Monthly Archives: December 2016

Editorial by The Courant: CT Needs Alternative To Feds’ Shoreline Rail Route

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The Hartford Courant published a strong and insightful editorial yesterday about the Federal Railroad Administration’s proposed high speed train route yesterday, which begins, “The Federal Railroad Administration needs to rethink its proposal to build new high-speed rail lines through parts of Connecticut, and local leaders should help federal officials come up with a better plan.”

Read the full editorial at this link: http://www.courant.com/opinion/editorials/hc-ed-rethink-shoreline-rail-plan-20161227-story.html

Last Day This Year for Half Price Books at Old Lyme Library’s BookCellar

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The BookCellar at the Old Lyme-Phoebe Griffin Noyes Library is offering a half-price sale today, Wednesday, Dec. 28, on photography and history books.  This means some terrific bargains will be available but remember, all the books in the BookCellar are a great deal on any day!

Catch them between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. today — the last day that the BookCellar will be open in 2016.

All funds raised at the BookCellar support the library.

Talking Transportation: All Tickets Please!

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Imagine you’re in a store and you see somebody shoplifting.  You’re embarrassed to say anything or to make a scene, but inside you’re pissed-off.  You pay for your merchandise, so why should that guy get it for free?  And if he’s ripping off the store, doesn’t the merchant actually make you pay more to make up for that loss?

It’s morally wrong and it’s just not fair.

Yet this is what happens every single day on Metro-North when conductors don’t collect all riders’ tickets.

Here’s a typical scene:  your train leaves Grand Central and the conductor makes his way through the train collecting tickets.  Sometimes he leaves a colored seat check, punched to show your destination, but not always. Why?

Your train makes some intermediate stop (New Rochelle, Greenwich or Stamford) to discharge some passengers and take on new ones.  You know who the new riders are, but does the conductor?

So when the conductor comes through again saying “All Stamford tickets, please” and you see that new rider not responding, you know the railroad got ripped off and that cheater just got a free ride.

Now, if the conductor had issued a seat check he’d know who got off, who got on and who owes him a new ticket.  Simple enough, but not for Metro-North which for years has not enforced their use.  Conductors who are too busy or too lazy, don’t use seat checks and we all end up paying more.

Metro-North acknowledges this problem and admits it loses millions of dollars a year to uncollected tickets.  But they’ve crunched the numbers and say that staffing trains with more conductors to be sure all tickets are collected would cost even more.

Hey!  Here’s a concept: make the existing conductors do their jobs instead of hiding out in their little compartments.  From Grand Central to Stamford you’ve got 45 minutes without stops to collect everyone’s ticket, give ‘em a seat check, say “thank you” and still have time for a cat-nap.  And there’s still time to ask people to keep their feet off the seats and to stop yapping in the designated Quiet Cars.

Back in the good ol’ days before the TVM’s (Ticket Vending Machines) came along, conductors collected cash fares to the tune of $50 million a year.  They had a money room at Grand Central that looked like a casino.  Now most fares are bought from the machines or on your smart-phone.  That means conductors should have a lot more time to make sure all tickets are collected.

Conductors on Metro-North make good money.  And they do a very important job keeping passengers safe, operating the doors, answering questions.  They’re the face of the railroad and most passengers give them high marks.

So what can you do if you see someone getting a free ride due to uncollected tickets?  Try this, which always work for me.

When I see a conductor miss a passenger’s ticket, I’ll wait until the conductor comes back and say something like “Excuse me, conductor.  I think you missed collecting that gentleman’s ticket,” and then smile innocently at the conductor and the chagrined would-be thief.

If I see the same conductor always missing ticket collections, day after day, I report it on the Metro-North website complaints page, detailing the incident by name, date, train number, etc.  That allows the railroad to “re-train” the offending staffer.

So if you’re tired of all these fare increases, let’s stop the shoplifters.  Make sure everybody pays for their ride by having conductors collect all tickets.

Please!

Republished with permission of Hearst CT Media.

Jim Cameron


About the author: Jim Cameron is founder of The Commuter Action Group, and a member of the Darien RTM.  The opinions expressed in this column are only his own.  You can reach him at CommuterActionGroup@gmail.com

For a full collection of “Talking Transportation” columns, visit www.talkingtransportation.blogspot.com

Tips on How to Write to the FRA to Oppose the High Speed Railroad Route

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We received a helpful piece from SECoast.org offering detailed advice to our readers on how to write a letter to the Federal Rail Authority (FRA) to voice opposition to the proposed high speed rail Kenyon to Old Saybrook bypass and request an extension of the FRA’s Comment period on the proposal from 30 to 60 days.

The Town of Old Lyme has also sent out an email asking residents to write to the FRA for the same reasons.

We’re glad to support all the efforts to get the word out to the maximum number of people and so we’re republishing the main points of SECoast’s email below:

It’s the holiday season, but there is a Jan. 31 deadline fast approaching to oppose the Kenyon to Old Saybrook bypass, and you want to know what you can do?

First, even if you submitted public comment earlier in the process, you should write again. You don’t have to live near the bypass, comment is available to all adults, so please share this post with your friends everywhere.

Now, just follow these simple steps:

1. Send an email to the Federal Railroad Administration. Here is the address: info@necfuture.com

2. In the Subject line include something like this: “Extend the Deadline & Drop the Kenyon to Old Saybrook Bypass” (you can cut and paste, but it never hurts to personalize these things)

3. Yes, a brilliant argument helps, but so does the sheer volume of comments. If you want a brilliant comment, that will come in January, but for now, don’t worry, keep it simple. Just cut and paste in this message:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to oppose the inclusion of the Kenyon to Old Saybrook Bypass in NEC Future planning. I am also writing to object to the limited notice, and opportunity to comment on the plan. I first learned about plans for a Kenyon to Old Saybrook Bypass on ADD DATE OF WHEN YOU LEARNED OF BYPASS HERE.

It is clear, that the Federal Railroad Administration has failed to demonstrate to the public a compelling need for a Kenyon to Old Saybrook Bypass. There is also mounting evidence that the Federal Railroad Administration failed to comply with either the spirit or the letter of the law, by selecting the Kenyon to Old Saybrook Bypass as part of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (F-EIS) prior to public comment, on or before, November 15, 2015.

To be clear, the Kenyon to Old Saybrook Bypass poses intolerable and unsustainable impacts to the dense historic and environmental resources which define both Southeastern Connecticut and Southwestern Rhode Island.

Given the importance of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (P-EIS) for the future of the Northeast Corridor, a 60-day extension of the deadline for public comment from January 31, 2017 to April 1, 2017, is not only in the public interest, but has clear precedent. Indeed, a similar extension was granted to review much less extensive plans for the “All Aboard Florida” high speed rail planning initiative in Florida. The Federal Railroad Administration has enjoyed flexible deadlines throughout the planning process, surely, the public deserves an equivalent opportunity to provide informed and meaningful comment before this critical document is finalized.

Sincerely,

4. Now that you have cut-and-pasted, feel free to personalize it, just make sure you have added the date as instructed above. That date is important for the public record. Now sign and send. You can also mail your comment by post to:

NEC FUTURE
U.S. DOT Federal Railroad Administration
One Bowling Green, Suite 429
New York, NY 10004

Editor’s Note: Please share this post on all your social media accounts to spread the information far and wide. Thank you!