RURAL NLSON MINUTES WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5TH, 2005 RURAL NELSON OFFICE NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, NOV. 2ND, 2005 Mike Tapager opened the meeting, and we introduced ourselves. He urged everyone to come to Sunday's Cardinal Point Winery Rural Nelson fundraiser, featuring our first Silent Auction. Mike then introduced our guest speaker, Meredith Richards, who came to talk about intercity passenger rail. Meredith ran against Virgil Goode for Congress and also served on the Charlottesville City Council, where she concentrated on transportation issues. She has recently started a local group, Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives. She reminded us that we already subsidize car and plane transportation, and we should do an equal amount for rail. Intercity rail can offer many amenities. It makes it possible for commuters to work while in transit, and usually intermodal transportation is offered at the end of the train ride, such as bus service to offices. Trains connect communities and are a great way to see America. Students and tourist love trains. They use existing tracks, and usually have to compete with freight trains, as the money is in freight. The California Corridor runs between San Jose and Sacramento. It is wildly popular, and has been in service six years. It has gained 152 % ridership since its inception. It is funded by the state of California. The service is contracted out. There is a school field trip program by train. The Cascade Route in the northwest travels between Eugene, Oregon and Vancouver. It travels by Mt. St. Helens. Its ridership grows between 2 and 4 % every year. It is funded by the states of Washington and Oregon. It uses tilting technology to make riders more comfortable. The Cascade commuter high-speed cars are lighter than ordinary long-distance railroad cars, and are designed for speed and comfort. The TransDominion Express was designed to connect Washington, D.C. with Bristol in the western part of Virginia, and was to include a spur between Lynchburg and Richmond. It got funded as a demonstration project in the 2002 legislative session. Its expense meant that it was downsized to go only from Bristol to Roanoke and Lynchburg and then east to Richmond. The whole portion of the state east of Lynchburg was left out of the project. It would be a ten-hour train ride, when you can drive it in six and a half hours. Partisan politics kept it from serving the most populous part of the state. One problem with Amtrak is that they shut out those interested in short hauls, selling tickets for them only at the last minute because their main aim is in selling long-haul tickets. Virginia Railway Express serves as a commuter link between Fredericksburg, Alexandria and Washington. It started in 1993, and it carries 3.3 million people annually. It is probably the best rail system in the United States. They have a 95 % on-time record. Both Amtrak and freight trains wait on the V.R.E. service. It is financed by the local governments, which have independent taxing authority. All the services are run by V.R.E., which is a nonprofit entity. Meredith then gave statistics that proved that trains pollute less than airplanes and cars, yet the latter two receive much more in government subsidies. Most of the flights people take are less than five hundred miles, travel which could be better accomplished on trains. Federal funding is prejudiced against rail transportation. Virginia does not have a dedicated, reliable source of funding for rail. Our rail infrastructure has been neglected for years. Gov. Warner asked a study group to study how to improve rail in the commonwealth. They recommended a dedicated fund, which has been established using part of the gas tax, which will throw off about 23 million dollars a year. If Virginia Railway Express came to Charlottesville, it would require 2 million dollars in capital, 1.6 million in subsidies, and two and a half hours of travel time. There would be two trains a day. This is being advocated by Charlottesville Citizens for Better Rail Alternatives, which grew out of a press conference given by Meredith. Their website is www.cvillerail.org. V.R.E. is in negotiations with them. They have been forming partnerships with other environmental groups, including citizens trying to get rail along the Interstate 81 corridor. Businesses are very excited about the prospect of better rail service for Charlottesville. It is getting a lot of good press. Respectfully submitted, Mary Buford Hitz Copyright 2005 by Rural Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Reports may be reprinted or excerpted with attribution. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUPPORT RURAL NELSON: - Sunday, October 9th 1:00pm-5:00pm - Harvest Festival and Wine Tasting at Cardinal Point Winery in Afton. Proceeds BENEFIT RURAL NELSON. Music provided by TigerLily and Mongrel. $20 admission includes wine glass and wine tastings plus all-you-can-eat barbeque pork, baked beans and cole slaw. Local crafters, silent auction and more. Bring lawnchairs. Rain or shine. Directions: Take Rt. 151 north to a right on Avon Road (Rt. 638) - Avon Road is across from the Exxon/Small's Grocery. Stay on Avon Road for 0.9 miles to a right on Batesville Road (Rt. 636). Go 0.6 miles and Cardinal Point is on the right. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: Jubilee House Steeplechase at Oak Ridge on Sunday, October 23rd. Rural Nelson will earn a donation for our work. Volunteers needed from 9am-1pm and 1pm-dark to park cars and work the gates. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OF INTEREST: - Saturday, October 8th 9:00 am-3:00 pm - Virginia Environmental Forum: Making Connections to Strengthen Our Community. The Sierra Club and several other organizations will sponsor a conference with concurrent sessions examining energy and air quality, water resources, forestry and agriculture, and transportation and sprawl. From 10:10 to 11:00 am ASAP will present a session titled "Local Population Growth and Sustainable Communities." At UVA's Clark Hall. The $10 fee for the conference includes lunch. For more information contact Elena Day (ElenaDay@aol.com) or John Cruickshank ( john-c@k12albemarle.org). - Tuesday, October 11th Noon - 2:00pm "Marketing Basics for the Service Business" seminar conducted by The Central Virginia Small Business Development Center in the meeting room at the Library in Lovingston. $20 Fee. To register, call 434.295.8198 or email sbdc@cstone.net. Business consulting also available the 2nd Tuesday of each month at the Library - covers financing sources, marketing, business planning and operational issues. For appointments, call 434.295.8198 or email sbdc@cstone.net. - Thursday, October 20th at 7:00pm - Public Meeting on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project at the Afton Inn. - Thursday, October 27th at 7:30pm - Public Hearing on the Lovingston Revitalization project/application at the courthouse. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kim T. Cash Field Officer Rural Nelson, Inc. P. O. Box 401 (622 Front Street) Lovingston, VA 22949 434.263.5000 Email: info@ruralnelson.org www.ruralnelson.org