Seniors’ slog

I found this quote interesting from an article about Texas’s appeal as a destination for retirees:

“The downside is that it’s not easy for seniors to get from place to place if they don’t drive: Big Texas cities have poor public transportation…”It’s really hard to get around,” he said, “and we have relatively little social services.”

The quote is from the Texas state demographer–no doubt a wise man but perhaps not a close student of transit.  Understand–I’m not arguing that Texas transit (Houston, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Lubbock, Amarillo, El Paso) is stellar, but the fact that we have light rail in Houston and Dallas, commuter rail planned for Austin, and several of the cities’ systems on Google Maps (and, by extension, iPhones and Blackberries, etc.) is significant to me, the transit rider.  Part of the challenge may be to better link senior groups/retiree communities with transit agencies to address their needs (beyond the special, door-to-door service–I’m talking fixed route).

The other piece is that as the article extols Texas’s virtues, it seems to focus heavily on the low cost of living, nonexistent income tax, and other economic factors.  It’s no accident that some of the most robust and extensive transit systems are in more expensive-to-live-in coastal cities, and I think we must still search for an equilibrium point between having low, low costs of living and taxes and having enough funding for transit and road needs (to say nothing of sidewalks and bikes).  I think it’s incumbent upon transit advocates to reframe the conversation both in terms of making Texas easy to manuever and transit-friendly as a “calling card” in attracting residents and visitors but also in terms of helping the seniors/less fortunate/young/one-car families etc.  Melodramatic though it may sound, I think transportation–being able to get from A to B–is something of a human right, and I think we should work to ensure people can do that regardless of mode.

Strike struck

Philadelphia officials negotiated an end to a nearly week long transit strike with the help of the mayor, the governor, and the local congressman. Austin’s labor woes had a state senator/former mayor involved but no one of higher profile. In Philly, the union had the World Series as a leverage point-a strike while the Series was in town would have been even more noticeable than this one was, and it made national news. The death of a transit worker (not from strike violence but perhaps the pressure on the system connected to the strike) only adds to the strike’s impact.

I don’t have stats handy on transit labor strikes but they do seem frequent in major systems. Perhaps the American Public Transportation Asssociation could bring national union reps and heads of transit systems together to sort out the issues. At this point, anything that could possibly discourage someone from riding transit should be examined closely.

Transportation without observation is tyranny!

I’m a big fan of early American history (1770’s to 1800 or so), and especially of what went on in Boston during that time, so I couldn’t resist a riff on “taxation without representation” in a post about Boston’s beloved T.  It’s of particular interest to me partly because I’ve ridden the T a bunch as a frequent visitor and former student in the New England region, but partly because it’s about funding:

“The idea at the time was to give the T a fixed annual subsidy, abandoning the unwieldy practice of using state money to pay off MBTA expenses at the end of each year. The concept, wrote D’Alessandro, was laudable. But the state underestimated the agency’s expenses by $558 million between 2000 and 2008, he wrote, because of unrealistic projections for operating costs that were outside the T’s control.

For example, the original plan left no money for workers’ health care cost increases, even though they grew by 73 percent in the first eight years. The T, the state’s largest electricity customer, saw fuel and utility costs more than double over the same period.

To balance the books, managers deferred debt payments, masking the size of the T’s problems, D’Alessandro concludes.”

Elected officials, in my view, are much less interested in touting funding for necessary (or even more than is necessary) maintenance than they are for brand-new shiny projects.  That’s understandable; it’s harder to see or experience the value of maintenance than it is to experience the value of new infrastructure.  But as we’ve seen in countless cases, it’s so critical to fund maintenance and is worlds cheaper to fund than new projects.

And you would think when so many electeds champion funding for safety in general (usually cops, etc.), they would champion more funding for safety in transportation proactively, rather than reactively.  Let’s hope.

We’re in the money?

Atlanta officials are celebrating and calling into question this finding regarding MARTA’s investment choices.  I’m not even going to try to re-summarize it–my layman’s summary of another layperson’s summary of a complex financial instrument would be folly.

To me, the fact that MARTA deemed it worthwhile to seek revenue through this means raises the point that transit agencies are getting a bit desperate for cash–undertaking apparently legal but, nevertheless, convoluted and (to some) troubling investments as a way to stay financially secure.  I’m not really saying MARTA did anything wrong.  I’m more saying that it points to the value of continuing the conversation about more “traditional” ways to fund transit (fares, sales taxes, maybe gas taxes, other streams) so that protracted audits like this one are less necessary.

Terror on the…rail line?

(With apologies to Billy Joel–bonus points for anyone who can cite the song lyric)

I am a little surprised by this–didn’t realize transit systems outside of New York and DC took such anti-terrorist precautions.

Marta, Marta…the real thing

I spent a few days in Atlanta last week (was it last week?  It was recently), and I bought myself a three-day pass for MARTA, their transit system, which combines buses with a kind of mixed-subway-commuter-rail line.  It’s below and above ground and mostly above grade (above the streets), so you’re never stopped for car traffic.  Once it gets under ground, it’s pretty far underground, at least in parts, so if you’re disabled, that might be a bit of a hassle.

I was able to buy my pass at a machine at the Atlanta airport rail station, which was very convenient to find from the main terminal/baggage claim.  The pass for three days came to $12.50.  Given that each fare was going to be $2 (correct change, of course), I am sure I got a bargain; I rode at least twice a day, if not more, and for me, I really want the convenience of having the same card every time rather than always being sure I have the correct change.  So, I was glad to see that.  I didn’t fully investigate where besides the Airport rail station I could have gotten a pass, but that was immaterial to me.

The rail rides were generally efficient and enjoyable.  Each station had an electronic display showing when the next train would arrive, which was very helpful–it helped me decide whether to make a mad dash for a departing train or not.  At one point, though, the display erroneously told me I would miss my flight if I waited for a train, and I panicked, but it ended up arriving much earlier than the display predicted.

The trains stations were fine–not too littered or dirty.  Overall, it was a pleasant riding experience.

The buses were also pleasant to ride.  They had a really helpful map on a TV screen showing where we were on the route, which helped a tourist like me immeasurably.  They stopped pretty frequently, which is something of a catch-22 for buses in my mind–really frequent stops could make it so that more folks ride because the stop is closer for them to reach, but it could also hamper ridership when people think they’re moving at a snail’s pace.  I didn’t mind it, but my rides were shorter distances.

One huge factor for me with MARTA was its connection to Google Transit.  That meant I could use my phone to track which bus or train to take at what time, rather than either downloading and printing schedules or finding a wifi station or business center, looking up the schedule, and memorizing it or jotting it down.  It’s really empowering to be standing somewhere random, have your phone find you, and then have it tell you how and when to get where you’re going.  I applaud MARTA for its use of Google Transit and its own trip planner.

Go, Dallas?!?!?

I never thought I’d say that.

Looks like Dallas (along with Fort Worth) is pressing full-speed ahead to grow their transit through a streetcar.  What’s striking is the enthusiasm among city leaders to move forward even without a firm handle on how to fund it–confident they’ll find one (or ones).  We need that kind of leadership and vision to entice funders to the transit table.

Streetcars are unusual in that they’re probably the least versatile/functional–they don’t go very far or fast–but the most popular (see San Francisco).  It seems like a natural next step for Dallas, given their existing light rail and bus service.  I wish them well–and that’s coming from a native Houstonian who generally doesn’t wish Dallas well ever.

Marta Marta…

Post upcoming soon on Marta experience in Atlanta.  For now, let me just say how clearly convinced I am never to live in an area that requires me to get into a car and use a freeway.  I did that twice today and was in the car each time for about 45 minutes.   I feel achy and gross, and I wasted a bunch of time.  I could’ve been on a bus, reading, relaxing, etc.

To bus or not to bus

I am kicking myself, transit geek that I am, for eschewing the bus yesterday for my car share service.  But I did the math, and time was not on my side.

I was going from downtown to Exposition and Westover–not a bad bus ride on the #21/#22.  But then I was going to Duval and 51st–I would have had to wait thirty minutes and ride for 45 with a transfer.  And then I could have taken a single bus to the dentist down Duval and then back to work on the same bus, though it runs infrequently.

So, I spent a lot more money for a lot more convenience.  Therein lies a rub (one of several) for transit, particularly bus (not rapid transit in dedicated right of way). It’s just hard to make the case to ride when you’re tripling/quadrupling the time, and time for many people is money.

You don’t have to fly…

They’re adding trains on the east coast (where train travel flourishes the most already) that, in theory, would be competitive timewise with driving from parts of Virginia to DC and beyond.  The interesting thing is the state of Virginia’s primary role in funding the trains, though it’s not clear state funding is available to sustain it.  But I hope states like Texas are watching.