The Federal Role In Improving the Northeast Corridor

It’s All About Leadership!

APTA HSIPR Policy ForumDecember 2, 2015

NEC Milestones Over the Past 45 Years

NECIP: 1976-82• Do-It-All Federal Role: Create and Plan the Solution; Lead/Manage

the Implementation

• Strong Regional Consensus on Need to Preserve/Upgrade The NEC– Followed decision to create Amtrak and nationalize the Penn Central (Conrail)– Congress and the States drove creation of USRA to preserve the NEC for passenger

and freight rail service– Congress created the $2.3 billion NECIP program within the 4-R Act

• Coalition of Federal, State, Labor and DOT Champions– USDOT: John Volpe– Senators Weicker, Pell, Chafee, Ribicoff, Javits, Moynihan– NEC States and commuter rail authorities– Labor’s Charlie Luna

• Broad Regional Discussion on Role of Rail in the Northeast

Electrification/Acela: 1992-2000• Federal Role: Direct and Fund the Specific Solution

• State and Congressional Led Initiative– Amtrak and FRA had concluded electrification cost too much– CONEG and the states pressed for improved trip time to Boston– Congress (Lautenberg) bought in and drove planning effort at Amtrak

• Key Leaders & Champions– Governors Weicker, Weld, Cuomo and Carper– Senators Lautenberg, D’Amato, Weicker, Pell, Chafee

• Congress and FRA Set objectives, then Allowed Amtrak to Implement– Broad goals and oversight, but planning of Acela service moved fundamentally

within Amtrak

ARRA/HSIPR/NEC FUTURE• Federal Role: Create the Broad Long-Term Vision; Let Others Plan

and Implement the Solutions

• ARRA/HSIPR Has Been Administration-Led Initiative– Strong leadership by USDOT/FRA– Congress has remained generally silent – no funding since 2010 outside of

Amtrak NEC appropriations– NEC Commission created to coordinate NEC management/investment issues– States focused on individual improvements within their borders

• Looking for Congressional Champions

• FRA Has Assumed Long-Term Planning Role– Focusing on corridor-wide benefits, operational efficiencies and

accommodating plans/needs of Amtrak and commuters

What Have We Learned?• No Program Can survive Without Champions

• No Program Can survive without Congressional Support

• Congressional Champions are Essential

• USDOT Plays Critical Role in Shaping and Policing the Vision

• States Must Assume Corridor-Wide Planning Focus; Can’t Just Focus on State-Wide Needs

What Should the Federal Role Be?• USDOT

– Only entity that can meld corridor-wide needs of the individual NEC railroads– Provides Carrot (funding) and Stick (consistency with long-term vision; requirement for

operational efficiencies)– Can provide consistent criteria for Federal funding and standards/methodologies for

NEPA– Assistance in working with Amtrak

• Congress– Champions to advocate for the NEC and secure funding– Bully-pulpit to build/force regional consensus– Changes in the law to reduce time/cost of implementation

• NEC Commission– Insist on corridor-wide planning by Member States and railroads– Platform for developing investment and project implementation– Lead development of a new multi-state/multi-railroad governance