Infrastructure Council Policy Review
September Edition 2008
Railways in the News
Amtrak finds itself in a precarious situation in Illinois and around the nation: The rail service that once struggled to gain riders is now too short on trains to meet demand. With increasing gas prices, more people are turning to the railways. A record-high ridership is expected to boom further to 50 million riders a year in 10 years. Currently, ridership rests at around 25 million. Amtrak must double its fleet to meet demand. Nationally, 2,750,278 passengers used Amtrak in July, a 14 percent surge from a year ago and the highest ridership for a single month in the service’s history.
Amtrak CEO Alex Kummant met with U.S. Senator Dick Durbin and other Chicago officials to discuss how Amtrak can upgrade its service by adding cars to some lines in Illinois. Amtrak hasn’t added a new passenger car since the mid-1990s; choosing instead to renovate old ones. Durbin has asked Amtrak to send several thousand overhauled cars to Illinois. He has also introduced legislation that aims to revive the train car industry. His proposal seeks authorization for Amtrak to issue up to $2.8 billion in bonds annually.
In other rail new, Canadian National Railway’s attempt to buy the Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway is picking up an unexpected supporter. U.S. Representative Daniel Lipinski announced that he is backing the controversial sale. Lipinski is the only Chicago area member of the House Transportation Committee and oversees the Surface Transportation Board, which has the final say on CN’s plans to buy the EJ&E from U.S. Steel for $300 million. Also joining the support are suburban mayors who have formed the START-Solutions to Area Rail Traffic-coalition. CN officials have said more than 60 suburbs will see a reduction in trains if the company acquires the 198 miles. About 30 towns will see more trains.
The Surface Transportation Board issued a report that found bridges and other costly solutions may be required at 15 railroad crossings from the northern suburbs to northern Indiana would see huge increases in traffic because of the added trains. Elected officials in some of the towns expecting more traffic have been vocal critics of the deal.
As Ridership Increases, Amtrak Faces Shortage of Cars
Reviving Train-Car Manufacturing in Illinois?
Plan to Sell Railway Picks Up Some Steam
Federal Transportation Bill
Don't miss this opportunity to meet with The Honorable Mark Kirk Representative of the 10th District of Illinois, regarding the Federal Transportation Bill. A question and answer period will provide a forum to ask questions of Representative Kirk. This is an ideal opportunity to develop advocacy plans for a lingering and badly needed Illinois’ capital bill. A capital bill is essential in order to fully tap available federal funding. Mike Zahn, TFIC Co-Chairman and Business Manger Local 965, Chairman Illinois State Operating Engineers will also speak, representing labors’ strong support of a capital bill.Click here for more details.
A Year After Minnesota Bridge Collapse, Little is Being Done
One year after the Minneapolis bridge collapse, little is being done to repair bridges and roads amid a funding crisis threatening more delays and risks to the public, federal and local authorities acknowledge. The problem increases each month due to shrinking gas tax revenues that are needed to shore up ailing bridges. People are driving less and are shifting to more fuel-efficient vehicles to deal with astronomical gas prices at the pumps. In Illinois, thousands of bridges are deficient and desperately needs overhauls to protect against accidents. While ranked 10th in the best in the nation for upkeep, Illinois has more than 4,300 of the almost 26,000 bridges that are considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.
The priority of the state is frequent inspections of the worst of the worst bridges. IDOT has imposed weight restrictions on dozens of questionable spans and insists that frequent inspections assure bridges remain safe. The federal Highway Trust Fund, which uses gas-tax collections to pay for a large chunk of road and mass-transit projects, is expected to from an $8 billion balance at the beginning of the current fiscal year to a deficit of $3.1 billion sometime in the next fiscal year, which starts in October. The government warms it may not be able to meet earlier pledges to help states pay for highway projects already started. Road expansion projects to address worsening traffic congestion have been mostly stripped from the Illinois highway program through 2014.
States are losing even more ground due to rising costs of asphalt, steel and other construction materials. According to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Official, it would cost $140 billion to repair all the bridges. Currently, bridges rated deficient are eligible for federal repair funds. However, such grants are scare and the money is given out under a complicated formula that favors some projects over others based on repair costs rather than on safety risks.
A Year After Bridge Collapse, Little Work is Being Done to Repair Infrastructure
CalPERS to invest in California’s Infrastructure
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System announced it has adopted an infrastructure development policy to guide it as it seeks to invest in ports, energy, water, communications and transportation projects. The board will allocate up to 3 percent of total CalPERS market assets to infrastructure development through 2010 with the goal of achieving an average investment return of 5 percent over the rate of inflation over five years, net of fees. California alone is estimated to have $500 billion in needs for improvement and development of infrastructure, spanning everything from new bridges to new energy sources. Since the projects tend to be on a large scale, the pension fund can benefit from making a huge investment. With more than $234 billion in assets, CalPERS is the nation’s largest public pension fund. It serves more than 1.5 million state and local employees in California with retirement and medical benefits.
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