The Rail Users’ Network (RUN) holds on-line conferences in the spring and fall.
The most recent took place on May 16 and focused on the current situation regarding rail transit in the United States. The theme of the conference was “Mixed Bag: New Transit Starts and Fiscal Cliff Service Cuts – What to Expect in 2025.”
The bad news was, of course, the fiscal cliff that is exacerbating funding crises for many transit providers, as we have been reporting. The good news is that some providers still expect to open new lines soon that have been planned and built over the years. This writer delivered the closing remarks, which will be summarized in a separate commentary at the end of this article.
RUN is a not-for-profit advocacy organization whose purview includes Amtrak, other passenger-rail carriers in the United States and Canada, and rail transit in both countries. It holds two aftenoon-length conferences each year. Last year’s events focused on potential expansion of the Amtrak network through the FRA’s Long-Distance and Corridor ID studies, both of which now face uncertain futures due to political changes in Washington. This time, RUN focused on transit. Conference attendees came from all regions of the United States, and a growing number of managers were on line, along with the advocates who customarily attend RUN conferences.
RUN Chair Richard Rudolph moderated the conference and expressed concern for the future of Amtrak and transit in light of today’s political realities. He also encouraged attendees to listen to the on-line Amtrak Board meeting on Thursday, May 22, which will be available to the public.
The conference featured two nationally-recognized speakers: Philip Eng, General Manager and CEO of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA or “the T”) in Boston, and Arthur S. Guzzetti, Vice-President – Mobility Initiatives and Public Policy at the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), which is the trade association for transit providers and their suppliers.
Eng came to the T from the Long Island Rail Road, where he had established a strong reputation. He began by mentioning his accomplishments since he came to Boston in 2023. He said that the agency was struggling when he came on board, including concerns about safety expressed by the FTA. Since that time, he said that its workforce has grown and there has been less attrition caused by employees quitting. A track improvement program has eliminated speed restrictons as the state of repair on the local rail lines has improved. He said: “The riders are getting the results and the benefits of it today.”
On the regional rail side, Eng reduced the traditional emphasis on peak-hour commuting and moved toward providing more-frequent all-day service on weekdays. He told the conference that he had instituted more trips with shorter headways since last year, taking a “regional rail” approach. On-time-performance has improved, too. He concluded by describing projects in progress. The agency’s latest expansion, the opening of South Coast Rail to New Bedford and Fall River, was also featured at the conference, as a “new starts” presentation later in the afternoon.
Guzzetti began by complimenting RUN on its “transition to virtual” for its conferences. He divided his presentation into three parts: news and notes from APTA, updates from Washington, and how to navigate the challenges ahead for transit. He called for continuation of the 80/20 split in federal appropriations for highways and transit and reported that APTA is supporting a rail title to be included in federal legislation. He also called for a means for local passenger railroads to obtain liability insurance for their operations. He introduced a new slogan: “Do more with more!” added: “When you have connections through rail, good things happen.”
In touting transit generally, Guzzetti said that switching from automobile use to transit can save a family $13,000 per year. He reported that, regarding the budget for the current fiscal year, continuing resolutions are keeping the money from the COVID-era IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) going. Regarding electric vehicles for transit, he said APTA has “eyes wide open, but we’re hopeful.” He noted that there are efforts by the feds to claw back grant money that has not yet been spent, but there was also good news. As an example, he mentioned that California is still funding the controversial California High-Speed Rail Project, even though USDOT is questioning the cost-effectiveness and management of the project so far.
Regarding the government transition, Guzzetti said “so far, so good,” although he also expressed concern that some new federal regulations could conflict with existing state laws. He concluded by saying, presumably on behalf of APTA, that “we know where we stand.” He added: “The public wants more transit and is willing to pay for it.” He also said that funding for operations should stay local, although some attendees questioned that view, noting that state and local authorities will face financial conditions that will make it more difficult to support transit operations, and called for the current 80/20 matching formula to be changed to give a higher percentage of the total to transit.
The Fiscal Cliff
Transit throughout the nation is facing funding difficulties, and a number of providers in big cities have predicted that, if they do not find new funding sources, their current financial situations will require severe service cuts, some in the 40-45% range. Many of these agency-level “funding crises” stem from ridership declines since the COVID-19 virus struck five years ago. As we reported extensively, federal legislation during the worst of the pandemic in late 2020 and early 2021 gave transit providers flexible funding that they could use for operations, although most federal funding is authorized specifically for capital projects. This “emergency” operating assistance will run out soon for many transit agencies, if it has not run out already. Conference panelists described the current situations in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the Bay Area in California, in and near San Francisco.
Andrew Albert, RUN Vice-Chair and a rider-representative to the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) Board, moderated the panel. He began by expressing concern about the situation in New York City, but the facts are similar in other cities served by major transit systems that include rail. He noted the loss of ridership and the increase in the number of people working from home in recent years and said: “We don’t want the death spiral.” He reported that New York State is funding the agency’s capital program for 2025-29, and that the Congestion Pricing toll, about which we have been reporting extensively, is working well.
Juliette Michaelson, Deputy Chief, Policy & External Relations for the MTA, was the next presenter. She reported on the effects of the congestion toll, which was implemented at the beginning of the year, but is now under attack by USDOT. She began by saying that 90% of people who come to Manhattan’s Central Business District (CBD, defined as the part of the island that includes Midtown, the Financial District at the island’s southern tip, and the area in-between) arrive on transit, and also complained about “decades of underinvestment in transit.” She recounted the recent history of the congestion toll, which is designed to speed traffic by reducing the number of vehicles on the streets of Manhattan, while providing support toward capital projects for the city’s transit, the Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North. She reported “an immediate impact” on traffic, which meant a smoother flow at higher speeds than occurred before the toll went into effect. She also reported a 12% reduction in traffic, translating to about 80,000 vehicles per day, into the CBD, with increases in travel speeds of 15% within the tolling zone and 8% outside of it.
Kevin Bueso, Chief Financial Officer for the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) in Illinois, an umbrella agency for Chicagoland’s transit (Metra trains, the Chicago Transit Authority, and PACE buses in the suburbs) described the local situation. He said that there is still some COVID money left, but the agencies are facing a $1 billion gap in 2027 and 2028. For next year, the prospect of a 20% budget gap is looming, which would force a 40% reduction in service. He called for “increased efficiency and stronger accountability” but stated the choice in stark terms: either expand the system or face service cuts. He concluded by saying that May 31 is the deadline for getting more funding from the legislature.
Erik Johanson is Senior Director for Budgets and Transformation at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), which runs transit in Philadelphia and its suburbs. He began by saying that the agency is facing a funding crisis on both the capital and operating sides, that it had “sustainable funding in the past, but COVID broke it.” He warned that the agency is facing a 45% service cut, which would “kill SEPTA as we know it.”
The final presenter on the panel was Sam Sargent, Director of Strategy & Transformation at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), the agency serving San José and nearby towns. He noted that ridership on the rail transit agencies in the Bay Area is lagging behind other places, and mentioned “economic headwinds” in the region, including slow “return to office” rates. He cautioned that BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) and Caltrain (trains between San Francisco and San José on a newly electrified line) depend on the farebox for more than 50% of their revenue, while San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency (Muni) has city funding. He concluded by saying: “Transit, especially rail, has an amazing story that people want to hear.” He advised conference attendees to keep talking about the economic impact that transit has and finished his presentation by saying: “It’s about people!”
Four New Starts
Despite the fiscal cliff that threatens to cripple the operating side of transit everywhere, the conference heard from four presenters who described new starts that their agencies have been bulding. One of those operations has already been running for two months at this writing, while the other three have been under consideration for decades and now are looking toward starting service in the future.
Ray Biggs II, Senior Project Director at the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT), described the Purple Line, a light-rail line that will run on an east-west alignment to serve Washington, DC’s Maryland suburbs and connect with Metrorail’s line at some of that system’s Maryland locations. He described the project as a P3 (public-private partnership) with MDOT owning the line, and private-sector entities operating and maintaining it. It will run between New Carrollton (where MARC and Amtrak trains also stop) and Bethesda with 21 stations. It will be 32 miles long and will use 142-foot, five-section cars built by CAF.
The next presenter was Jean Fox, Outreach Director for the South Coast Rail Project at the MBTA in Boston. It opened for service on March 24. It includes 37 miles of track that were upgraded, along with six stations and two layover facilities. Trains run on three segments of a Y-shaped service area: from Boston to Taunton, where separate lines run southward to the historic towns of New Bedford and Fall River. The Taunton station has an island platform for transfers. Fox titled her presentation “The Tale of a Railroad” and noted that the former service on the lines ended in 1958. She said that construction started in 2019, and testing took place last year. Fox described the agency’s interactions with MassDOT and the State’s DEP, the need to move utility lines, and adhering to FRA safety rules. She described the service area as “a mix of urban, suburban, and rural.”
Dee Leggitt, Executive Vice-President and Chief Development Officer at Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), described the Silver Line, a rail line that will link various suburbs and DFW Airport, running on an east-west alignment north of downtown Dallas on a former Cotton Belt Line route. She said that the line will run with Stadler Diesel Multiple-Unit (DMU) units, and touted new access and mobility that the new line will bring to the area. She said that Herzog is designing and building the line and will operate it, that the stations are almost completed, and that DART is hoping to start service next March.
The final presenter was Brian Nolodny, Project Manager at the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS). He described the Red Line, a rail line now under construction that will run north from Uptown Charlotte (their term for the city’s urban core) north to a station past Davidson (home of Davidson College), with ten stops. He said that planning for the line began in 1988, when CATS first got a 0.5% sales tax increase for transit. CATS bought the line in 2024. Nolodny said that there have been changes since the former 2009 design, including using DMU units instead of locomotive-hauled trains. The proposed schedule calls for 21 round trips with a 45-minute running time, end to end, running 30-minute headways at peak times and 60 minutes at other times.
That concluded the conference presentations, except for the closing remarks, which I delivered. We will present a summary of those remarks, in a companion commentary.
After the conference, RUN Chair Richard Rudolph told Railway Age: “The conference was a smashing success. We had more than 75 people who had pre-registered for the conference, and the speakers were superb. They gave us some real information about what’s happening to transit agencies facing the fiscal cliff. Hopefully the federal government will step up with some funds to help keep people out of their cars and riding on transit. We also had superb speakers about new starts. All in all, it was a great learning experience for all the folks who attended. For other organizations, I would suggest using Zoom as an approach, rather than in-person conferences. Many more people can attend, especially people who can’t afford hotels and transportation to get there. It’s a strategy weve been using since COVID started, and it’s been good for the Rail Users’ Network.”
Looking Toward a Questionable Future
Here is a summary of what I said at the end of the conference, presented here as a commentary, separate and apart from the report on the conference itself.
Good News: New Starts Still Coming
The good news was that some transit agencies are moving toward completing new lines that will expand their service areas. One of those starts, South Coast Rail in the Boston area, is already running. It is already restoring a piece of the Boston area’s mobility map that was gone for more than 66 years and never should have gone away. All these projects have been under consideration for decades, and all of them faced long delays in the process that started with early planning and cannot come to a successful conclusion until service begins. Because of factors like the fiscal cliff that essentially all transit providers face, along with an apparent antipathy from Washington regarding new rail transit starts, rail transit throughout the United States faces an uncertain future, even more so for the prospect of expansion in the foreseeable future.
Sadly, there seems now to be little reason to expect that projects that have not yet entered the funding and construction pipeline will ever be built. At least, if they are, they will face more years of delay, while communities are denied the economic benefits that transit delivers, and potential riders will continue to make do with a transit network that appears doomed to shirnk for years.
Bad News: Fiscal Cliff Aggravates Funding Crises
Last year, we reported extensively on the fiscal cliff that has become inevitable as COVID-19 relief money is running out, while ridership has not recovered to pre-COVID levels. State and local elected officials must find the money to keep service levels where they have been historically, or severe cuts appear certain. Presenters from Chicago and Philadelphia warned about drastic cuts that will occur soon if more money is not found to keep transit in those cities going at or near today’s service levels. Similarly, the presenter from California warned about local providers that depend heavily on farebox revenue. We reported on how Caltrain was saved recently, when voters the three counties where it runs approved a funding measure, despite a rule in California that any tax increase must be approved by voters with a 2/3 majority.
We also heard from New York about the Congestion Pricing toll that will help the capital side of the city’s transit and in-state railroads and appears to be succeeding in both its primary purpose to reduce automobile congestion on the streets of Manhattan and its secondary purpose to help fund capital projects for transit. Still, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has ordered the MTA to shut the tolls down. Despite that order, the MTA (and its subsidiary, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, which collects the tolls) are fighting back in court. At this writing, motorists are still paying the tolls. Some have said that the faster trip they now enjoy is worth the extra money.
Personal Thoughts
RUN has established a reputation for sponsoring good conferences, and this one was no exception. One advantage of RUN’s “bite-sized” afternoon-length conferences is that they can focus on a topic and give attendees the information they need, in depth while presented in an efficient manner. It is also easy and inexpensive to hold them, so attendees are not required to pay the cost of getting to an “in-person” conference or paying for lodging while there. The number of managers who register for RUN’s semi-annual conferences is increasing, which enriches the mix and gives advocates a different perspective.
I was also impressed with the two featured speakers: Keynoter Phil Eng from the “T” and APTA’s Art Guzzetti. Eng has done a lot in his relatively short time as head of the agency. He brought it into a state of good repair, and he changed the scheduling on the regional rail lines away from the historic heavy emphasis on peak-hour commuting. Today the schedule focuses on more-frequent service during the entire service day, while some lines run a few extra “peak-hour” trains, too. I have often called for such a “regional rail” approach, as opposed to a “commuter rail” approach, and I hope it works well for the riders in and around Boston. I have had the honor of knowing Art Guzzetti for more than 20 years and, in my opinion, his knowledge of transit is unsurpassed. He also manages to care about mobility for transit riders, even though he works for the providers’ trade association.
My request to APTA, through him, would be that the organization work together with the advocates to help save (and eventually improve) our “transit railroads” and local rail transit. That includes calling for more transit getting more than 20% of the amount shared between transit and highways. Calling for a 30% share would begin to remedy the historic imbalance that that has given motorists complete freedom of movement while relegating non-motorists who depend on transit access to only limited and increasingly isolated parts of the country. Even a 25% share would significantly improve mobility that motorists and non-motorists alike could use. The disparate nature of mobility for those two groups is not local but stems from national policies and places non-motorists throughout the nation at a mobility disadvantage. Returning to the old pattern of keeping almost all funding for operations at the local level does not only ignore the mobility disparity between motorists and those of us who depend on transit, but it also forces states and localities to find money to pay for transit at a time when the impending loss of federal funding for other purposes could leave those governments in a precarious financial state.
Only a few attendees were in New Jersey, but there were no trains running on New Jersey Transit that day, due to the engineers’ strike. The trains are now running again, but a few attendees and lots of other New Jerseyans got a preview of what it’s like to get around without trains, if that’s even feasible.
For more information about RUN, the organization’s website is www.railusers.net.
