FY19 Appropriation - Safe

[lordsigma]

I have asked the people who made the original claim to provide a pointer to the actual text. I could not find it in H.J. Res 31, which I thought was the final Appropriation. But I could be wrong about that. Or maybe I am clueless about where to look for it within the voluminous document. I just looked under FRA. So I await a response from them.

I couldn’t find it on the legislation itself but it sounds like this wasn’t on the bill itself but possibly on a committee report accompanying the bill. The conference report accompanying the bill does not seem to be available.

 

[jis]

I couldn’t find it on the legislation itself but it sounds like this wasn’t on the bill itself but possibly on a committee report accompanying the bill. The conference report accompanying the bill does not seem to be available.

That is what I am thinking too. That is why I asked Sean where exactly can the actual text be found, so we can answer Thirdrail's question. Let's see if and when he gets back to me. Usually he responds overnight.

 

[lordsigma]

I must say I'm kinda annoyed at the station agent provision. If there was one thing Amtrak could've cut that I'd say was worthy of cutting, it's station staffing. Far better way to reduce costs than almost anything else that has been floated/done. Far better than all the food service shenanigans lately. This sets a bit of an ugly precedent since legislation is quite hard to reverse.

It sounded like it was more to push Amtrak to engage with the local communities on the issue rather than just unilaterally cutting. In Cincinnati for instance the city offered to subsidize the staffing and Amtrak declined. If Cincinnati wants to subsidize the positions to provide a more passenger friendly station then why not let them? I believe moderate and large stations should be staffed. It’s true like many things with Amtrak the closed shop makes it harder to do it more efficiently in the age of online sales. Many stations could probably run more efficiently if you had just a couple full timers supplemented by part timers (which I imagine in many areas you could easily find a rail fan or two to staff a station part time. Heck I would sign up for that.) But as a result of the closed shop you need way more full timers. On the other hand, with the current setup they are earning a living wage which I won’t begrudge anyone - when the union is busted benefits decline..

 

[lordsigma]

Having a ridership floor for staffing seems reasonable. But stations not making the cut should at least have their communities consulted and given an option b (ie position subsidies or local staffing.)

 

[jis]

IS there a link? I'd like to see the station agent statement since the initial language called for making sure Amtrak retained an agent in every state that had one during FY18

I don't have a link, but I have a copy of the Explanatory Statement document that I have been asked not to share any further pending the House Office making it publicly available. Here is the exact language in the Explanatory Statement associated with the 2019 Appropriation Bill:

Amtrak is directed to provide a station agent in each Amtrak station that had a ticket agent in
fiscal year 2018. Station agents, which include Amtrak ticket agents or caretakers, assist
passengers with their intercity rail travel, provide customer service during all hours that a station
is open, and perform building maintenance duties. Amtrak is directed to improve
communication and collaboration with local partners and take into consideration the unique
needs of each community, including impacts to local jobs, when making decisions related to the
staffing of Amtrak stations, and to work with stakeholders to maximize the efficiency of these
station agents.

Seems to be a complete repudiation of whatever the Anderson regime was upto with station staffing. All ticket agents removed are to be reinstated at least as a station agent if not a full fledged ticket agent, and elsewhere it says that Amtrak must submit a progress report with their 2020 funding request on this matter. Also there is a slap on the hand about being coy about letting local communities know ahead of time and plan for either taking action to prevent removal of agents or making alternative arrangements. Basically saying clearly that the stunt Amtrak pulled at Cincy is not acceptable behavior.

It would probably not be a surprise if we hear in the near future that Anderson has suddenly developed a great desire to spend more time with family, or some such.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Here's the rub:

Amtrak is directed to provide a station agent in each Amtrak station that had a ticket agent in
fiscal year 2018. Station agents, which include Amtrak ticket agents or caretakers, assist
passengers with their intercity rail travel, provide customer service during all hours that a station
is open, and perform building maintenance duties.

That's hardly a repudiation. It allows for caretakers, something that Amtrak has shown that it is interested in using. Many  stations are already staffed by caretakers. Some  are volunteers, some are paid for by other entities and some are part time employees.

This still does little to stop outsourcing or subcontracting costs to another entity, particularly since it doesn't really indicate when a station must be open. Indeed, some caretakers only open the station 30mins prior to the arrival of the train and close immediately after.  In a perfect world, the volunteer caretaker may only need to be there for an hour.

Nothing like free labor.

 

[jis]

Here's the rub:
That's hardly a repudiation. It allows for caretakers, something that Amtrak has shown that it is interested in using. Many  stations are already staffed by caretakers. Some  are volunteers, some are paid for by other entities and some are part time employees.
This still does little to stop outsourcing or subcontracting costs to another entity, particularly since it doesn't really indicate when a station must be open. Indeed, some caretakers only open the station 30mins prior to the arrival of the train and close immediately after.  In a perfect world, the volunteer caretaker may only need to be there for an hour.
Nothing like free labor.

Yup. Though it is more than restoring one agent in each state. [emoji57]

 

[lordsigma]

Yeah actually with the word caretaker in there, This language does absolutely nothing. I think if you look at the history of this language it’s intention by those that introduced it was to be a repudiation and undoing of some of what was done, but if Amtrak leadership successfully lobbied to get the word “caretaker” inserted by another member that’s brilliant strategy by Anderson and company. RPA is claiming a victory while Amtrak can say it’s actually an approval and endorsement of what they are doing. That one word completely removes the teeth from

The language and turns it into just noise other than maybe telling them they need to do a better job with PR and communication with local communities.

Ironically this does nothing for Cincy even though they are what spawned this as they already have a caretaker assigned don’t they?

 

[jis]

The Congresspeople have been reluctant to delve into management directives in an appropriations bill beyond the minimum required to keep really bad things from happening. Since the station agent thing has no money associated with it, it was placed in the explanatory statement. Since there is no money associated with it, they were also reluctant to make an unfunded mandate.

In spite of the alleged weak language, what this does is, it requires Amtrak to talk to the communities and work with them to keep stations staffed. The major driver for this was Cincy where Amtrak refused to work with the community and unilaterally took actions that were detrimental to the community and Amtrak's customers. And they have to show significant progress by the time they make their 2020 request, which is just a few months away. So this really does not let them off the hook. It is more than just PR that is required.

All of these management direction issues will have to be handled more comprehensively in the Authorization Bill. That should include things like station staffing, baggage service, F&B service etc. We'll see how that goes.

 

[lordsigma]

Agreed - this seems more a repudiation of unilateral decision making and an unwillingness to work with communities and not being open to alternatives proposed by said communities than of Amtrak's policy of unstaffing certain stations by itself. Amtrak's best method of addressing this before 2020 is probably to approach Cincinnati and work out an arrangement that's more acceptable to them (and other stations that were affected where the community objected) whether that is by a more visible caretaker that interacts with passengers and provides some agent like services, or the return of a full agent maybe subsidized or employed by the local community.

From what I read Cincy pretty much offered to outright subsidize the agents. If they had accepted an arrangement like that we probably wouldn't even be having a discussion.

The language as written however is a big lesson on how one word can change everything. Absent the word caretaker, that language would be a big kick to Anderson and company, but with caretaker in there it gives them a lot more wiggle room. Here's hoping they will make a good faith effort to satisfy the affected communities rather than say that this is an approval of the status quo.

 

[jis]

Here is the RPA Blog on the subject that I quoted pieces of earlier in this thread:

https://www.railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/blog/key-funding-and-policy-victories-in-fy19-budget-deal/

 

[lordsigma]

Hopefully the reauthorization process can come up with something concrete when it comes to this.

 

[neroden]

I must say I'm kinda annoyed at the station agent provision. If there was one thing Amtrak could've cut that I'd say was worthy of cutting, it's station staffing. Far better way to reduce costs than almost anything else that has been floated/done. Far better than all the food service shenanigans lately. This sets a bit of an ugly precedent since legislation is quite hard to reverse.

Mr. Anderson's fault.

He cut the agent at CINCINNATI.  I mean, that's moronic, and everyone knows it.  The bogus excuse was "low ridership"... but the train was stopping at a temporary station due to heavy construction!  So it was unrepresentatively low ridership. 

The blowback is demanding the restoration of ALL agents who were cut.  If Amtrak had shown one ounce of common sense and never tried to cut the agents at the stations which really needed them, like Cincy, this legislation would never have happened.