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October 12, 2005
The Honorable Patty Murray
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury,
the Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development
Senate Committee on Appropriations
SR-173 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-4704
Dear Senator Murray:
I write on behalf of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), its more than 1,600 member organizations and its 17 U.S. commuter rail organizations, regarding provisions affecting commuter railroads in the pending FY 2006 Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations bill. The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations on July 19, 2005, and is currently awaiting consideration by the full Senate. A list of commuter railroads currently operating in the United States is attached.
A provision in the bill would result in additional costs to commuter rail agencies using Amtrak's Northeast Corridor. The bill would authorize Amtrak to unilaterally establish new cost-sharing arrangements, despite the fact that the existing cost-sharing arrangements have been negotiated through contracts, and are rooted in long-standing practices and in administrative law rulings. The data and statistics used in the Committee Report are not consistent with those available to the affected commuter rail agencies. The affected commuter railroads which operate on the Amtrak-owned portions of the Northeast Corridor (which includes NJ Transit, SEPTA, MARC, LIRR and VRE) would like the opportunity to better understand the basis for these numbers in order to estimate the specific impact on each agency, and to offer our own analyses on this matter. In addition, the language does not provide any transition time for such a significant change, possibly undermining the stability of commuter rail services used by nearly 800,000 riders on the Northeast Corridor. Further confusion is caused by Committee Report language that indicates Amtrak itself could assess commuter railroads fees for additional maintenance expenses, while the text of the bill places this power with the Transportation Secretary.
A second potentially troublesome provision would allow Amtrak to implement a 5 percent surcharge "for all tickets issued for travel in the Northeast Corridor, or route segment between Washington, D.C. and Boston, and 2 percent for all tickets issued outside of the northeast corridor". Report language states that this "federal ticket surcharge" or "passenger service fee" would be added to each ticket issued by Amtrak, with proceeds used to restore Amtrak-owned infrastructure, fleet and facilities to a systemwide state of good repair. We understand that this provision will not apply to the services of commuter rail agencies, but we request that the legislative language be more explicit in this regard. For example, the bill language could include words to this effect: "Provided further, that the Corporation shall not impose said surcharge on tickets issued by or for a public transportation authority providing commuter rail service, including those which have a shared ticketing arrangement with the Corporation for accommodating commuter rail passengers."
These provisions would affect significant business arrangements between Amtrak and commuter railroads. Publicly supported commuter rail operations do not have the resources and cannot be expected to pay more than what has been negotiated. Moreover, each commuter railroad would fare differently under these provisions. Portions of Amtrak's services on the Northeast Corridor operate on lines owned by the Metro-North Railroad, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, and the State of Connecticut. Meanwhile, portions of Amtrak's services outside the Northeast Corridor operate on lines owned by state and local authorities are successors to the private railroads' obligations. Consequently, any review of cost-sharing should extend to the amounts Amtrak pays as a tenant on these now publicly-owned lines. Commuter agencies that own infrastructure used by Amtrak should also have a say in the allocation of any revenues collected through any ticket surcharge for infrastructure investment.
APTA requests that these complex issues be considered in the context of comprehensive Amtrak-reform legislation. This process would allow for sufficient time for input from APTA and its commuter railroad members.
Your support for public transportation is very much appreciated. If you have questions or want more information, please have your staff contact Art Guzzetti of APTA's Government Affairs Department at (202) 496-4814 or email aguzzetti@apta.com.
Sincerely yours,
William
W. Millar
President
WWM/tjj
Commuter Railroads Currently Operating in the United States
(October 2005)
Caltrain (Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board), San Carlos, CA
Connecticut Department of Transportation, Newington, CT
Trinity Railway Express, Dallas/Fort Worth, TX
Maryland Transit Administration, Baltimore, MD
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Boston, MA
Metra, Chicago, IL
MTA Long Island Railroad, New York, NY
MTA Metro North Commuter Railroad, New York, NY
New Jersey Transit Corporation, Newark, NJ
North County Transit District, Oceanside, CA
Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, Chesterton, IN
San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, Stockton, CA
Sound Transit, Seattle, WA
South Florida Regional Transportation Authority, Pompano Beach, FL
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Philadelphia, PA
Southern California Regional Rail Authority, Los Angeles, CA
Virginia Railway Express, Alexandria, VA
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