Mr. Silver?

Appoint Paul Dyson or anyone else "Executive Director" of LOSSAN and with a wave of his magic wand he will find the funding, do the track work, improve the signals, and as of today, install ATS? This fantasy world where taxpayers money grows on trees, train cars and locomotives spontaneously appear, and wages and fuel bills are just a detail is the world that so many appear to inhabit in some advocacy organizations.

This commuter rail service from Oxnard to Isla Vista (I think you mean Goleta?), is going to be paid for how? Will you use local TDA funds from Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties? And, how many of the bus routes serving those two centers do you cut service on to free up the TDA funds? And, if this is run as Commuter Rail, under California law, who will pay Union Pacific for the trackage rights to operate? In this version of passenger rail advocacy nirvana you just show up with your trains and put them on other peoples tracks?

If you were so effective with your advocacy, wouldn't you know those were factors that resulted the most recent study recommending starting such a service using a request from Caltrans to run it as an additional intercity trip? Given the car shortage, might this require urgent actions, perhaps working with Congresswomen Capps on an Amtrak appropriation to accelerate the availability of rehabilitated equipment? And, of course working with the Governor's office and the legislature to release the Transportation Bond fund for the new Surfliner order? Now policy details to deal with on that?

Since Mr. Silver, or Paul won't tell you the details of the dispute that Paul claims is "Balkanizing" LOSSAN, I will. This dispute is over the fact that OCTA is requesting some interim midday stops, two Surfliners at two OC Metrolink Stations. There is currently so much dead time in the scheduel they can easily fit them in, and Amtrak and Caltrans have agreed to these stops on an interim basis.

OCTA is putting a billion dollars into major double track, signal, grade crossing safety, crossovers, new locomotive and cars, and is going to launch a high level of 30 minute service by 2010. They are working closely with Amtrak and Caltrans on integrating these services. They have also installed joint ticketing machines, which sell both Metrolink and Amtrak tickets. Caltrans, Metolink, Amtrak, and OCTA are monitoring this interim service change to see how the machines work, see how it impacts use of the Rail-to-Rail program, see if there is a market for more intercity service from more corridor stations. In other word to test the very mix of services that was described in Mr. Silver's diatribe?

Mr. Silver is busy telling people how knowledgable and effictive they've been, and how awful and uninformed I am. In train fan nirvana, of course there's no need to deal with these pesky details, like operating rights, funding, capital, or safety, just appoint Paul Dyson, Executive Director, and presto everything is solved with a snap of the fingers. Sounds like an effective advocacy strategy to me? As usual, Mr. Silver shows his usual prediliction for extreme rhetoric that fails to understand the details or basic facts, which sort of explains part of that failure to work effectively in the process.

Paul Dyson doesn't do that. Paul strikes me as bright, well meaning, but frustrated at the lack of progress in developing an effective rail passenger system. Paul has valid criticism about slow service, lack of frequency, poor integration of service. I share Paul Dyson's frustration. But, what Paul did was put his pen to paper to promote the very Balkinization in his rhetoric, that doesn't exist, and that he has percieved in his own frustration. The attack on Orange County, one of the strongest supporters and investors in LOSSAN, was unwarranted and overblown on a minor issue. It's that failure "to win friends and influence people" or act in a disciplined and focused manner that I criticize RailPAC for.

As to those who question using a psuedonym on the internet, that's your problem. I find it useful, and it allows me to state a case without concern for personalities, kind of like the Federalist Papers. So, if you don't find merits to this side of the case, then let me know. I've been wrong on things, and things change. As of now, I stand by my critique of Mr. Dyson's overblown rhetoric on this issue and the impact it has on the effectiveness of RailPAC.

BOB2