Legislation to enhance Amtrak Cascades service is one step closer to being law. On Wednesday, the Washington House of Representatives passed House Bill 1837, sponsored by Rep. Julia Reed (D-36th, Seattle), an hour before a deadline to get bills out of their house of origin. The bill garnered substantial bipartisan support, with almost a dozen Republicans joining all Democrats present, to pass it on a 68-29 vote.
“This bill is all about strengthening our existing passenger rail service by setting ambitious goals in the upcoming Service Development Plan that [the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)] is working on in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration and the state of Washington,” Rep. Reed said during Wednesday’s floor debate. “It’s often said that you can’t do anything if you can’t measure it. And with Amtrak Cascades, our on-time performance, trip times, and reliability have been really challenged over the past few years. So the focus of this bill is to set measurable goals for the Amtrak Cascade service and to ask WSDOT to work with the legislature on sharing with us the challenges in meeting those goals so that we can be a better partner.”
With passage from the House, the bill moves onto the Senate where it has some support. A companion bill was introduced into the Senate with seven co-sponsors and made it as far as a public hearing late last month in the Senate Transportation Committee. The House bill will have until April 8 to get out of committee in the Senate, and if it does it will have some time to be passed before the legislative ends on April 27.
For most Democrats, endorsing Amtrak improvements appears to be a ‘yes and’ approach with advancing high-speed rail, which was a priority under Governor Jay Inslee. However, Republican supporters seem to view it as a replacement for more costly high-speed rail investments.
Speaking to the bipartisan nature of the bill, Rep. Andrew Barkis (R-2nd, Lacey) said improving Amtrak Cascades performance and frequency was important, but that high-speed rail planning efforts underway in the state were misguided. Cascades service just needs to be better, he argued.
“I will be ‘yea’, and for one primary reason, and that is: I believe that we need to continue to put the resources into this incredible corridor that we have, that we should focus those resources on making sure that we can improve the reliability and on-time performance and more frequent service for this corridor, and that those that should be the focus of this legislature, that should be the focus of the state,” Barkis said.
During the floor vote Wednesday, a substitute version of the bill passed with one Reed amendment altering it somewhat from when the bill was introduced in early February. Nevertheless, the key objectives of the legislation for faster and more frequent and reliable service by 2035 remain intact.
In short, the substitute bill would set the following goals for Cascades service:
- Increased frequency to at least 14 daily roundtrips between Seattle and Portland and five daily roundtrips between Seattle and Vancouver, British Columbia;
- Increased speeds such that travel time is reduced to no more than two hours and 45 minutes between Seattle and Portland and three hours and 20 minutes between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.; and
- Improved on-time performance reliability of at least 88%.
If realized, these goals would more than double service over today’s levels and shrink travel times by 21% to 25%. Cascades service is currently scheduled to take about three hours and 30 minutes between Seattle and Portland with six daily roundtrips and four hours to four hours and 30 minutes between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. with two daily roundtrips. On-time performance (defined as reaching the final destination within 10 minutes of scheduled arrival) would also be greatly improved, increasing about 40 points from an abysmal 48.2% recorded last year.
The bill recognizes that these goals will require cooperation from host railroads such as BNSF and governmental partners outside of Washington in order to be fully realized, and that the ambitious nature of the goals requires ongoing oversight. Consequently, WSDOT will be required to report on progress and engage with the state legislature annually on implementation of the goals.
The substitute bill also introduced some additional policies to be addressed in enhancing Amtrak Cascades service. Those include goals to improve first- and last-mile transportation connections at stations and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in alignment with state goals.
The legislative process has slightly reduced the impact of travel time goals. The initial version of the bill sought to reduce travel times to no more than two hours and 30 minutes between Seattle and Portland and two hours and 45 minutes between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. But the floor amendment on Wednesday pared those goals back by 15 minutes between Seattle and Portland and 35 minutes between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.
The proposed legislation doesn’t include funding to turn any of the goals into reality. However, WSDOT is working through a multi-phase planning process with the Federal Railroad Administration to identify, design, and develop cost estimates for infrastructure improvements and procurement to deliver on alternatives for enhanced Cascades service. If fully passed, the bill would signal a legislative intent to follow through on funding once the agency completes the implementation plan — of course there are no guarantees in a tough funding environment.
Stephen is a professional urban planner in Puget Sound with a passion for sustainable, livable, and diverse cities. He is especially interested in how policies, regulations, and programs can promote positive outcomes for communities. With stints in great cities like Bellingham and Cork, Stephen currently lives in Seattle. He primarily covers land use and transportation issues and has been with The Urbanist since 2014.
