Fighting Fire with Firemen
Posted by Fred Jandt
Mass Transit magazine editor
Transit is the hot topic in Wisconsin with the Amtrak Hiawatha extension becoming a major point in this fall’s gubernatorial campaign. I guess it’s time to fight fire with fire … men.
I’m usually not one for reading comments to stories online because usually it is just inane blather by people hiding behind anonymity. I have been keeping an eye on comments about our new rail line here in Wisconsin. I see the benefit it will bring to the state, but it’s hard to make people here understand how it will work when public transit is “for them big city folks†for the most part. I did read a good analogy today, though.
One person posted a comment referring to the usual argument of no one using the rail line by comparing transit funding to funding for fire departments. I like this analogy. I may get lambasted for this, but what we have here (strictly from a usage perspective) is a service that people want to use versus one they hope they never use.
Think of this the next time someone says they don’t want to put a new transit line in their area because they will never use it. Ask them, “So would you reduce funding to the fire departments?†I am sure you will get the apples and oranges argument, but think about it for a minute. We are funding fire departments to make sure they have all the tools they need with the hope that they will never have to use them. The world would probably be a better place if all fire fighters were able to spend their time in the fire station just waiting for the bell to ring.
On the other hand we have transit, the quintessential “I won’t pay for this because nobody will use it.†But what if they do? Just like fire departments, we need to make sure that transit is available for people when they need it or — in the best of cases — they choose to use it.
The other side of this argument is making sure that transit is there when you need it. Think if your house was on fire and you called 911 and the fire department couldn’t help you out — maybe because of budget cuts. Sure, another apples to oranges comparison, but then ask the people using transit on the East and West Coasts. Thousands of people couldn’t get to work this week because our transit infrastructure failed.
Was there a national public outcry? Has Congress stepped up to the mic demanding answers? Thankfully neither situation resulted in any deaths or injuries (that I am aware of), but how is this infrastructure failing any more of a signal to us then the I-35 bridge collapse?
Transit continues to be put off in the corner by our politicians as they lobby to the public, making transit seem less and less important. They would never do this to fire departments, but then again, while we expect the trains to run on time, we hope fire fighters don’t have to worry about it.
Thanks for reading the MT Position, updated every Friday. For those interested in instant updates, you can now get your latest Mass Transit news fix via Twitter.
Fred
fred.jandt@cygnusb2b.com
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August 27th, 2010 at 11:30 am
We live in a reactive not a proactive society, probably because we still have so much despite the current economic and employment woes. Unfortunately, it takes four dollar-plus a gallon for gas to get Americans’ undivided attention regarding priorities. Until this mindset changes we’ll remain a reactive society and behind the eight ball, not in front of it…and, frankly, we’re talking a lot more than just transportation issues.
August 27th, 2010 at 11:47 am
I haven’t heard anyone insisting that fire departments must make a profit or that the market could run it better. Yet transit, particularly rail, is demanded to do so or not exist. Problem is, our society tends to look at us as not necessary and a waste of money or at best, a social service useful only for the most desolate bottom of humanity. Many people throughout the Midwest view riding a bus or train as socially unacceptable, even when it improves their quality of life and mobility.
August 27th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
How we YEARN for rail transportation community (all steel wheel railway people) to be savvy on the prospects of motor fuel problems this decade. International Energy Energy Agency (Fatih Birol); USDOE; Cambridge Energy Associates (Daniel Yergin, (wrote “THE PRIZE”); and best selling author Prof. Richard Heinberg are speaking with one voice regarding possible Federal Executive Emergency Orders for motor fuel rationing. Add Michael Klare, Ex-CIA Director Jim Woolsey, and Jon Lundberg, formerly of the famous “Lundberg Oil Letter”, now run by sister Trilby Lundberg.
There is simply no excuse for railroaders and rail transit operators to be ignorant of the energy emergency coming sometime around mid-decade, or sooner in war or disaster event. Certainly Fred Jandt has no reason to ignore the obvious need to research the Oilwell Depletion issue: 5% annual diminishing returns from established fields due to age, infrastructure decay & just plain pumped dry.
In Sacramento, SACOG Council of Regional planners blithely projects transport visions with token nod for transit capacity upgrades. Sacramento BEE (McClatchy News) is no help, their DC office too busy for meet & confer with The Hill’s go-to man on motor fuel warnings, Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD). And so it goes around most of the USA. China is now in balls-out (firemen talk) infrastructure expansion, including massive railway project list for freight & passenger capacity enhancement.
All hands following this column should make time to read “SUN TZU”, master strategic writer of Chinese heritage, and required reading for savvy planners and logisticians. In Chinese planning circles, the railway is understood as “Second Dimension Surface Transport Logistics Platform”; stand-alone and apolitical backbone for distribution and mobility. “Nuff Sed”…
“tahoevalleylines” postings in “theoildrum.com” offer insights to individuals with initiative wishing to scope ways and means to bring rail enhancement projects to planners in their respective locales. Forget the politicians, it is time the case is made for private investment in alternative transport. The end of cheap/plentiful motor fuel will be the tipping point, and it is upon us.
August 30th, 2010 at 8:19 am
I’ll take you up on the lambasting you mentioned, Fred. Transit is not now, nor has it ever been, something we only use when we have no choice. Transit is a service that people use because they have chosen it over other services. Nobody really believes that car travel is more efficient than a bus or train; if you’re not sure, check your local paper for stories on school bus routes that were chopped up this year due to funding issues. Transportation is an essential service for any community, but we should never think of it as an unfortunate necessity.