Meeting Report and Commentary

CAPITOL CORRIDOR JPA Meeting Report

BART Board Room, Oakland, CA, September 21, 2005

Reported by Russ Jackson

It was another meeting held by the CCJPA to celebrate its success, something it does at every meeting these days, and deservedly so. Oh, and it also conducted its routine business.

CCJPA Chairman, Roger Dickinson, a Sacramento County Supervisor, spoke of the success and the challenges ahead, none of which pertain to acceptance of the Capitols by riders. He made several points during the meeting, first commending their Managing Director, Gene Skoropowski, for being named "Executive of the Year," by Railway Age magazine, which was greeted by applause from the assemblage. Mr. Dickinson then commended the group for the success of the Tailgate train that brought UC Berkeley fans to Sacramento State for the first football game of the year. He then pointed out that California's legislature is the only one in the nation to pass a resolution supporting Amtrak, AJR 18, which passed but did not need the signature of the Governor, and "sends a strong signal to Congress that the largest state in the nation needs a fully-funded Amtrak to support the nation's intercity passenger rail system." RailPAC indicated its support for this resolution when it was proposed. As for areas that need attention, Mr. Dickinson pointed out that "on time performance is less than 90%, which is just not acceptable," and lamented that there is so much difficulty in adding new services, such as through Roseville to Auburn.

1. In board actions, the 2005-2006 $26,019,964 budget was passed. As part of the budget, staff "elected to remove the Reservations/Information budget line item from Amtrak and move this function to the BART Transit Information Center, which will handle all phone calls now for the Capitol Corridor service via a separate toll-free number 877-9-RIDE-CC." This will result in a cost savings of $1,356,000 which will be transferred to the Administration budget and is part of the new CCJPA/Amtrak FFY 2005-06 Fixed Price Operating Agreement to operate the trains and buses, which also was passed. The new agreement calls for 24 daily trains, newly added San Jose trains (up to 14 when construction in the South Bay is completed) and added Roseville/Auburn trains (pending UPRR approval). Included is maintaining the modified UP railroad performance payment program of higher incentives for improved dispatching of Capitol Corridor trains. Mr. Skoropowski pointed out that the UP was OT 95-96% last month, the lesser OTP figure in the 80% range was for Amtrak and/or Corridor problems not under UP's control.
2. The CCJPA 2005-2006 Marketing Plan was adopted, on the heels of the award-winning success of two programs this past year: The "Stitch and Ride" program won 1st Place as an APTA AdWheel Award. The unusual promotion brought a knitting expert onto selected trains for booksigning and advice. It received significant press coverage. An inquiry from a CCJPA director asked if knitting needles had been classified as safe from a security point of view. Mr. Skoropowski said that Amtrak has no policy regarding them, but they will revisit this issue. The "Holiday Shopping Made Simple" trains that brought shoppers to San Francisco won the SASI Shopping Tourism Award in the Transportation category. It will be repeated this year. The total Marketing budget, including payment to the Glass/McClure advertising agency that also handles all California rail marketing for Amtrak and Caltrans, is $1,274,000, the same as last year. Fewer print ads will be purchased, and more radio, outdoor, and on-line advertising will be done.
3. The June Customer Survey was presented, showing a slightly fewer percent of people drove to/from the train, more were dropped off, fewer took an Amtrak bus, walked, or rode local transit, but there was a slight increase in those who used bicycles, or took taxis. The trains are holding onto the market, according to Mr. Skoropowski, but it changes as to how riders are getting to the them. Because of the summer patterns, there was a slight reduction in business/ work and school trips, but an increase in family visitation, personal business, and shopping/ vacation trips. The "average" age of riders is 44, average household income has increased to $84,900, and 51% are male/49% female. Mr. Skoropowski pointed out that "People are choosing to ride the trains" in increasing numbers. Credit cards are used by 65.4%, 24% cash
4. The CCJPA agreed to enter into agreements for an "On-Board Automated Ticketing/ Validation" pilot program, and be the "guinea pig" for this idea which will introduce hand-held computer units to improve ticketing and validation on the trains. This will be paid for from a fund from the Department of Homeland Security through Caltrans Division of Security plus CCJPA Revenue Credit funds. It will be implemented by next summer. This project will help enhance the "Wi-fi" service system now being implemented on the trains, too.
5. The CCJPA voted to "Watch" implementation of AB 765 (Salinas), the rail feeder bus service bill that has passed the legislature and is enroute to the Governor's desk. It allows local bus companies to implement service where Greyhound has abandoned it.
6. A motion to Support U.S. Senate bill S1516 (Lott), the Amtrak Reauthorization bill, was passed, as the current bill allows for state capital projects to used funds from as early as 2004 to be used as a match for this capital program (the CCJPA has $60 million available match from that year). RailPAC, along with other state and national rail advocacy groups, have endorsed this bill which should come up for consideration in the Senate soon. Its adoption this year could be delayed because of other pressing matters, but is sure to be considered as early as the first of the year.

Rider number 10 million will soon ride the Capitols! The next CCJPA meeting will be November 16 in Suisun City Hall.