Advocating for improved passenger rail service

1. I hope everyone will take the opportunity to join and support the National Association of Railroad Passengers. Please also join your state and local rail advocacy groups, since decisions on passenger rail are increasingly being made by state legislatures.

2. Respond to newspapers, television, radio, blogs and social media posts about transportation issues. Correct misinformation whenever possible, and hammer home the point that people do ride trains!

3. Contact your local, state, and national elected officials, and make sure that they understand how important passenger rail is to those who are not served by other modes, and/or who cannot or will not drive or fly. Make sure that they know about and understand the statistics showing that younger people are choosing not to be dependent on cars.

4. Talk to your fellow passengers while aboard Amtrak. Encourage them to join NARP and advocate locally. Many passengers who rely on Amtrak have no idea how service decisions are made, and where the money is coming from.

Couldn't agree more with Charlie. Look, I know that we are all busy, Hell, I've still got 3 kids, a dog, some lizards, and a wife at home, but if rail travel is your passion, at some point, you are going to have to get passionate!

In my twenties, while attending WMU, I as an active member in MARP, and even got to testify B4 congress with MARP / NARP. How cool was that for a "kid".

Pay your dues to NARP / State Org, but more important, TOTALLY MORE IMPORTANT, write some emails, and shock-of-all-shocks, follow it up with snail-mail to your local elected officials, whether or not they are "your party" or not... Hand address the envelope. Look at it this way, you will be helping support the United States Postal Service!

Later I was president of TexARP, (only because everyone else took one step BACKward, when they asked for volunteers) I can honestly say that during my two year tenure, we didn't accomplish squat! We spent a lot of time on the road, promoting HSR and the "Texas Triangle", but the lessons I learned about politics, PR, and back-room corporate deals stay with me today.

OK, jumping off soap box now. In summary, "If rail travel is your passion, at some point, you are going to have to get passionate!"

Sad that it has to be that way in the US of A, but 'dems the facts!

Thanks! Here are some more.

5. Foster support for improved passenger rail in other groups you belong to.

6. Foster diversity among rail supporters. Recruit members and supporters who don't fall into the traditional "old white guy" railfan demographic.

7. Word of mouth is gold. When I post photos on Facebook, many of my friends start asking questions and make comments about how fun it looks. Several friends have started taking the train to Chicago, and the more they do that, the more their friends start doing it because they've seen the pictures and/or join them on their next trip. I'm bringing a train newbie with me in late April. I'm so excited!

Getting the ridership numbers up is a good reflection on Amtrak and can create the demand for more service. Also, getting more people on the trains means more advocates for rail service. My friends aren't quite to railfan status yet, but I'm working on it.

8. Push back against rail opponents who focus only on "subsidies" and costs. Transportation of all kinds is a public good, and should be evaluated in ways beyond dollars and cents. Steer discussions toward the points that Joe Boardman made recently.

Amtrak President Joe Boardman...maintains a focus on income statements and balance sheets, but he is not single-minded. He considers equally important a responsibility to provide affordable and reliable intercity rail mobility to rural families, college students, vacationers, an aging population, city dwellers without automobiles, and a growing number of citizens now signaling that they clearly prefer public transportation.

...Boardman is relentless in educating members of Congress on public opinion polls, validated by Amtrak ridership gains, that voters even in hard-core conservative districts are supportive of federal financial support for Amtrak....

Boardman advocates [that politicians] recommit themselves to advance and fund public works projects that have been the foundation of America’s financial, cultural and global strength—transcontinental railroads, inland waterways, an interconnected air travel network, urban transit, the Interstate Highway System, and, of course, a world-class national intercity rail passenger network.

Click to expand...

9. Push for a robust, truly national system. Much of the country is served by one train a day or less, on one route, and this winter's disruptions have shown how fragile such a system is. We need multiple daily frequencies on the routes we have, and then alternate routes, so that people can be served even when there are disruptions.

Encourage hotels and convention centers to include train stations on their "how to get here" web pages.

A new hotel just opened up about a mile from WIL. It's an easy walk or cab ride (or even w/in the hotel's 2 mile radius free shuttle) to/from the train station. I sent them an email to the specific email address for that hotel asking why the train station wasn't listed. Someone replied back "which hotel are you talking about". I replied back ANY hotel "near" train stastions. I just checked their website again...no mention, that I see of the trains station.

I was also looking at hotels near another train station, and did not see any mention of how to get to the hotel from the nearby train station. There was directions for getting to the hotel from 3 airports, though.

Aloha

It's been a bunch of years since I was at the Fountainbleu in Miami. I was leaving by train and the hotel had no clue Miami had train service. The hotel bellman had to call Amtrak to send a taxi to the hotel as none of the taxis that serviced the hotel would take me.

I've adapted this thread into a blog post that I've posted here:

What you can do to improve passenger rail

It's been linked from several Facebook groups and Twitter accounts. Thanks for all the comments and suggestions!