PJS1 Texas deregulated the electricity market straight out of the chute. Bingo! All the customers in the regulated service areas, except for those prisioners of public power and co-ops, about 15 percent of Texans, were given the green light at essentially the same time.
Texas deregulated the electricity market straight out of the chute. Bingo! All the customers in the regulated service areas, except for those prisioners of public power and co-ops, about 15 percent of Texans, were given the green light at essentially the same time.
Alberta did the same thing about 20 years ago. It fell flat on its face up here and that action remains very unpopular.
Instead of stabilizing prices and guaranteeing supply, prices rose dramatically and then shot up and down repeatedly. Supply shortages continued, and it was eventually discovered that some power producers had taken advantage of the situation to keep prices even higher by keeping the supply low, and choosing not to bring in electricity from British Columbia when units went down for maintenance. For most of the 2000s Albertans "enjoyed" the highest electricity prices in Canada.
More recently steps have been taken to partially re-regulate our market, and that effort is proving popular.
Privatization and de-regulation do not work for everything, for a railroad example go across the pond and ask how well the privatization of British Rail went.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
SD70DudeAlberta did the same thing about 20 years ago. It fell flat on its face up here and that action remains very unpopular. Instead of stabilizing prices and guaranteeing supply, prices rose dramatically and then shot up and down repeatedly. Supply shortages continued, and it was eventually discovered that some power producers had taken advantage of the situation to keep prices even higher by keeping the supply low, and choosing not to bring in electricity from British Columbia when units went down for maintenance. For most of the 2000s Albertans "enjoyed" the highest electricity prices in Canada. More recently steps have been taken to partially re-regulate our market, and that effort is proving popular. Privatization and de-regulation do not work for everything, for a railroad example go across the pond and ask how well the privatization of British Rail went.
Texas has it's own statewide electrical grid and is largely independent of the national grid.......and last I checked a surplus of electricity. My personal opinion is they misjudged growth and over built power plants. There are a number of powerplants that look fairly new that have been shutdown or idled across the DFW metro area. Some of them were supplied by rail even though they burned Oil.
SD70DudePrivatization and de-regulation do not work for everything, for a railroad example go across the pond and ask how well the privatization of British Rail went.
To a hammer, everything looks like a nail. It's the one size fits all notion of econ., that the market is the answer to everything. Correctly applied, markets are efficient. The trouble is when they are misapplied. It's probably why mixed economies seem best.
This morning I was watching a website showing the western approach to CUS and the yards. A consist included a C&O private car, 2 vielinwer sleepers, a viewliner diner!!!, amfleet cafee, several coaches, vieliner baggage and one Amtrak locomotive. Was this the Lake Shore Limited consist taht arrived in Chicago this morning?
Mel Hazen; Jax, FL Ride Amtrak. It's the only way to fly!!!
The politicians in Britain are still trying to mess with the current Great Western franchise created after privaization and split in into two parts. I would like to ask Brunel's statue in Paddington about what he thinks about what they are doing to the once Great Western Railway before it became British Railways in 1948. It isn't privatization at all, but government regulation to the maxunder the guise of private enterprize. If you want to eat something on a British train; good luck. The trains into the mainline London stations are very crowded and you will lose your seat if you venture to the buffet. Also, don't expect hot food crossing the Atlantic either. I had a chicken salad and a coke in economy LHR JFK on Delta. At least they feed you on transatlantic flights. Cold is better than nothing these days.
Unfortunately, Amtrak has been far too occupied, thanks to Congressional interferrence, with making a profit, or at least losing considerably less money. One of the major problems with that attitude is that Amtrak does not own any tracks other than the Northeast Corridor. It cannot "dictate" it's own schedules, nor can it adequately serve most of the markets it's in. The California, Michigan, and Illinois service are witnesses to that, and Texas is beginning a modified version of that between Dallas and Houston.
Amtrak has spent far too much time playing with what works in dining service, and completely failing in the word "service". The staff is usually at least accommodating, but that pales when compared to other meal services. I realize you can't stock a five star restaurant in a dining car, but the constant cuts in meal quality and staff are not the answer either. They've proven that with the Texas Eagle and the "imported" box meals between Ft. Worth and San Antonio.
The United States needs to get serious about rail transportation, provide adequate funding to compare with highways and airports and air traffic control, and then build a workable system with realistic scheduling to provide "service". That's the ONLY solution to keep Amtrak from continuing as a "Congressional Play Toy".
aricatAlso, don't expect hot food crossing the Atlantic either. I had a chicken salad and a coke in economy LHR JFK on Delta. At least they feed you on transatlantic flights. Cold is better than nothing these days.
I will never fly Economy for a more than 2 hour flight domestically or internationally. I don't care the cost, my minimum for trans-atlantic travel is Business Class. You can do Business Class on the cheap to Europe if you know how to use CC deals and frequent traveler programs. First Class domestically on American Airlines is typically only $100 to $150 more then Coach if you buy the tickets months in advance........on most routes out of their hub in Dallas.
Next time I travel to Europe I am going to try the CUNARD Cruise line from NY to Southhampton. Always wanted to take that cruise and yell out "Ice Berg Dead Ahead" over the PA at the mid-point (heh-heh).
Superb satire! You only missed one point - this will equally satisfy liberals in Congress as the current Amtrak Board is comprised largely of Obama appointees who in turn chose Mr. Anderson as Pres. & chief executioner of LD trains. (that's satire too as to which party cares about Amtrak - neither!)
The transcontinental flights on American only had cold food. Hot meals in coach, even for a fee are not available on most airlines. Go to their web-sites and check out what is available in coach. Business class and the increasingly rare first class may have hot meals. Some transoceanic flights may still have hot meals.
Fred Frailey got this issue right in the July 2018 issue.Have pre packaged food to eat
The acutal law required a plan that was to study cost cuts, efficiencies, and revenue generation activies (ie offering more meals more efficiently). Since the Viewliner diners were to have more efficient roll-on stock carts but were never allowed into service did they comply with this portion of the law? Notice as well all of this could have just been handled with revenue allocation to food service.
I find it spurious to suggest that younger adults have a greater "taste" for a cold breakfast. It seems like the "thing" to do for urban singles (including my recollection for a decade+ ago) is to go out for a "big, bad, breakfast" consisting of some hot egg dishes.
Does anybody have a copy of the "plan" that was to have been submitted to the legislature? I believe it is claimed that the occasional business plans fufill all the requirements for these submissions but they do not mention actual steps.
Perhaps that might be the angle to take... Senator do you have a copy of the plan Amtrak was to have submitted under 243?
(a) Plan.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015, Amtrak shall develop and begin implementing a plan to eliminate, within 5 years of such date of enactment, the operating loss associated with providing food and beverage service on board Amtrak trains.
(b) Considerations.—In developing and implementing the plan, Amtrak shall consider a combination of cost management and revenue generation initiatives, including—
(1) scheduling optimization;
(2) on-board logistics;
(3) product development and supply chain efficiency;
(4) training, awards, and accountability;
(5) technology enhancements and process improvements; and
(6) ticket revenue allocation.
(c) Savings Clause.—Amtrak shall ensure that no Amtrak employee holding a position as of the date of enactment of the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015 is involuntarily separated because of—
(1) the development and implementation of the plan required under subsection (a); or
(2) any other action taken by Amtrak to implement this section.
Just a remark, the Passenger Rail Reform and Investment Act of 2015 made it through the House but never the Senate.It died in the previous congress.
Parts of it were amended to the FAST Act (Fixing America's Surface Transportation). The Food and beverage reform is Section 11207 and contains the same text as cited above.Regards, Volker
You are right that is what the House called an earlier version of their rail bill.
But this text is from the House maintained US Code with annotations, based on Public Law 114-94, known as the FAST Act , which did pass at the end of 2015. I have no idea if that is considered an "error" in the US Code.
Rio Grande Valley, CFI,CFII
PJS1No real business would be confronted with this sort of conflict. It is an example of why the government should not be running a commercial activity.
I agree with most of your post. However, you do overgeneralize, in my opinion. The problem is Congress's micromanagement of Amtrak over its 47 years. Amtrak was set up as a quasi-public corporation but Congress started interfering with unfunded edicts almost immediately (many, many ludicrous example spring to the minds of most). Other countries have quasi-public corporations running national rail systems very successfully because they are protected from this sort of political nonsense.
Recall that even though "Amtrak shall" by law report short-term avoidable profit/loss for the routes yearly, they do not. Similar variable cost metrics are tracked weekly at the business I work.
So how exactly will they manage the business without knowing variable cost?
(a) Amtrak Annual Operations Report.—Not later than February 15 of each year, Amtrak shall submit to Congress a report that—
(1) for each route on which Amtrak provided intercity rail passenger transportation during the prior fiscal year, includes information on—
(A) ridership;
(B) passenger-miles;
(C) the short-term avoidable profit or loss for each passenger-mile;
(D) the revenue-to-cost ratio;
(E) revenues;
(F) the United States Government subsidy;
(G) the subsidy not provided by the United States Government; and
(H) on-time performance;
Most of that is available monthly or can be easily calculated except for the subsidy breakdown. How do you know this info is not being provided?
Monthly report
Variable cost typically requires the business to calculate it on the finance side or an outside group can construct an engineering analysis, like when they estimate how much it costs to build cell phones or cars per unit. Remember, the Legislature appropriated funds for the financial systems to do this.
However, FRA has had blank Table 1(A) and 1(B) sheets in their metrics waiting for this information, for 10 years, since PRIIA 2008.
That means Amtrak is not reporting the information as FRA is the granting agency. It is also missing from their February reports to the Legislature where it is supposed to be located.
You didn't look at/understand the link? The data is there.
From the PDF at the link Table 1(A) / 1(B) all say "Not Available" and have for so since the data was first to have been reported.
V.Payne From the PDF at the link Table 1(A) / 1(B) all say "Not Available" and have for so since the data was first to have been reported.
Who cares? The data is in the Monthly public report, as I said and using my link. All but one piece of data, the subsidy.
cfm-railThe transcontinental flights on American only had cold food. Hot meals in coach, even for a fee are not available on most airlines. Go to their web-sites and check out what is available in coach. Business class and the increasingly rare first class may have hot meals. Some transoceanic flights may still have hot meals
I'm an American expat retired in Italy and fly once a year to visit relatives in both Maine and California. I fly Lufthansa steerage between Trieste, Italy and Boston and return via Frisco to trieste. I had been taking the Lake Shore, Empire Builder, Coast Starlight to see my son in the Bay Area, but because of Richie Baby at Amtrak and his cutbacks, I'll be taking the Canadian to Vancouver instead. As for hot meals on international flights, all Lufthansa meals are hot. The arm room is horrible and the plates are plastic, but the silverware is metal and alcohol is included. The service is very good, even when you spill a glass of wine on your crotch and need a replacenment. Business class will run you $8,000 for a trip like that and a billion or so for 1st class, none of which is worth it.
I had the horrible experience of flying United out of Venice to Boston -- very late with ZERO explaination, having to wait in in a stairwell for a bus to board, starving while on board, having to pay for a glass of wine, plastic utinsels, no service, $13 for a ham and cheese sandwich, etc. it was horrible. NEVER again. And that's why I refuse to travle the LSL with cold food. Forget it Richie Baby. You can take your airline food and shove it.
They give you a replacement crotch on Lufthansa? Geez that's pretty amazing!
Actually agree with the half of us that think discontinuing hot meal service is absurd. How it ever got to this point is absurd itself.
Miningman They give you a replacement crotch on Lufthansa? Geez that's pretty amazing! Actually agree with the half of us that think discontinuing hot meal service is absurd. How it ever got to this point is absurd itself.
Johnny
GN_FanNo replacement crotch was necessary...it was white wine and just had to dry off. Altho it was embarrassing to walk up to the stewardess station with a wet crotch and ask for the replacement, I never noticed any smirks, laughter or anything else. And yes, it looked like I couldn't make it to the toilet in time. The joys of being 75 I guess. But then again, the alternative of making it this far is not good.
Having birthdays beats the alternative!
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Miningman Actually agree with the half of us that think discontinuing hot meal service is absurd. How it ever got to this point is absurd itself.
I think the first time I took advantage of payng for my meals when I bought my ticket was in 1987,
Probably none. Space issues with hot pizza. Now a Subway franchise nearby in walking distance or in station might do good for an evening meal. I think I did that with the Sure Late Ltd. out of Chicago in 2005, plus a visit to CVS.
Samuel Johnston ........Now a Subway franchise nearby in walking distance or in station might do good for an evening meal.
........Now a Subway franchise nearby in walking distance or in station might do good for an evening meal.
I ride the Texas Eagle between San Antonio and Dallas 8 to 12 times a year. The Eagle has a significant dwell time in Fort Worth.
A seemingly large number of veteran coach riders appear to get off the train to grab their eats at the Subway inside the Fort Worth Intermodal Transit Center.
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