Denver RTD labor inefficiencies to blame for canceled trains

One-man operation is the industry standard practice for regional and commuter services. However that isn’t the case for Denver RTD — which still uses both a driver and conductor:

Recent staffing issues for the Regional Transportation District’s (RTD) University of Colorado A-Line have caused cancellations of trips, leaving travelers waiting at Denver International Airport (DIA) for hours. Since January, 1,548 A-Line trips have been canceled, according to data from RTD. About 80% of those cancelations – 1,290 in total – happened because there wasn’t a second crew member available to be on the train. One reason for this is that the A-Line requires two people to be on board the train during a trip.

Thanks to automation, two-man operation became obsolete decades ago. To make matters worse, RTD work-rules require the second crew member to be an armed guard (i.e. rent-a-cop) — which limits the pool of applicants.

Read Full Post »

Amtrak’s expensive and useless ADA Program

June 7th was the ribbon-cutting for new platforms at the Ashland (VA) Amtrak station. Built at a cost of $10 million, the purpose of the project was to improve ADA accessibility and safety:

A quick glance in the image above begs the question of what exactly was done to improve accessibility? There is obviously no level-platform boarding. Passengers with mobility issues will still have difficulties climbing stairs into the train. Wheelchair riders will still have to rely on mobile lifts. This was the best that could be done for $10 million?

Sadly, this project serves as a template for stations all across the country. Amtrak is spending $58 million bringing 16 stations into ADA “compliance” — with another 120 stations in the pipeline at a cost of $126 million.

Read Full Post »

$188,374.49 per parking space

This must be a new world record:

Help is on the way for people looking for parking and green spaces in San Diego’s East Village, but, if the city’s plan to build a new garage and park comes to fruition, it won’t be cheap for taxpayers. A large portion of the project’s overall project cost will be for a two-level underground 185-space structure that will be built at an estimated cost of a little under $35 million — that breaks down to a cost of $188,374.49 per parking space.

Note that the Trolley is just 1 block away.

Read Full Post »