Comments on: Obama Admin. Moves to Regulate Local Rail, Buses

By: serial catowner

serial catowner — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:35:16 +0000

I can think offhand of several dozen places in our society, such as parks, bars, and sidewalks, that are more dangerous than riding transit. And don’t even get me started on hospitals! But Obama isn’t moving to regulate those…because he can’t. This is a classic case of picking a victim that can’t defend itself to regulate.

There isn’t even a train-building industry to quarrel with proposed rules or be prevented from disastrous mistakes! At least this is one case where the regulated industry won’t take over the agency, because there’s no industry!

Where is the problem to be solved? Why would I think a federal agency would prohibit texting by train drivers when truck drivers are required by their employers to constantly communicate by phone and computer while they drive.

In fact, it would seem likely that providing funding to transit agencies to upgrade safety equipment might work better than providing funding for a new layer of supervision over under-funded transit agencies.

And it’s not as though there’s any shortage of work to be done. The Bureau of Mine Safety is notoriously rotten. The Corps of Engineers routinely construct future natural disasters. The air traffic control system is on the verge of disintegration. The Border Patrol appears to have gone insane and routinely harasses citizens a hundred miles from the border. These agencies and more could use some heavy-handed supervision.

But Obama holds the trump card- the safety card. Consider the proposed regulation a fait accompli and let the affected agencies prepare to deal with it.

By: Anc

Anc — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:37:42 +0000

Akandakos: And where does the Fed get it’s money? Well, besides China, where does the Fed get it’s money? From taxing the citizens of the States. We pay the Feds a dollar, then let them dictate state policy when they hand us back 80 cents*?

Nice little racket they got there.

*and from the Article it sounds like this is going to be another unfunded mandate… They make the rules, we pay the costs. Yipee!

By: Z

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:20:06 +0000

Whats wrong with the Boeing-Vertol Government Sponsored SLRV… Private Industry got it right with the PCC many years prior so why cant the government? Im afraid the Feds already have enough of their foot in the door by requiring costly ADA paratransit service, and not providing any supplimental operating funding for the service. Although they will provide some capital funding for it.

By: Z

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:16:19 +0000

That is if the FRA can get out of a Over Reactive response mode when an incident does happen. Of course that seems to be the hallmark of our country in general.

By: Mathew "RennDawg" Renner

Mathew "RennDawg" Renner — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:40:52 +0000

Well this should come as no suprise to anyone who paid attention to what I’ve written here before. I do not think that this isa good idea. Federal bueracrats tend to have a one size fits all thinking about how things should be done. Also, I do not believe that the federal goverment has the authority to do this. Keep transit local. I am also against federal funding of transit. One reason is to keep the feds from sticking there foot in the door and taking control of transit.

By: Anandakos

Anandakos — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 03:10:27 +0000

Anc,

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

By: Anc

Anc — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:18:00 +0000

Who has oversight over DC if not the Feds? No state can claim sovereignty so any lack of oversight lays directly at the feet of the Feds.

And I disagree that every perceived problem necessitates Federal action. We have a Constitution, enumerated powers, and the 10th Amendment for good reasons.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:02:27 +0000

Well it’s not like because it’s in Washington, DC, it’s already controlled by the Feds… That accident and others lately around the country have shown that there needs to be more oversight.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:01:35 +0000

Oh yeah, and also apparently he tried to run several times for mayor and other positions.

By: Mark Dublin

Mark Dublin — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:18:46 +0000

Sorry to say, highest union post I ever held was shop steward, for only one shakeup- and my whole term of service was Metro Transit in Seattle between 1982, and 1995.

My greatest regret was not getting deeper into elected union politics- which is a major part of the immune system I’m talking about. Technically knowledgable, politically informed and organized citizens are a modern democracy’s strongest defense against every degenerative disease of government.

By: Anc

Anc — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:40:31 +0000

Can someone please explain to me how an accident IN WASHINGTON DC shows that we need more Federal Oversight….?

By: Michael H

Michael H — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:52:21 +0000

He ran for governor in 1934.

By: Kyle S.

Kyle S. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:52:17 +0000

He never held an elected office and ironically never learned how to drive.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:36:00 +0000

Martin – I hadn’t followed the link previously, but it is an excellent summary of the problems with FRA regulations. For others who might be motivated to read it, the title of the article is “How the FRA is Regulating Passenger Rail Out of Existence.” http://www.ebbc.org/rail/fra.html

I highly recommend reading it.

By: Douglas Tooley

Douglas Tooley — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:53:41 +0000

You were also head of the driver’s union, yes? IIRC, METRO lost a fine employee.

By: alexjonlin

alexjonlin — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:46:32 +0000

No he wasn’t. I’m reading The Powerbroker right now; his close friend Al Smith was a candidate that year, but he most certainly wasn’t. In fact, I don’t believe he ever actually ran for office.

By: Brian Bundridge

Brian Bundridge — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:19:49 +0000

There is an advantage to the FRA taking over Metro and Light-Rail; higher speeds.

By: Martin H. Duke

Martin H. Duke — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:07:58 +0000

Click on the link, it’s all there.

By: Frank

Frank — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:51:43 +0000

I think it is the cars that need to be incredibly heavy – but yes the Acela trainsets are dramatically heavier than high speed trainsets anywhere else in the world. They are supposed to prevent casualties in a crash. My understanding is U.S. standards require absolute strength such that the car doesn’t bend, while European standards focus on absorbing the energy generated in a crash, which allows lighter structures.

How much does the extra weight cost in construction of the cars, energy to accelerate them and haul them around, and wear on tracks? Is it worth it?

Note that these U.S. standards don’t do much to help passengers of the Sunset that went off a bridge in a bayou, where many drowned, nor the passengers who were in the City of New Orleans that hit the truck in Illinois and suffocated in a fire.

By: W. K. Lis

W. K. Lis — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:38:04 +0000

Robert Moses was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1928. Can you imagine if the same type of person could regulate rail and transit in the United States? A screenplay for a horror movie if I ever seen one. Be afraid, very afraid.