URGENT: Don't Let WA State Get Bamboozled by Billionaires. Insist on Rail in the Public Interest & Climate Impact

Help counter the HYPE of the Billionaire-funded PR machine with this Reality Check on "UltraHSR" -VS - Amtrak Cascades LRP + electrification:

It should be noted by our policy makers and everyone that the map on the UHSR website with multiple stations and East-West service is not reflected in the actual studied route with its 3 stations near Vancouver, Seattle and Portland- whereas...

Amtrak Cascades already serves 14 communities and will serve them far better once the Amtrak Cascades Long Range Plan is implemented and the system electrified.

The Pacific NW deserves HSR - but how fast is fast enough? Like their maps, "Ultra" HSR documents continually contradict themselves on the maximum speed, alternating between 220 MPH and 250 MPH. But what is actually fast enough to achieve the goals of attracting passengers and reducing air and car trips?
Let's look to Acela in the NE Corridor for clues...

Aggressively implementing the Amtrak Cascades LRP would provide service comparable to Acela in the NE corridor. That high-speed operation occurs mostly along the 226 mile route from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to Union Station in Washington, D.C. where the fastest scheduled time of 2 hours and 45 minutes (same as the Seattle to Vancouver, BC time with the Amtrak Cascades LRP plan) with an average speed of 82.2 mph. Acela and the Northeast Regional service captured a 75% share of air/train commuters between New York and Washington in 2011, up from 37% in 2000.

UltraHSR does not deliver any measurable improvement for rail freight or reduce truck freight on our roads, whereas...

Improvements on shared freight and passenger rail corridors also provides capacity for faster, more reliable freight rail service to draw trucks off Washington roads reducing freight related emissions, wear and tear, congestion and more.

Eminent domain fights, cost overruns, and environmental battles make UHSR a multi-decade project at best, whereas...

Implementing the Amtrak Cascades LRP, adding electrification and improvements to East/West service can all be accomplished within a decade.

These points differentiate the Amtrak Cascades LRP + electrification as actual climate solutions, on a timeline that is relevant for the urgency of our climate crisis as well as addressing the economic and social crises exposed by recent political upheaval, pandemic, and the supply chain crisis. Let's do it!

Thank you for educating yourself and taking action. We cannot let our fellow Washingtonians and our elected officials be bamboozled by the billionaires and their ultra-boondoggle PR machine. Only your actions will keep your legislator on the side of rail in the public interest. Together, we can facilitate success and deliver benefits across the state within the decade by giving rail in the public interest, the resources required to succeed. Thank you again for your attention to this urgent request.

Please use the form at the bottom of this page to let us know about the action you take and any response you get.

Teamwork!

Bill Moyer
Solutionary Rail co-author & campaign director

Action Alert Sent 2/16:

It is critical that we communicate our demands for realistic, proportionate and affordable solutions to the climate crisis, which include plans for upgraded Amtrak Cascades service and for an East-West Rail Corridor.

Our friends at Climate Rail Alliance have made it easy to send an important message:

in your email, open a new message
copy and paste the text and tables below
personalize the closing appropriately and add your name (you can also add your town or leg district)
next, copy the email addresses below and paste them ALL into the "To" field
for a subject, use Amend Transportation Budget & Revenue Package
hit Send - and let us know what kind of response you get!

To: Esteemed Leadership and Members of Senate and House Transportation Committees

Subject: Let's make robust investments in the intercity rail system that we already have, as a responsible climate strategy. Please see proposed amendments below for transportation budget and revenue bills.

BIENNIAL TRANSPORTATION BUDGET SB 5689/HB 1786 (Governor request legislation) - 2021-2023

Please add provisions which will make our existing state rail systems powerful solutions to mobility equity, state-wide connectivity, environmental justice, and reduction of climate emissions due to transportation, within a timeline that can make a critical difference.

The requested items in Table A are proposed to amend SB 5689/ HB 1786, the Governor’s proposed 2021-2023 Supplemental Transportation Budget.

For further reference, please see the newly revised 2021-2023 Supplemental Transportation Budget proposals, which includes rationale and citations pertaining to these requests.

TABLE A Proposed Revisions and Additions to Section 223 Rail Program Y Operating 2021-2023 Supplemental Transportation Budget
Upgrade Cascades to HSR-Regional Corridor	$14,500,000
Rail Office	$2,000,000
Electrification	$250,000
Central/Eastern Washington	$4,000,000
Total	$20,750,000

REVENUE PACKAGE ESSB 5974/HB 2119 and SB 5975/HB 2118

Please do not use Climate Commitment Act resources to fund UHSR in the Move Ahead WA New Revenue Package. CCA funds are intended for projects that reduce climate emissions and environmental harms in a timely way. Please delete the $150,000,000 UHSR item and add the other items listed in Table B to the LEAP Transportation Document 2022-A as developed February 14, 2022, Move Ahead WA Climate Commitment Act (E2SSB 5126) Spending. The items added in Table B are genuine climate emissions reduction opportunities that will help us effectively meet our climate goals.

TABLE B Proposed Revisions and Additions to LEAP Transportation Document 2022-A as developed February 14, 2022, Move Ahead WA Climate Commitment Act (E2SSB 5126) Spending, ESSB 5974/HB 2119 Transportation Revenue Bill 2021-22
Project	16 Year Amount (millions)	Comments
Ultra-High Speed Rail	$0	Remove from Climate Commitment Act funding
Upgrade Amtrak Cascades service to High Speed Rail-Regional	$116	FRA definition: High-Speed Rail-Regional – Relatively frequent service between major and moderate population centers 100-500 miles apart with top speeds in the 110-150 mph range
Electrification	$2	Preliminary planning for electrification of all rail infrastructure and service in Washington
Central-Eastern Washington rail service	$32	Establish funding for a service development plan for passenger service between the Puget Sound Region and Central/Eastern Washington in conjunction with plans for trans-Alpine-like truck shuttle service pending FRA designation as a corridor.
Total	$150

Investing in our existing state rail programs offers far more appropriate use of Climate Commitment Act resources than the UHSR item that will not yield any climate benefits or environmental justice benefits until about three decades from now or more.

Thank you for your careful consideration.

Respectfully,

(Your signature)

Email addresses of recipients:

(For more on this issue: check out the Solutionary Rail website and an article by Bill Moyer and Thomas White. You can also read the Joint Statement on Rail Policy that several regional groups wrote and endorsed HERE.)

Thank you for taking action that makes a real difference as we approach the 2030 deadline for reducing emissions by at least 50 percent. A sensible and actionable rail plan can be a major part of meeting that goal!

Action Alert Sent 2/13:

Please help deliver Solutionary Rail's message to Washington state LEAP Committee, Senate and House Transportation Committees for Rail in the Public Interest.

Solutionary Rail and Backbone Campaign members are requested to reach out to their state legislators across Washington state and ask for amendments to the Climate Commitment Act Allocations, SB 5974, Sec. 102 and the Move Ahead WA Climate Commitment Act (E2SSB 5126) Spending plan section on Rail, i.e. LEAP 2022-A Budget Summary #5.

Advocates for environmental justice and rail transport in Washington state, from All Aboard Washington to Front and Centered to Climate Rail Alliance to Solutionary Rail (and many others), have shared their deep expertise and advice with members of the LEAP committee and the House and Senate Transportation Committees. This January 25 letter from 11 organizations is just one recent example that we are extremely proud of.

It is therefore tremendously disappointing and frustrating to see almost none of that expertise reflected in neither of these documents.

Instead, we see that a pet project for corporate billionaires - the "Ultra" High Speed Rail - allotted $150 MILLION over the next 16 years. It is our understanding that the Climate Commitment Act Allocations bill SB - 5974 will be voted on tomorrow, Monday, February 14, 2022. That makes this request for amendments extremely urgent.

Proposed Amendments to LEAP 2022-A:

Instead of limiting LEAP CCA-related RAIL investments to the "ultra"HSR project, we ask our legislators to:

At the very least strike through Ultra High Speed Rail. This levels the playing field among different kinds of "high speed rail" projects that could qualify for the $150 million assigned to this line item. (FRA defines emerging HSR as 90mph-110mph, regional HSR as 110-150mph, and express HSR as speeds above 150mph.)

Please prioritize outreach to bolded members below: (Look up your legislative district HERE)

Senate Transportation Chair Sen. Marko Liias ([email protected]) & Vice Chair Sen. Rebecca Saldaña ([email protected])
Senate Transportation (Democrat members) emails: (Note names in email format)
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], t'[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
AND ranking member Curtis King (R) [email protected],
Other Senate Transportation Republican members: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
House Transportation Chair Rep. Jake Fey ([email protected]) and Ranking member Rep. Andrew Barkis ([email protected]), First Vice Chair, [email protected] , all House Transportation members and staff HERE

Here's an example email you could send to your legislators/delegation:
(FYI - Senators Liias, Saldaña, and Salomon are some priority legislators.)

Dear Senators Liias, Saldaña, and Salomon,

I am a constituent of the 46th district, respectfully requesting a small amendment to the LEAP 2022-A document attached to SB 5974:

Delete the word "ultra" in LEAP 2022-A Rail section 5, leaving the phrase "high speed rail." This would level the playing field among different kinds of "high speed rail" projects that could qualify for the $150 million assigned to this line item. (FRA defines emerging HSR as 90mph-110mph, regional HSR as 110-150mph, and express HSR as speeds above 150mph.)

Without this amendment, the line item is vulnerable to questions that CCA funds are not appropriate, given that ultra HSR (express HSR) requires all new rights of way, purchase of land parcels, and will not be operational until construction is complete - approximately 3 decades.

Respectfully,

Your name

Here's another great email sent today by the author of this excellent essay, The Urbanist, Let’s Re-imagine Regional Passenger Rail in the Transportation Package

Dear Esteemed Senate Transportation leaders,

It is my view that Climate Commitment Act (CCA) Carbon emission reduction account funds (see below) should not be used for the UHSR program. The major goal of the hard won CCA is to reduce green house gas emissions (GHG) and support communities. There are very few funds available for GHG reduction programs and many sources of emissions in front of us in the transportation sector that need to be brought down this decade to meet Washington’s 2030 climate goals. If we do not make the 2030 climate goals we will not be able to play catch up and make the later goals.

The UHSR program will not be operational for at least 30years and is extremely capital intensive. It addresses hypothetical emissions which may or may not have happened based on a vision developed by a small group of people. Furthermore The California Ultra High Speed Rail Project is much delayed and over budget. At over $30 billion and >20 years in the making, it might partially open in 2028 with 171 miles of the 520 miles originally planned for phase 1. UHSR would not deliver any results to the Northwest until at least 2050, well past predicted climate tipping points.

We do know that if we implement the Amtrak Cascades Long Range Plan starting with track work between Nisqually and Tacoma, completion of the Pt Defiance By -Pass trip times on Amtrak Cascades can be shortened and a more robust schedule introduced. This will have the effect of getting up to 10,000 cars off the roads this decade, reducing GHG and giving ordinary taxpayers alternative to driving. This would also bring the Cascades corridor into the FRA category "High Speed Rail - Regional".

Electrification of our highways, purchasing electric school buses, electrification of Drayage Trucks, more resources for transit would all also be better use of the $150M from the CCA account directly and immediately reducing GHG and other pollutants impacting BIPOC communities. If we don’t meet our 2030 climate goals we will have lost the climate fight. CCA is to reach our state targets all along the way to 2050 and we need to invest in projects with direct and immediate impacts.

There is also the depressing vision of the UHSR program https://connectcascadia.com designed by business interests for business interests coming to the public looking for public financing from everyday people to fund the mega capital mega project for them. It is truly disheartening to me and a breach of public trust in what CCA was supposed to deliver. Despite all the guard rail put on the spending so that spending would benefit the climate and communities we have corporate sponsored mega projects that will bind us in huge capital commitments for decades for a problem that is basically based on the vision of a very small group of wealthy people.

The funding for UHSR needs to be debated with a lot of transparency. The surveys from WSDOT about rail were disingenuous in that they did not distinguish between high speed rail and Ultra high speed rail. They did not talk about the costs or the routes or the timelines. Even today if you go to WSDOT web page on the UHSR page there is a map of the Amtrak Cascades map with all the local stops suggesting that UHSR will be serving all those communities (https://wsdot.wa.gov/construction-planning/search-studies/ultra-high-speed-rail-study). It will not. UHSR by nature has stops spaced 100 miles apart. All the communities along the UHSR route except Seattle will be given a miss. All those towns deserving of economic development climate funding will miss out on benefits of CCA rail funding. Investing the money in freight improvements would even be better, getting more semi trucks off the freeway.

I recommend that in the transportation package SB5974/5975 that UHSR be taken out of the CCA funding bucket and put someplace else. Please use CCA funds for projects with immediate positive impacts to reducing GHG and supporting communities. Would you be willing to sponsor such and amendment to the LEAP document?

Thank you for considering my view,

Arvia Morris

Vice Chair Environment and Climate Caucus Washington State Democrats

RCW 70A.65.240

Carbon emissions reduction account:

The carbon emissions reduction account is created in the state treasury. Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation. Expenditures from the account are intended to affect reductions in transportation sector carbon emissions through a variety of carbon reducing investments. These can include, but are not limited to: Transportation alternatives to single occupancy passenger vehicles; reductions in single occupancy passenger vehicle miles traveled; reductions in per mile emissions in vehicles, including through the funding of alternative fuel infrastructure and incentive programs; and emission reduction programs for freight transportation, including motor vehicles and rail, as well as for ferries and other maritime and port activities. Expenditures from the account may only be made for transportation carbon emission reducing purposes and may not be made for highway purposes authorized under the 18th Amendment of the Washington state Constitution, other than specified in this section. It is the legislature's intent that expenditures from the account used to reduce carbon emissions be made with the goal of achieving equity for communities that historically have been omitted or adversely impacted by past transportation policies and practices.

IF you'd like to dig yet deeper and ask for more, consider requesting that these other great rail projects be included in the Climate Commitment Act Allocations (or the House Transportation Supplemental) check out these rail policy priorities as articulated by Front & Centered:

Integrate the fundamentals of the Amtrak Cascades Long Range Plan into WSDOT’s new Service Development Plan (SDP)
Upgrade the Amtrak Cascades according to the new SDP – approximately $10 billion – and then electrify it – approximately $2 billion.
Immediately develop a comparable Service Development Plan for the East-West Corridor connecting Spokane, the inland ports and communities, and western Washington – $500,000.
Fund a Service Development Plan for Auburn-Spokane Corridor – $500,000, and/or...

Adopt the similar recommendations provided in January 25, 2022 Joint Policy Proposal letter from All Aboard Washington, Climate Rail Alliance, and Solutionary Rail. Two specific elements of that proposal that remain blatantly absent in SB-5974 and LEAP 2022-A are:

Support for rail yard and rail line electrification. (The FRA is escalating its support for electric switchers and locomotives. This is an excellent opportunity Washington state should take advantage of.)
Recognition that mode shift of freight from trucks to trains provides dramatic improvements in multiple public interest impacts ranging from GHG emissions to road wear and tear to road safety. Inland port projects and incentives for mode shift are items that belong in any strategy for infrastructure investment that is addressing climate, environmental justice or simply sound public policy.