(The following article by Larry Sandler was posted on the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel website on June 6.)
MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Success may not be enough for the Hiawatha.
Amtrak’s Milwaukee-to-Chicago line is breaking ridership records. It’s leading the nation in on-time performance. It’s drawing thousands of passengers to its new Mitchell International Airport station.
And it’s caught in a three-way funding squeeze that could lead to service cuts or fare increases, supporters warn.
The first clear sign of what’s ahead could come as soon as today. The Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee is expected to recommend soon how much Wisconsin should contribute to the line, which is jointly funded by this state, Illinois and the federal government.
The Hiawatha runs seven round trips daily, with six on Sundays. In addition to downtown Milwaukee, the airport and downtown Chicago, it stops in Sturtevant and Glenview, Ill.
Under a contract with the states, Amtrak has used its federal funding and fare revenue to cover the line’s fixed costs, such as interest, depreciation and overhead, while the two states have divided the variable costs. The pact calls for Wisconsin to pick up 75% of the state share, reflecting its residents’ higher use of the line, and for Illinois to pay 25%.
But in the state fiscal year that ends June 30, Illinois froze its payment at $1.4 million, even though rising Hiawatha costs would bring that state’s share to $1.8 million, according to Wisconsin’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Wisconsin plans to make up the difference by kicking in an extra $415,369, boosting its contribution to $5.7 million and bringing its share to 81% of variable costs, said Ron Adams, rail chief for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The same scenario is playing out this year. Wisconsin transportation officials predict that the two states’ combined share will rise 20%, as Amtrak pushes them to start paying part of the fixed costs as well as all of the variable costs,the fiscal bureau said in an analysis prepared for the budget panel. Marc Magliari, an Amtrak spokesman in Chicago, declined to comment on negotiations for the next one-year contract.
Last week, however, the Illinois Legislature approved a 2005-’06 state budget with no funding increases for the four Amtrak lines that state helps support, said Mike Claffey, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
“Illinois is in a major budget crunch, so we’re not in a position to increase funding for Amtrak at this time,” Claffey said.
Once again, Gov. Jim Doyle is proposing that Wisconsin make up the difference. His 2005-’07 budget would increase this state’s payments by 32%, or $1.8 million, in 2005-’06, and another 20%, or $1.5 million, in 2006-’07, bringing the Wisconsin share to 88%, the fiscal bureau said.
Ridership rising
Wisconsin Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi says the Hiawatha is worth the cost. In a letter to the committee, he pointed to: rising ridership, with a one-year record of 453,611 in 2003-’04 and a one-month record of 46,202 in March; on-time performance regularly above 95%, better than any other Amtrak route; and the airport station, which drew 3,030 passengers in March, the second full month it was open.
“The service provides an important link between the two cities (Milwaukee and Chicago), fostering many economic benefits for southeastern Wisconsin, as well as providing a crucial transportation option for the state’s citizens,” wrote Busalacchi, who also warned: “Providing funding increases at levels lower than those in the governor’s request could cause reductions in service or possibly discontinued service for parts of the year.”
State Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale) doesn’t see it that way, however. He blasted Illinois for its “unilateral” decision to “change the rules of the game,” and said of Doyle: “The governor just capitulated, and I don’t think that’s the answer.”
Stone usually takes the lead on transportation issues in the Joint Finance Committee’s budget deliberations and said he expects the Wisconsin Legislature will stand by the 75-25 split and won’t let Illinois force the state to pay more. He acknowledges that stand could lead to service cuts or fare increases.
Rail advocates and environmentalists, in fact, are raising fears of a 43% cut, from seven round trips to four. Representatives of the Midwest High-Speed Rail Association and the Sierra Club were not able to substantiate that figure, however. Claffey, the Illinois spokesman, said it was premature to predict what would happen.
Rick Harnish, executive director of the high-speed rail group, said slashing Hiawatha service would undermine efforts to upgrade to 110-mph trains throughout the Midwest, including that line, service to the Twin Cities and proposed new routes from Milwaukee to Madison and Green Bay.
Besides, Harnish added, the Hiawatha has taken 10 years to recover from service cuts and fare increases in 1995, and “it would be really dumb” to do that again.
Both Stone and Harnish see this as just one aspect of a nationwide struggle. President Bush has proposed ending all federal operating aid for Amtrak and shifting responsibility to the states for funding passenger rail service, a position that has not won approval from Congress or states.
Stone says the federal funding question is a bigger problem for the Hiawatha than anything Wisconsin decides to do.
Meanwhile, Harnish says that the Hiawatha’s plight shows the drawbacks of expecting states to pay for a service that crosses state lines.