Amtrak cut service during the pandemic, but restoring it has been difficult owing to labor shortages exacerbated by layoffs, retirements and Covid outbreaks among staff. As the city, state, and nation emerge from the pandemic, Amtrak must restore popular routes that remain suspended.
Safety advocates are demanding action following an Amtrak derailment that could have been prevented if policymakers had funded the basic infrastructure and policy changes that safety hawks have been recommending for decades.
This week we’re at the 2021 Virtual Railvolution conference. Adelee Le Grand, CEO of Tampa's transit system, moderates a panel featuring Debra Johnson of RTD in Denver, and Peter Rogoff of Sound Transit in Seattle. Johnson and Rogoff discuss progress in their regions and the effects of the pandemic.
This week we’re joined by Robert del Rosario, director of service development for AC Transit in Oakland to talk about the pandemic, what’s needed to get riders coming back, and what sustainable revenue might look like going forward.