than him. Hope to hear more of your opinions, rather than links to other's opinions.

Is it safe to assume that if Cox had his way, there would be no Metro, 2nd largest rail transit system, long ago surpassed Chicago's CTA, and everyone would be on a bus ?

O'Toole was bitching a couple of weeks ago that Denver RTD's Airport line, if not all the other rail lines, should have been buses.

joemvcnj Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------
> O'Toole was bitching a couple of weeks ago that
> Denver RTD's Airport line, if not all the other
> rail lines, should have been buses.

Haha! I guess O'Toole never heard of Denver RTD's SkyRide buses. I know because I've used it numerous times on my past visits to Denver to go between downtown (and Amtrak Depot) and DIA (airport). Riderships was good to great, so building a rail line would have been a good next step.

So there WERE buses already, so there is no "SHOULD HAVE BEEN." Duh!

Seriously, it shows the stupidity of the people who actually listen to people like O'Toole, who mouth off before doing any real research. 

cchan006 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> joemvcnj Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> ----
> > O'Toole was bitching a couple of weeks ago that
> > Denver RTD's Airport line, if not all the other
> > rail lines, should have been buses.
>
> Haha! I guess O'Toole never heard of Denver RTD's
> SkyRide buses. I know because I've used it
> numerous times on my past visits to Denver to go
> between downtown (and Amtrak Depot) and DIA
> (airport). Riderships was good to great, so
> building a rail line would have been a good next
> step.
>
> So there WERE buses already, so there is no
> "SHOULD HAVE BEEN." Duh!
>
> Seriously, it shows the stupidity of the people
> who actually listen to people like O'Toole, who
> mouth off before doing any real research. 


I was the San Diegians/Pacific Surfliner route manager for Caltrans Rail Program aka Amtrak California for nine years, expanding the service from 3 RTs to 10+ and new service to SLO as well as the Executive Director of LOSSAN (2nd busiest IC rail corridor in the US) for a time. What about all those Thruway buses we ran?

What have you done to improve mobility? Of people that is, not rail vehicles or pie-in-the sky plans, which is what this forum and railfans usually focus on. Not every O-D needs to have the same type service, and usually, there are better, less expensive, options then rail. But what do I know, I'm just a mode-neutral transprtation planner with an actual track (pun) record. That makes me of those "stupid" people I suppose.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/16 09:24 by Geodyssey.

DNRY122 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I see these problems as a manifestation of what I
> have dubbed the "Golden Spike Syndrome".  We have
> driving of golden spikes, pounding in the last
> Pandrol clip, and big ribbon cutting ceremonies,
> but tend to forget that anything mechanical will
> wear out, and electronic apparatus fails and
> becomes obsolete ("An 87U326 chip?  We haven't
> stocked them for years, and the company that made
> them went out of business in 1995.  Good luck
> finding any spares.").  Maintenance is the line
> item that gets cut when the budget is tight and
> maintenance work gets little respect compared to
> construction,  I'm not an expert on such matters,
> but I've read that Japanese culture supports
> keeping everything shipshape, and maintenance work
> is honored.  Some American management is like the
> guy who buys a new car and then gets stranded when
> the engine fails because he never changes the oil.

Because that's how politicians who usually fund these things (and items like roads) get recognized.  News coverage always highlights the new, but not so much the maintenance.  Until the people paying for it demand better maintenance and accountability, not much will change.

Nathan

Well, I know of no light rail operations that have shut down due to lack of maintenance, although there are many of the "newer" systems that are in need of major repairs and updates due to the lack of funding and even more the lack of leadership. Worst offenders would include Baltimore, Buffalo and Cleveland. Cleveland's Shaker Heights Line is a legacy operation while their Red Line is only sort of heavy rail Metro although quite often single car trains are run because they don't carry even a busload of passengers. The non-leader transit managers basically ignore the elephant at the station and tell their mayor that everything is just fine while cutting frequencies and deferring repairs as long as possible in hopes that they'll be gone before the stuff hits the fan.

Most of our nation's transit agencies are headed up by political appointees who know nothing about what public transport is all about.  After all, you can go out and build that beautiful new light rail line with big FTA donations if you can just get the local share from the states, counties and municipalities where the line will go (at least initially).  This is the reason for the big surge in construction of "modern street car" operations.  Trouble is, there is no Federal $$ for operations. And maintenance falls under the operations area.  Just like ADA-mandated paratransit service, it is a cost that was never budgeted into the full cost of funding sources and non-rail service suffers because of the cost.

Thing is, when those huge Federal grants run out, there is no plan for long-term operations of those systems.  Whether it be a metro/subway, LRT line or "modern streetcar" eventually the phenomenal cost of operating rail begins to gnaw away at the operations and capital budgets of the transit systems involved. As those costs continue to rise, bus passenger -- those who desperately need urban transit to get to where they need to go -- suffer because the operating budget must be slanted towards the rail operation politically, which is simply far more wasteful than buses on (under-maintained infrastructure) streets. 

No, I am not defending Wendell Cox. He is an outcast in our industry, and has little to say good about it. 

timecruncher

Parting shot at my friends in Baltimore -- Their light rail has been operating for at least fifteen years and I have yet to successfully purchase a pass from one of their TVMs. They simply cannot keep them working or simply don't care.

The Baltimore light rail is a real embarassment.  it's clear that the system has needed improvements for more than a decade, but little has been done.

Street signals aren't coordinated with the trains for the most part. Cars double or triple park along the route, train beeps its horn and waits. That's happened to me several times. People pass the train on foot, and often outpace it over a few blocks. It just strikes me as a failure of management to manage, and riders / citizens to demand change.  people ride it to and from work, and it serves industrial parks in outlying areas, as well as downtown offices. There's nothing wrong with the idea, and the layout. It just doesn't work and several mayors don't seem to be able to make it work.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Baltimore light rail is a real embarrassment. 
> it's clear that the system has needed improvements
> for more than a decade, but little has been done.
>
> Street signals aren't coordinated with the trains
> for the most part. Cars double or triple park
> along the route, train beeps its horn and waits.
> That's happened to me several times. People pass
> the train on foot, and often outpace it over a few
> blocks. It just strikes me as a failure of
> management to manage, and riders / citizens to
> demand change.  people ride it to and from work,
> and it serves industrial parks in outlying areas,
> as well as downtown offices. There's nothing wrong
> with the idea, and the layout. It just doesn't
> work and several mayors don't seem to be able to
> make it work.

Very true.  And yet people on here blasted Gov Hogan when he pulled the plug on the red line the previous administration wanted to build.  It would have been worse than the current metro and light rail, which are both embarrassing.

I am pro-Purple Line, anti Red line.

timecruncher Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Worst offenders would include Baltimore, Buffalo
> and Cleveland. Cleveland's Shaker Heights Line is
> a legacy operation while their Red Line is only
> sort of heavy rail Metro although quite often
> single car trains are run because they don't carry
> even a busload of passengers.

From my observation of the operation, it is largely because folks never know when or if a train will show up, and if it does, when or if it will get them to where they are going.

TAW