To NARP Members in Michigan, August 30, 2004--

The 2005 budget fight in the Michigan legislature has begun. Governor
Granholm has pledged to hold firm to Amtrak's request for $7.1 million
(no doubt thanks to the strong efforts you made to contact her regarding
the attempt to strip Amtrak funding in the fiscal 2004 supplemental
budget).

However, she will face considerable pressure from Senator Shirley
Johnson (R.-District 13, Berkley, Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield
Heights, Birmingham, Clawson, Madison Heights, Royal Oak, Troy).
Johnson has renewed her efforts to slash the funding provided to Amtrak
in half. She continues to claim that the state funds provided to Amtrak
amounts to an "unfair subsidy" which "competes" with private industry
(namely, bus operator Indian Trails).

Senator Johnson's efforts to kill the Blue Water and Pere Marquette come
despite the fact that ridership on the two state-supported Michigan
trains are stronger than ever. The Blue Water had 43% and 35% ridership
increases in June and July, respectively. Full ridership data is
below; you may wish to use that in the message that you send.

Please contact the leaders of the Michigan House and Senate as well as
your own legislator immediately and tell them that you want no cuts to
be made to Michigan's passenger rail program. Given the timeliness of
this issue, we do not recommend sending U.S. mail or an e-mail; phone
calls or a fax are best.

If you are represented by Senator Johnson, please make her aware of your
displeasure with her position on this critical issue.

To find who your elected officials are, go to:

House http://house.michigan.gov/find_a_rep.asp
Senate http://www.senate.michigan.gov/SenatorInfo...our-senator.htm

The leaders of the House and Senate are:

Honorable Ken Sikkema Honorable Bob Emerson

Senate Majority Leader Senate Minority Leader

Phone: 517-373-0797 Phone: 517-373-0142
Fax: 517-373-5236 Fax: 517-373-3938

Honorable Rick Johnson Honorable Dianne Byrum
Speaker of the House House Minority Leader
Phone: 517-373-1747 Phone: 517-373-0587
Fax: 517-373-9371 Fax: 517-373-9430

Again, appended below, are a) A sample letter that you could customize
and send, the ridership data for the Michigan trains in May, June,
and July, and c) an excellent Letter to the Editor published in today's
Lansing State Journal.

-David R. Johnson
NARP Assistant Director

##########

Thank you for your support of passenger rail service in Michigan. I am
pleased that the fiscal 2004 funding for the Michigan Department of
Transportation's (MDOT) Amtrak service was preserved. I encourage you
to support the same level of funding for the state's Amtrak program in
the fiscal 2005 budget.

Both of the Michigan's state-supported Amtrak trains have seen
double-digit gains in FY'04. The new Blue Water service inaugurated by
Amtrak and MDOT in April of this year has seen an increase of more than
40% over the same period of time last summer when it operated as the
International.

Again, thank you for your support of passenger rail service in Michigan.
I hope that you will work to secure continued funding for the program in
fiscal 2005.

Sincerely,

##########

AMTRAK RIDERSHIP ON MICHIGAN STATE-SUPPORTED TRAINS
MAY THROUGH JULY 2004

Service May 2003 May 2004 Percent Increase
Blue Water 6,455 7,760 20.2%
Pere Marquette 6,553 7,237 10.4%

June 2003 June 2004 Percent Increase
Blue Water 6,284 9,034 43.8%
Pere Marquette 7,024 8,356 19.0%

July 2003 July 2004 Percent Increase
Blue Water 7,936 10,853 36.8%
Pere Marquette 7,790 9,683 24.3%

Fiscal Year-To-Date 2003 2004 Percent Increase
Blue Water 66,505 76,754 15.4%
Pere Marquette 61,722 69,722 14.2%

*The Blue Water operated on a different schedule and was known as the
International in FY'03, (although it served the same cities). The new
schedule for the Blue Water became effective on April 25, 2004.

########

LETTER TO EDITOR: Buses get plenty
27 August 2004 - Lansing State Journal

I've had a good chuckle recently, as I've read about state Sen. Shirley
Johnson's attempts to ``level the playing field`` between Amtrak and bus
companies, such as Indian Trails Inc. In 2004, Amtrak will receive $7.1
million in subsidies, while Indian Trails will receive $500,000 in
subsidies. Indian Trails cries foul, stating, ``it's not fair for a
private enterprise to be forced to compete with a government entity.``

If Johnson is so concerned with government support of Amtrak, perhaps
she should ask Indian Trails to repay the $1.1 billion invested in
Michigan's roads and bridges in 2003. During the same year, Michigan's
passenger rail lines received zero dollars in capital improvement
funding.

More information on fairness in transportation spending can be had by
contacting the Michigan Land Use Institute at www.mlui.org.