[E]very year the state of Vermont spends $6.5 million to operate two Amtrak trains and $6 million to support local bus operations, but the state, Amtrak and local companies have yet to establish connections between trains and buses, despite calls to do so from transit activists and the Legislature.
A lack of coordinated bus and train service has been an issue for years in Vermont, but little progress has been made.
In 2007 the Legislature directed the Agency of Transportation (VTrans) to “examine the feasibility of making public transportation in Vermont seamless, efficient, and user friendly, with usable connections.” But a 2008 VTrans study on public transportation did not go beyond a tepid recommendation that the state “consider various options for organizational change or consolidation.”
A 2013 state-sponsored study of intercity bus services in Vermont made numerous references to train connections, but it also did not make any concrete recommendations for the bus-train interface.
Two years later, the draft state rail plan now being finalized at VTrans integrates rail stations with local and intercity bus transportation, but calls for no specific scheduling adjustments.
Today, of the 11 Vermont stations on Amtrak’s New York-Rutland Ethan Allen Express and Washington, D.C.-St. Albans Vermonter routes, two have no bus service at all; nine are served within 300 yards by local and/or intercity bus stops. Only four have services that connect with trains going in both directions, but usually at bad times, or only on weekdays. Only the Essex Junction train station offers comprehensive daily connections with the Chittenden County Transportation Authority.
Williston transportation activist Carl Fowler sent a memo to VTrans in 2010 that outlined specific problems that make train-bus connections unusable up and down the state. He’s still waiting for a response. Fowler says in his view the message from VTrans is: “This is not going to be dealt with.”
Hit-or-miss pattern
To reach Mount Snow for a weekend of skiing, car-less New York City residents, for example, can take a train to Brattleboro, but then must get to the Brattleboro Transportation Center. There is no map posted at the train station explaining how to get there, but there is a stack of bus brochures with maps inside the station, and it’s only a three-block walk – not far for those fit enough to go skiing.
From the Transportation Center, a Southeast Vermont Transit “Moover” bus takes the traveler to Wilmington where another Moover heads to Mount Snow. The connections, however, are only available on weekdays, the links are not advertised in Amtrak’s timetables, and Amtrak does not offer through-tickets – that is, tickets that cover both the train and bus segments of a journey.
Randy Schoonmaker, the CEO of Southeast Vermont Transit, says he has unsuccessfully tried to work with Amtrak to make the connection more feasible. The draft state rail plan does not mention the Moover in its recapitulation of bus-train connections.
New Yorkers headed to Killington or Pico for a few days of skiing fare better. While the Marble Valley Regional Transit District runs a bus to both ski areas from the Ethan Allen Express terminus in Rutland, it quits for the night well before the train’s evening arrival. The private sector comes to the rescue, however, with services such as the Killington Shuttle Express and Gramps’ Shuttle, which serve the Rutland station on a dedicated basis: that is, they come when and if reservations are called in, proceed to Killington and Pico whenever the train arrives, and return the traveler to Rutland for the train back to New York. Through-ticketing for the two shuttles is not available from Amtrak, although Killington Shuttle advertises its service at the station and in the Amtrak timetable.
The shuttle services are not mentioned on the VTrans website. That’s because the train-connecting services listing is limited to public providers in the draft rail plan.
In White River Junction, connections from the Amtrak Vermonter’s station are nonexistent for most travelers. The local provider, Advance Transit, does not call at the station at any time; its nearest stop is 100 yards away, but lies on the other side of the (live) railroad line, necessitating a much longer walk. And – although the stop is served shortly before the southbound Vermonter leaves – the last time the bus picks up is 26 minutes before the northbound comes in.
Retired transportation analyst Tony Redington, of Burlington, is critical of the way VTrans handles intermodal public transit. “From a policy standpoint and a practical standpoint, [Vermont’s intermodal] system has been irrational and disjointed at best,” Redington said.
Complaining is the easy part
But complaining about the lack of connections is a lot easier than grappling with the minutiae of coordinating services among multiple providers in a rural state where riders tend to be few.
Transit agencies object to lengthening schedules for an Amtrak stop when the train might be significantly late – and if the bus ultimately has to leave before a late train pulls in, what’s the point?
Coordinating schedules between two modes works in more populous areas like Burlington, but for marginal-to-small rural bus agencies, challenges loom large.
Barbara Donovan, the public transit administrator for VTrans, points out that the Vermonter and Ethan Allen Express provide evening service on northbound runs, while local transit agencies typically quit at 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. And, she said, “There’s not all that much demand for getting to the train.”
Dan Delabruere, the rail program manager for VTrans, said the state has not asked Amtrak to operate at more convenient hours for Vermont travelers. “With all the stuff that’s going to happen in the next few years, it doesn’t make sense to restring everything now,” Delabruere said.
While VTrans is “trying to improve our connections,” Delabruere says local bus companies are unwilling to allow drivers to wait for late trains.
Amtrak spokesman Craig Schulz deferred to the states involved. “As a state supported service,” Schulz wrote, “any schedule changes to the Vermonter need to be approved by the states that support the service.” Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont have a memorandum of understanding that requires all three states to agree to a change in the service, Schulz said. Vermont has a similar agreement with New York for the Ethan Allen.
“Amtrak is always willing to examine a schedule change of interest to our state partners,” Schulz wrote.
Successes in other states
Other states have synched bus-train connections.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has connected Amtrak with bus services to outlying communities all over the state, including very rural areas. The buses hook up with trains at six of Oregon’s seven rail stations.
Bob Krebs, who retired from his position as the intercity passenger rail coordinator for the Oregon Department of Transportation in 2004, said the state program is “very successful.” He negotiated the connecting-bus contracts, mostly with private operators, who received subsidies but also retained most of the profits from the service.
Oregon uses through-ticketing with Amtrak, simplifying traveling arrangements. The state has also gotten the national rail provider to include every bus schedule in rail timetables, saving Oregon the expense of publishing the schedules separately.
“It could be done anywhere,” Krebs said, but he stressed that the ease of connections to and from the train is the key to success.
But regularly scheduled services do not represent the only solution, or even, necessarily, the best one. Across Lake Champlain from Vermont, a van, SUV or limousine run by Ground Force 1, a private company, connects Amtrak’s Westport train station with Lake Placid on an on-demand, advance-reservation basis. Amtrak offers through-ticketing. While Ground Force 1’s service has a published schedule, drivers do wait for late trains. The company submits the used tickets to Amtrak monthly and gets a set-rate reimbursement.
Renee Smith, the office manager for Ground Fource 1, estimates that the train connection brings her 1,500 fares a year.
“It’s a good thing for us, it’s a good thing for our customers, it’s a good think for Amtrak,” Smith said.
‘As long as people have cars’
Oregon’s train-linked buses fill in along the state’s sole Amtrak corridor at times of the day when the trains don’t run. The bus service is building ridership in anticipation of new train service times in future.
In theory, Vermont could build ridership between Rutland and Burlington, in anticipation of Ethan Allen Express service in 2020, or as part of an effort to return rail service between St. Albans and Montreal. Amtrak terminated train service to Montreal in 1995, but the Shumlin administration is seeking to restore the rail connection.
Tony Redington, the retired transportation analyst, says historical ridership figures show that such an “extender bus” would make a net contribution to the Vermonter’s bottom line by drawing in new train riders — even if each 138-mile round-trip cost a whopping $2,000, or $15 a mile to operate.
Fowler says the biggest omission is the St. Albans to Montreal bus connection. “The state is, I think, concerned that it would interfere with getting the train back, but I think that’s a bad analysis,” he said. “In my opinion it would reinforce bringing back the train.”
Donovan, of VTrans, says population density and the number of potential riders is the real issue.
“Is there the identified ridership, even the potential?” Donovan said. “The last thing we want is to put out bus routes that don’t have ridership. As long as people have cars, there’s going to be a limited amount that we can do.”
