Metro-North meltdown

Written by JIm Cameron
Tuesday, 26 July 2011 23:00

Friday, July 22, was the hottest day I can ever remember. The pavement in Manhattan was 147 degrees, and I could tell that my commute home was going to be awful. Luckily, I wasn’t on the 1:34 to New Haven.

That train was on time, but three of its cars lacked good air conditioning, so the remaining cars were standing room only. Just past the Westport station, an aging pantograph snared the overhead catenary (power) line, sagging in the heat, and the train lost power. No electricity meant no AC, no radio and no PA system.

Eyewitnesses on the train tell me people started panicking as the temperature rose. They asked a conductor to open a window or door, but he refused. Finally, two passengers opened emergency evacuation windows, pried open the doors, jumped out and walked down onto the tracks.

Why don’t the airlines tell us?

Written by Jim Cameron
Tuesday, 12 July 2011 23:00

Have you ever wondered if the airlines are telling you the truth about the safety of air travel? Well, me too.

Seating: Ever wonder why seats face forward in the plane? Is it because we like to watch what’s going on in first class? Actually, research shows that rear-facing seats are much safer in the event of an emergency. Just ask the military, which fits seats on its transport planes facing the rear.

Seat belts: We’re asked to keep them fastened whenever we’re seated in the event of “bumpy air.” The better term to use would be “clear air turbulence,” when, unexpectedly, the plane plummets hundreds of feet sending everything … including untethered passengers, food service carts and laptops … hurling upward. It happens with some frequency. Better give that belt an extra tug.

The secret ‘M8 Papers’

Written by Jim Cameron
Thursday, 30 June 2011 05:01

They lied to us. And now we have the proof.

Last winter when Metro-North was in full meltdown (or freeze-up), commuters asked over and over again, “Where are the new M8 cars?” The constant reply from the railroad and the Connecticut Department of Transportation was “the testing continues apace … be patient.” But the Commuter Council had heard otherwise. Whistleblowers were calling and e-mailing us saying there were serious problems with the M8s.

So, for the Connecticut Rail Commuter Council’s February 2011 meeting, we asked Metro-North and CDOT to bring representatives from the M8’s designer and manufacturer, Kawasaki, and engineers from LTK, the consulting firm being paid $27 million to test the cars. We wanted to ask them what was going on. But CDOT refused. Appeals to newly elected Gov. Malloy fell on deaf ears. At the council’s meeting, the then interim CDOT commissioner said we were not smart enough to understand what the engineers would explain. Oh, really?

Travel rage

Written by Jim Cameron
Tuesday, 14 June 2011 23:00

I’m a big guy. Not self-important, but large. So when I’m riding Metro-North at rush hour and the only available seats are those dreaded middle seats in the three-seat rows, I’d rather stand. Why inflict my girth on two fellow passengers and make three of us uncomfortable instead of just one (me)?

Taking public transportation is a compromise. We all must give a little and share the same space, sometimes in much closer proximity than we’d like. Sometimes this can lead to conflict.

Consider the following cases, all true and all from just the past few weeks.

Why can’t they …

Written by Jim Cameron
Wednesday, 01 June 2011 00:00

Simple problems require simple solutions. And when it comes to solving our transportation woes, we consumers always wonder why “they” can’t fix things quickly by doing what seems obvious and simple. Take the following, for example:

Metro-North

Why can’t they make the bathrooms on the trains stink less?

Why can’t we have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, instead of vice versa?

Why can’t conductors announce each stop instead of hiding from passengers?

Why can’t they collect all tickets on the trains?

Why can’t the railroad treat us like valued customers instead of like cattle?

Saving money going to New York City

Written by Jim Cameron
Wednesday, 18 May 2011 00:00

Whether you’re a daily commuter, an occasional day-tripper or have friends visiting this summer, everyone can save money when going into New York City by following this time-tested advice:

TransitChek

For commuters, see if your employer subscribes to this fabulous service, which allows workers to buy up to $230 per month in mass transit using pretax dollars. If you’re in the upper tax brackets, that’s a huge savings. A recent survey shows that 45% of all New York City companies offer TransitChek, which may be used on trains, subways and even ferries.

Go by train off-peak

If you can arrive at Grand Central on weekdays after 10 a.m. and avoid the 4-8 p.m. peak return hours, you can save 15% to 20%. Off-peak’s also in effect on weekends and holidays. Your train will be less crowded, too.

What happens when gas is $10 a gallon?

Written by Jim Cameron
Wednesday, 04 May 2011 00:00

Tired of paying $4-plus a gallon for gasoline? Well, your pain has just begun.

For decades we’ve lived (and driven) in denial, somehow assuming we have the “right” to cheap gasoline, and therefore, low-cost transportation. Now it’s time to face reality and consider what will happen when (not if) gas hits $10 a gallon.

The following are my hypotheses. (Follow the embedded links for recent news coverage that contribute to my theories.) These things haven’t happened yet, but seem likely when gas prices inevitably soar to double digits a gallon.

Air Transport

Following the demise of a dozen airlines and the shrinking of the remaining carriers, airfares soar and service is cut. Air travel becomes affordable to few. Airport congestion fades as business trips are replaced with tele-conferencing. Hotels are shuttered as business travel wanes and “leisure travel” becomes unaffordable.

Commuting by the numbers

Written by Jim Cameron
Wednesday, 20 April 2011 00:00

Spring cleaning of my office last week turned up an interesting 2011 report card issued by the Connecticut DOT — a two-page summary of statistics that says a lot about the state of railroading in the “land of steady habits.”

Ridership

Passengers are slowly coming back to Metro-North: 36.67 million a year on the New Haven line in 2010, down slightly from 37.13 million in 2009. A similar trend was seen on Shore Line East (the state-owned, Amtrak-operated line from New Haven to New London), which saw 557,000 riders in 2010, a sizable dip from the 593,000 riders in 2009. The explanation for the declines after so many years of growth: The economy.

But with jobs returning and gas prices soaring, 2011 promises to be another record for both lines.

Who’s in charge of our transportation future?

Written by Jim Cameron
Wednesday, 06 April 2011 00:00

Is anyone guiding our state’s transportation future? One wonders.

Three months into the Malloy administration, we still don’t have a Commissioner at the Department of Transportation. Yet, the governor is pushing legislation to eliminate the Transportation Strategy Board just a decade after its creation.

It’s clear that we are far from solving our transportation mess, so it’s disconcerting that no individual or advisory board seems to be in charge.

We’ve had five commissioners at the DOT since Jodi Rell became governor, the most recent leaving last July under the cloud of an alleged scandal. So why the lack of a firm hand on the tiller of this 3,400-employee, $725 million capital budget agency?

Long distance buses: Cheap, but safe?

Written by Jim Cameron
Wednesday, 23 March 2011 00:00

You see them every day, zooming along I-95. Buses, crammed with folks heading from New York City to Boston and back. They carry exotic names like “Fung Wah” and “BoltBus.” And they’re the hottest thing in interstate transportation these days because they’re also the cheapest. But the recent spate of deadly accidents involving these buses also leaves us wondering: Is low cost also high risk?

The New York-to-Boston corridor is one of the most heavily traveled in the nation. The air shuttles alone carry 700,000-plus passengers a year at a one-way walk-up fare of $359 (first class seats are $24 additional) for the seldom-on-time, 75-minute flight.

Amtrak is enjoying record growth in recent months, with ridership up almost 10% on the Boston-NYC line. Mind you, the rail journey runs four hours and 15 minutes (31/2 hours on Acela) and costs $49 one way ($99 on Acela). But hey, it’s a train, virtually immune to the weather and traffic.