Random thoughts #19

1. This says a lot about the nation's transit policy that a successful rail agency is in this position
2. When it comes to possible replacements at the Miami Airport Station in the wake of Amtrak's snub, the city and state couldn't go wrong by urging upstart Lunatrain to occupy the space
3. Ms. Christensen is spot on when it comes to the costly feasibility studies--sometimes, it seems as though they're done as a way of discouraging new passenger train service. In the recent past, it was Amtrak that conducted this practice in order to wave away states that wanted new or restored train service
4. The Northstar was set up to fail in Minnesota
5. After thinking it over the last couple of months, I now understand why the historic location in Palmer, MA was rejected, but it would have provided the perfect connectivity. Imagine traveling from Springfield on Compass Rail and transferring to the Central Corridor to continue onto Storrs, CT to watch a UConn basketball game. A direct Amtrak-New England Central transfer would have done wonders
6. Potential good news for a troubled commuter rail system
7. Some places get it and some don't
8. The current POTUS spent two out of the last three elections complaining about China having faster trains than America but has done next to nothing to catch up, and the Texas fiasco tells me all I need to know about what he really thinks about trains

Diaspora's Greatest Hits 4

How anyone could oppose this is way beyond me but the people on the Railroad.net board have exposed themselves yet again

https://www.railwayage.com/passenger/intercity/a-two-amtrak-concept/?RAchannel=passenger
http://www.railroad.net/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=170434
https://discuss.amtraktrains.com/threads/railway-age-column-on-splitting-amtrak-to-two-operations.76294/
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,4882035

Diaspora's Greatest Hits 2

Siemens Cars: Brightline vs Amtrak & Via equipment vs State-Supported Venture Cars

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,5396069,nodelay=1

When discussing Siemens equipment, please keep in mind, it is all not created equal! Sure, it may look the same on the surfaces that most people can see, but open up the equipment boxes or even look at some of the material used, and you can spot differences.

Brightline basically told Siemens “we want RailJet equipment” with customized interiors. Siemens built and maintains the Brightline equipment. If a train does not make pull out or fails in service, Siemens pay penalties.

Amtrak and VIA have Technical Support, Spare Supply Agreements with Siemens, which basically ensure there is a Siemens technician available to help Amtrak or VIA diagnose and repair the equipment. The agreement also gaurantees parts avalability and delivery to the failed equipment within a specified time. If for some reason, parts or technicians are not available, or can not resolve the issues in a predetermined amount of time, Siemens pays a penalty. For ACS64, Siemens has paid more penalties than cost of TSSSA contract in the first 5 years!

The State owned equipment was not able to leverage a TSSSA agreement from the start. This is because of the some of services the States already pay Amtrak for would be duplicated in the TSSSA costs. The States each have their own unique and kwirky accounting requirements, which has been a major nightmare to try and execute any sort of TSSSA.

 Explains a lot with the Venture Cars vs Brightline as in why the former in the Midwest keep having issues

Train Stations: Good news, bad news?

Scoop: Amtrak, MDOT eye Michigan Central for new Detroit train, bus station - Axios Detroit

A pleasant surprise is in the making because it looked as though the Motor City was going to have two non-connecting train stations. If MDOT or the city wants another station in Detroit, it could build it somewhere other than the New Center location. In the meantime, with Ford having restored MCS to its former glory, curve out a space for the station to actually serve trains.

Site selected for future Palmer train station along West-East Rail line

MassDOT Chooses “Site B” As Its Plan A to Locate Palmer’s Rail Stop…

Meanwhile in the Bay State, I just don't get this decision. The Steaming Tender Restaurant was there for the taking--not to mention, a perfect symmetry with New England Central's planned Central Corridor and potential connections galore. The platform for Amtrak could have been raised. Instead, the best-case scenario is now that the town will end up with two tiny stations and passengers would have to use rideshares or local buses if they want to change trains. So much for connectivity.

This also brings me to another point: The New England coordination has been all out of whack over the last decade and a half. Massachusetts has been receptive to restoring passenger service to the Berkshires- Pittsfield route via Housatonic Railroad but cool to the Central Corridor (it even dismissed the notion of the New London-Palmer-Brattleboro route in 2017). Meanwhile, Connecticut has welcomed the idea of Housatonic operating service while having very mixed opinions on the Central Corridor. The leaders in both states need to overcome their aversion to track-owning railroads operating intercity service. If Herzog can operate the Hartford Line, then, there's no reason that Housatonic and New England Central can't.

Random thoughts #18

1. Regarding the "new" Floridian train, it may be nearly as productive to run a stub train to and from Indy, bus the passengers to Atlanta, put them on a train that runs nonstop between Atlana and Jacksonville before resuming stops in Florida.

2. The epitome of it can always be worse somewhere else

3. That clockface scheduling would work wonders

4. A really tough break for Western North Carolina passenger service

5. Renationalization in Britain, y'all

6. Uh, just get the station renovation done

7. Amtrak's tunnel and equipment problems are affecting multiple routes

The FRA Identifies New Long-Distance Routes

Last week, the FRA released its list of preferred routes for the Long Distance Service Study. This would double the Long-Distance Network to 30 routes, the list "spreads the wealth" as all regions are covered, and there a number of nonlinear routes.

The longest is the North Coast Hiawatha at 2,096 miles while the shortest is the Atlanta-Fort Worth service at 870 miles (50 hours vs 22 hours).

My only gripe is that neither one of these two routes should have been forced to use the Corridor ID Program just to secure funding. That's a large failing on Amtrak and the feds.

Direct Chicago-Florida service is long overdue as it hasn't had as much as connecting service in 32 years. This is a missing need since the late 1970s and the reroute via Atlanta would serve more people along better tracks.

Another need regarding Florida service is east-west service via the "suspended" Sunset East route. Reimplementing the Gulf Wind and extending it to Dallas/Fort Worth would provide riders with a brand new train running on a much more reliable schedule. Also, the Gulf Coast route would have more roundtrips with three long-distance routes between New Orleans and Mobile as opposed to the beleaguered corridor service.

The plan shows that Phoenix can be a hub with two overnight routes and planned corridor service without rerouting the Sunset Limited as the former depot and the airport would both draw a lot of passengers.

Going back to Chicago, it's nice to see the FRA paying attention to the city's congestion issues enough to move northern termini of three routes to Detroit (one) and the Twin Cities (two) and to use Indianapolis, St. Louis and Kansas City as hub cities for northeast-southwest routes instead funneling everything to a crowded Union Station.

Other interesting tidbits:

• The Northeast Region has the fewest routes at two
• The Central Region has the most routes at 11
• The Gulf Wind would be Amtrak's way of utilizing the FEC route
• The FRA flipping the script on the Desert Wind and Pioneer in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming
• The Atlanta & West Point route via Montgomery being used is a long overdue alternative between Atlanta and New Orleans
• South Dakota would finally get Amtrak service with two routes

Left out:

• Additional Silver Service routes
• Service via the S-Line in Florida
• Direct service from the Carolinas to Texas
• Other Midwest-Florida service
• Broadway Limited revival

For the excluded routes, I think that it's a case of having to make due with what's already in place with Silver Service. For some of these routes, the Nightjet and Dreamstar models would be useful in filling gaps (*cough* direct NC-FL service). Other Midwest cities that could use Florida service could have connecting cars to either an existing route or one these new routes. As far as the S-Line in Florida, it may be a lost case outside of a future Gainesville-Miami route as part of an expanded Southeast Corridor. Parts of the western half of the Broadway Limited are expected to be covered by the proposed Chicago-Fort Wayne-Columbus-Pittsburgh route and the eastern half will be covered by the second Pennsylvanian.

In conclusion, I think that the "spread the wealth" approach is tbe FRA quitely nudging Amtrak management to actually behave as a national operator instead of an NEC-first entity that also shakes down non-NEC states for money to operate routes under Section 403(b). Perhaps, once the next reauthorization rolls around, we could eventually see other operators handling state routes while Amtrak fulfills its obligations under the 1970 law that created it.

Random thoughts #17

1. As an appendix to my last post: The open access model would also apply to any operator who wants to take on Amtrak in its most favorable region, the NEC.
2. What was notable in Wisconsin was which funded route Senator Baldwin omitted--namely, the West Central Wisconsin route. It's almost like these elected officials only recognize Amtrak as a legitmate operator even though they themselves signed off on legislation that makes it easier for other operators to get federal funding for routes.
3. Improving the existing Cascades vs investing in the ultra HSR Cascadia Rail service is a good problem to have on the other side of the country.
4. Competition for Channel Tunnel service is coming.
5. AMLO is trying to reverse a gigantic mistake that was made by the Mexican government almost three decades ago when NdeM was privatized and then curtailed passenger service.
6. It would be so ironic if the Fort Worth-Dallas section of high speed rail turned a wheel before the Dallas-Houston one given all of the focus on the latter until last month.
7. Operators like SEPTA and METRA are sending the wrong message in closing their ticket windows and incovniencing their passengers who may walk up at the last minute.

How the Dutch Model Could Work Here

The Background

Applying the Dutch Model to Each Amtrak Business Unit

The Northeast Corridor

The NEC is the U.S. equivalent of the Main Line Network. The logistics and politics would at very best require major compromises. Under the Dutch Model, Amtrak would keep the service via a no-bid contract but in exchange for that exclusivity, track and infrastructure would be transferred to a new USDOT entity--nullifying any false claims of the NEC being "privatized" once and for all.

That infrastructure company would be responsible for restoring the 457-mile route back to acceptable shape, leaving Amtrak to exclusively focus on running trains (let's face it, the 1976 decision to burden Amtrak with NEC ownership has been a bane on passenger rail). 

State-Supported Routes

For routes under 750 miles, the tender system will be used and applied to individual states, multistate compacts and California's Joint Powers Authorities. These routes would be put up for bid for contracts ranging anywhere from five to 10 years, and the commuter rail model could also be worth a look.

This would allow these entities more freedom to explore other companies who could expand and vastly improve service in ways that are currently unimaginable. The West Central Wisconsin Rail Coalition is currently doing a version of competitive bidding with its proposed Eau Claire-Twin Cities service which last saw passenger service six decades ago.

If enough states use the tender system, innovations from the most ambitious of these companies could largely render the Amtrak Connects US plan obsolete outside of Virginia (has a 30-year contract), Illinois (home to the Chicago Hub), Michigan (only place outside of the NEC where Amtrak has track rights) and parts of Southern California (Pacific Surfliners and future Coachella Valley and Las Vegas routes).

Long-Distance Routes

The overnight trains should be handled via the open access model. In addition to the FRA's Long Distance Service Study being utilized, other companies would run overnight service on the track via intense negotiations and assuming full responsibility. 

Two potential examples are Dreamstar Lines and the Southeast Passenger Rail Initiative. The former plans to launch an overnight route between Los Angeles and San Francisco (in the mold of the SP's Lark route) while the latter is a rail advocacy group pushing for the Nightjet model, which would provide express or semi-express services throughout the Southeast.

Random thoughts #16

1. The FRA Long-Distance Study is definitely a nice start, but the whole thing of Amtrak being the only operator of the revived routes rubs me the wrong way (entities like AIPRO operators partnering with other companies as part of my rail consortium should also be a part of new long distance routes). That issue aside, I am willing to give this a shot because adding back some long distance routes is something that should have been done more than a decade ago. Existing areas should be amplified and other regions without service should be represented so people aren't forced to make lengthy transfers to New York, D.C. or Chicago.
2. The feds could be forcing Amtrak to focus more on overnight routes than state-supported routes, which would reorient the company into focusing on serving the entire nation rather than just the Northeast. 
3. Another thing about this possible decentralization of Amtrak is that a future Congress could split Amtrak into two or three units and that Stephen Gardner or his successor could subsequently be the leader of only the Northeast Corridor once competition for intercity services is underway while the long distance person ends up being more tuned into the overnight trains.
4. There's no excuse for North America not being more electrified.
5. Ever since the threat of a rail strike loomed back in the fall, there have been calls to nationalize the railroads with one YouTuber even wanting the feds to recreate Conrail at the Class I level. I've been mixed on the idea. I've long understood that railroads are businesses first, but on the other hand, the major railroads have shot themselves in the foot way too many times--lobbying to keep a late 1860s braking system in place rather than adjusting to the 21st century, Precision Scheduled Railroading, the sick day fiasco that almost led to the railworkers striking in the first place.
6. Regarding the station situation in Jacksonville, the Regional Transit Center opened in May 2020 to buses and the elevated Skyway trains. The JTA and FDOT have discussed moving Amtrak closer to downtown since the late '00s. The city's proposed commuter services list the JRTC as the downtown location rather than the Prime Osborn Center. 
7. Speaking of the Osborn Center, the city has deemed the site of the historic Union Terminal as too small given that Jacksonville has lost out on events to cities the size of Daytona Beach. The city is pondering a new, larger convention center.
8. Once the City of Jacksonville has a new convention center in place, it will be possible for both Union Terminal and the JRTC to host passenger rail. Union Terminal: Amtrak, FDOT intra-Florida corridor service, Rail Consortium East, Rail Consortium Central. JRTC: Brightline, future HSR, Nightjet, JTA commuter rail.

More on Amtrak Connects US

The original map

The modified map with additions in California

 

Corridors of Interest Map

Shortly after writing this piece, I had the following thought:

Could Amtrak Connects US be a bane on any non-Amtrak, non-Brightline passenger service? What if there's some entity planning intercity service on the low and their plans are co-opted by the national operator's plan to the point that it adversely affects the other entity's plans? 

Based on the fourth overall slide, it seems that Jim Coston of Corridor Capital may have answered that question during a presentation in Ohio. 

Namely, the answer seems to confirm my suspicions because why does anyone need a three-decade long contract unless they're scared of someone else providing better service? 

It's also worth noting that Coston pointed out that Herzog's Transit America Services is currently only the third intercity operator in the nation with its CTrail Hartford Line service. Combine those two with the San Joaquin JPA threatening to transfer the San Joaquin trains to Herzog and it becomes clear that Amtrak management is actually playing defense rather than taking the initiative. 

The Hartford Line runs on Amtrak tracks--don't forget that loss really wore Amtrak management down during the '10s (then-Amtrak boss Joe Boardman was perplexed that Connecticut didn't automatically hand the Hartford Line contract to Amtrak). Meanwhile, losing one of California's three state-sponsored corridors would start a ripple effect that would not only see AIPRO operators providing expanded service but would also undermine Connects US mainly due to the fact that these five operators would have skin in the game at the highest level.

Weighing in on Amtrak Airo cars

Replacing the Amfleets is long overdue because for one thing the Amfleet I equipment is over a half century old. Another thing is that Amtrak cannot grow if it holds onto aging fleet. The Carolinian would get a much-needed replacement. 

However, there are a number of issues with Airo:

1. No baggage cars. People aren't going to stop carrying bags. Under this scenario, only the long distance trains would continue to allow checked bags.
2. The one size fits all approach. The Airo cars are semi-permanently attached, and Amtrak decided to purchase trainsets instead of individualized cars which means that if one set is defective, the entire fleet goes out of service (see Talgo and Acela).
3. Amtrak is doing a full-scale replacement rather than adding to its fleet. Other than keeping Amfleet I and Horizon equipment as backup in case Airos are taken out of service for repairs, it'd be wise for Amtrak to shift the older equipment to areas like the Deep South where the Horizons could be used (as a matter fact, Amtrak recently used Horizon equipment as part of its test runs between New Orleans and Mobile in preparation of Gulf Coast service) and the desert where Amfleet Is could be deployed for conventional Los Angeles-Las Vegas service.

Should those ConnectsUS routes prove to be popular, those states could start the process to order new equipment--whether they're from Siemens or someone else. This would be much better than junking the old equipment just to prevent potential AIPRO competitors from replicating the same success NCDOT has with Piedmont service by using mostly Heritage equipment.

2022 Midterms and Rail

Given that transit agencies are still in various phases of recovery from the pandemic, there's very little to offer in the way of the future direction of commuter/regional rail outside of Florida.

Here's a link to all of the transit-related referenda that were on the ballot last month. Based on the results, we don't have to worry about this particular nightmare scenario any time soon. However, it could still be in play over the next few years as the Senate and presidency could flip in '24.

Random thoughts #15

1. This is what happens when you have the largest city in the nation without passenger train service for the last 26 years and a state DOT that has been passive at best towards intercity rail. Leaders in Arizona are letting a golden opportunity slip by their fingers.
2. Connects US is proof that Amtrak President Stephen Gardner is the anti-matrix theory guy.

3. As I said almost a decade ago, Amtrak doesn’t have a funding problem, it has a management problem, and nothing emphasizes this more than the various equipment and mechanical issues that passengers have experience over the past year and a half.

4. Also, the way management handled the long-distance trains throughout this entire pandemic is way beyond appalling.

5. The gist of Disney's about face last month is that the organization is acting like a petulant child because how dare Brightline serve Mickey Mouse's competitors when the Disney organization only wanted the operator to cater to them

More links

Fast Forward Cascadia | Ultra-High-Speed Ground Transportation

Front Range Passenger Rail

Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority 

Solutionary Rail

North Atlantic Rail

Lakeshore Rail Alliance

Southeast Corridor Commission

All Aboard Northwest

Virginia Passenger Rail Authority

The King of Passenger Trains

Background: This three-part series (1 2 3) is a good place to look 

Part 1: Starting things up

After a half century, the time has come to hit the reset button and start over because the Amtrak experiment has only resulted in mediocrity with passenger rail.  I would split the intercity into two categories--regional and overnight. The former would be run by the companies that also handle commuter routes while letting new companies run the overnight services.

I would rely on experienced people in the travel industry and implement the best aspects. My main focus would be on long distance trains and leave the shorter runs to multistate pacts. Since the overnight trains are in need of an overhaul, I would revert back to sleeping cars' roots as hotels on wheels as a way of luring travelers.

Speaking of night trains, luring executives from Europe or Asia would be a good idea since they're miles ahead of us at this point.

Part 2: The Matrix

The matrix theory connects passengers to previously unimaginable destinations. For my hypothetical rail company, I will use the Crescent's original route via Montgomery and Mobile as my sample service.  Atlanta would be a matrix point as it would be a transfer point for regional routes to Savannah, Chattanooga and Nashville. The current Crescent route would also be used as the Gulf Coast Corridor for daytime travel between Atlanta and New Orleans, a New York-Fort Worth overnight route and a transcontinental Atlanta-Dallas-Los Angeles service.

Part 3: Operations

The trains would be daily and would run every six to eight hours. My Crescent Group would have the namesake train as a premium train alongside a second frequency, and I would also own the Fort Worth service and L.A. transcon as a way of diversifying.

Instead of the depersonalization that has been a main part of the Amtrak Era, stations would be staffed with people who actually know a thing or two about train travel. When it comes to the future of train stations, the Brightline model--which resembles the airline model--is the best way to go.

The statement about host railroads' stance on infrequent trains goes against everything I've seen on message boards.

The New Passenger Paradigm Five Years Later

I remember reading up on a Railway Age article five years ago on something called the New Passenger Paradigm. In the article, AIPRO's Ray Chambers laid out how things were shifting in the world of passenger rail. 

Given where things are now, I say that the pace to a post-monopoly environment has been glacially slow. Consider the evidence:

• Congress has consistently failed to back up its action (i.e. it has talked about the need for more competition among corridors and overnight trains but did nothing to make sure the proper provisions in PRIIA and the FAST Act were followed)
• Once the Tea Party backlash happened, the Obama Administration largely lost interest in even building a decent passenger rail system
• The Trump Administration aside from its open hostility towards CAHSR, was all talk and no action on even regular passenger rail, belying its campaign gripes about China having faster trains than America
• The AIPRO itself dissolved last year to no fanfare after it received virtually no support from the rail community and scant media coverage while some of its members formed a separate mass transit trade group
• The U.S. still hasn't had more than one private passenger rail organization at a time since 1983 (the Rio Grande and Georgia Railroad's mixed trains)--or the end of 1978 (Rio Grande, Rock Island, Southern, Reading) if you're talking about true passenger trains. While Brightline started up in early 2018, the Saratoga & North Creek became a fallen flag shortly thereafter
• When it comes to bidding, Herzog's operation of CT Rail is the closest that any Amtrak commuter competitor has come to running intercity rail
• Other than Pennsylvania and the San Joaquin Valley, no state entity is even willing to challenge Amtrak (see the 2018 fiasco with the loss of discounts where only California's three JPAs pushed back against the Anderson regime and kept said discounts)

Even after reading this article and understanding some behind the scenes actions, it still isn't much comfort when it seems like getting there from here is a near impossibility when rail activists are much more comfortable defending the status quo and ridiculing any non-Amtrak passenger operator. Calling the national network skeletal at this point is being way too kind when expansion should have been on the agenda decades ago--oh wait, Graham Claytor did that only for that to be undone by his NEC successors and Congress implemented prohibitions after the collapse of the Mail and Express plan in 2001.

Photos

Rail Transit Pictures

Trainweb Amtrak Photos

Subway Nut

Rail Pictures.Net

RR Picture Archives

New Dave's Railpix

Open Access, American Style

On the issue of open access, this nation can learn from Great Britain's mistakes. A test run can be done in Florida where the state DOT can allow multiple entities to run passenger service on the same route. 

An example of what such a scenario would look like:

• Amtrak runs the Cross-Florida and FEC Local services
• Bombardier gets the Jacksonville-St. Petersburg A-Line and Jacksonville-Naples routes
• First Transit has Jacksonville-Venice and Tampa-Venice
• Herzog's lone route would be the Jacksonville-Miami A-Line
• Keolis runs the Panhandle and Tampa-Naples routes
• Transdev operates Miami and St. Petersburg S-Line routes out of Jacksonville

A Regional Bay Area Transit System That Works

 The future that never was vs the likely future

Revolting Against Amtrak Part II

Is Amtrak the only state option?

To answer the article in the April edition of Trains Magazine: It shouldn't be.

Testifying at a U.S. House of Representatives rail subcommittee hearing on Amtrak operations, [Stacey] Mortenson said she found it "absolutely astonishing" when Amtrak officials told her in a meeting "that service cuts or reducing the number of railcars would not necessarily same us any money."

But yet at certain times, bean counters in Washington go ahead and cut service under the guise of "saving money" anyway.
For all of the flak, NCDOT gets from some rail activists for using refurbished pre-Amtrak era equipment, it looks as if it made a smart move since it only pays Amtrak for Carolinian equipment. For instance, look at all of the trouble the Midwestern states went through with Nippon-Sharyo's double-decker equipment.
Bob Johnston pointed out that advertising and corridor-specific marketing among other things have fallen off a cliff since the late '90s. Here in North Carolina, advertising for the Piedmont and Carolinian are handled by NCDOT, and the only Amtrak presence came in the form of radio ads in the mid '10s.
Amtrak may have the statutory right of access to the host railroads' tracks but if the states had done their homework in the early '10s, they could have dumped Amtrak, used the commuter rail model for AIPRO operators and saved themselves a lot of money. The refusal by the states to consider AIPRO operators means that these DOTs shot themselves in the foot in regards to expansion and using their imagination.

It must be pointed out the reason why the Hoosier State failed was because it was the only corridor route that had less than daily service, Indiana officials were half-hearted with their support--the cities and universities along the route did most of the heavy lifting--and the trains stopped at unmarketable times.

Bennett Levin pointed out to Trains Magazine that Amtrak's liability advantage was eradicated after the Train #188 derailment five years ago when the cap was raised from $250 million for only Amtrak to $294 million for all passenger carriers.

In any case, heightened scrutiny of Amtrak's costs an responsiveness will clearly be a contentious element of upcoming re-authorization discussions.

Congress needs to keep the pressure up on Amtrak because it has gotten away with saddling states with high cost, low revenue studies that all but guarantee no expansion of existing services and no new routes. On top of that, the other states need to stand up to bureaucrats in D.C. who know nothing about their needs and only care about the 457 miles between Washington and Boston.

Bennett Levin's Visit to Pennsylvania Legislators

In the First Quarter issue in Passenger Train Journal, Kevin McKinney analyzed Levin's testimony in the Pennsylvania House Transportation Committee at the end of last year.

[Levin] adds that "SEPTA gives Amtrak attributable to the Harrisburg Line is not being used by Amtrak on the Harrisburg Line, but is being used by Amtrak for other purposes."

Is it any wonder why Levin wants SEPTA to run the trains? A slight variation should result in a new PENN RAIL running the trains instead.

Levin also pointed out just how out of touch the Amtrak Board is with the people who are on it and have no railroading experience. It's worth noting that both Levin and Mortenson told the legislative bodies in question that Amtrak's accounting is absolutely opaque.

Levin is right in that "Amtrak is running on auto-pilot" and the states "are getting shortchanged." The former is due to "America's Railroad" getting all of that PRIIA money from the states and feeling no need to improve the state-supported routes without needless studies.