MICHAEL DUKAKIS – Megalopolis’ approach

Think big – as big as a megalopolis.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee for president in 1988, encouraged attendees at last week’s regional transit conference in Boston to collaborate their efforts to build a “first-class” rail network linking all the major cities in the Northeast.

The importance of such a network was repeated among the many speakers.

“It would be irresponsible, for us as leaders and citizens, not to work diligently to make sure that we connect these major metropolitan areas,” said Albert Martin, Connecticut’s deputy commissioner of transportation.

The event, sponsored by the National Corridors Initiative, which has offices in Mystic, Boston and Providence, R.I., drew speakers and attendees from all over New England. Participants examined the region’s progress and future in building its transit infrastructure.

But New England alone is not large enough for Dukakis’ megalopolis approach. The Northeast rail system should expand from Maine to Washington, D.C., he said. A unified call for federal funding from 24 senators, 100 representatives, 12 governors and Washington’s mayor would carry significant weight, he noted.

Mustering the political will for transit projects traditionally has been a challenge.

Fifteen years ago, a similar conference was held on the topic of regional rail, according to Wayne Davis, chairman of TrainRiders/Northeast, a nonprofit group focused on bringing passenger rail service to northern New England.

A report from that 1992 conference stated “the barriers to rail service are institutional, political and financial,” Davis said. “And in 15 years, I’m trying to figure out what has changed.”

For Dukakis, combating the political inertia and securing the funding requires the large, regional – or “megalopolis” – approach.

“How do we make this happen?” Dukakis asked. “We must get our act together.”

Rather than making multiple federal funding requests for a series of transportation projects, Dukakis suggested making a single request for one comprehensive plan. Beyond a high-speed rail network, the plan should include other major transit projects for the region, such as new tunnels linking New Jersey and New York City, he said.

The keys to success are “a vision that makes sense and a political strategy that can make it happen,” Dukakis said. “The governors are going to have to drive it.”

Kip Bergstrom, former economic development director in Stamford and current executive director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, outlined some of the benefits of a regional, high-speed rail network.

For one, it would free up limited capacity for flights at the region’s airports, Bergstrom said. A high-speed rail network would reduce the need for flights within the Northeast, enabling airports to add flights to more destinations outside the region, he said.

From an environmental perspective, the rail network would reduce both greenhouse gases and sprawl, and it would encourage smart-growth initiatives such as transit-oriented development, Bergstrom said.

The layout of such a network would present “a whole new opportunity for places like Hartford and New Haven” and other markets viewed as underperforming, Bergstrom said. High-speed rail enables riders to reach more markets within a given business day, and cities like Hartford – positioned between Boston and New York – could tap both of those markets for business and labor, he said.

‘The Table Is Set’

Connecticut Senate President Donald Williams, who arrived at the conference late after being stuck in traffic, emphasized the need for a regional rail network.

“I have constituents in northeastern Connecticut who commute every day into Boston,” he said. Typically, the drive takes about 80 minutes, he said. But traffic jams can pop up anytime, as they did the day of the conference, when his commute took 135 minutes, Williams added.

“I would just love to see a rail line connecting New London and Worcester [Mass.],” Williams said. From Worcester, commuters could access the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s rail lines into Boston, he added.

“For every person who makes that change [commuting via rail instead of car], it’s one less person on the road,” Williams said.

While the prospect of the New London-Worcester commuter line is still in the evaluation phase, the commuter line from New Haven to Springfield, Mass., is slated to start rolling in 2010. On the Massachusetts end of the line, Lt. Gov. Tim Murray said the state awarded Springfield $350,000 this past summer for planning the city’s intermodal Union Station.

Eventually, Williams would like to see that same line continue north past Springfield.

“We hope that will someday be the backbone to service into Canada,” Williams said.

Another north-south line, the Downeaster, steadily has amassed more and more riders in its six years of operation. The commuter line has five daily roundtrips between Portland, Maine, and Boston. Traveling each way takes about 150 minutes.

The state of Maine has 1.2 million people, and since the service started in 2001, 1.7 million passengers have ridden the Downeaster, according to Patricia Quinn, executive director of the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority. Through September of this year alone, the train has carried 343,000 passengers, she said, noting that the ridership in September was 24 percent higher than a year ago.

About a third of the riders are commuters. Other passengers include schoolchildren on field trips, people going to Boston for sporting events or recreational travelers, Quinn said.

In addition to gaining popularity as a way to travel, the Downeaster has meant money for Maine, Quinn said. A study done in 2004, when ridership was about 40 percent of its current level, showed that the Downeaster had an economic impact of $15 million a year for the state, she said.

Martin echoed the theme of mass transit’s return on investment.

For every $1 invested in transit, Martin said, there is a return of between $5 and $9. The initial capital outlay is pricey, “there is no doubt about it,” Martin said. “But the operating costs are far less than people realize.”

One capital project viewed as critical to the regional rail network is the so-called North-South Link currently missing between Boston’s North and South stations. The missing link means, for example, that Maine passengers on the Downeaster wanting to get to New Haven or New York would have to get off the train at North Station and take two different subway rides to South Station, where they would catch another passenger train.

“Folks, this is not working,” Dukakis said.

A report last year by Brian Sieben, an assistant to Dukakis, estimated the North-South Link would cost between $3 billion and $4 billion. But annual operating revenues would go up by $120 million or more from increased ridership, and annual operating expense savings could reach $90 million due to improved efficiencies in the system, according to the report.

The project, which had wide support from attendees and participants at the conference, is part of an overall goal mentioned by several speakers: creating a transit network that enables New Englanders to live throughout the region with access to the jobs found in the major cities.

“Transportation doesn’t end at the borders of our states,” Murray said.

Williams agreed.

“A perfect place to start regional cooperation is with transportation,” Williams said.

That cooperation, noted Dukakis, should extend beyond both geographic and political boundaries.

“What’s partisan about investing in a first-class regional rail system?” Dukakis said. “I think the table is set. The question is, what are we prepared to do about it?”