Iam an employee of the Santa Maria Valley Railroad, having worked there for just over a year. I have learned a lot on the railroad over the past year, including track and train operations, signals, customers, and federal and state railroad regulations. There is a lot of satisfaction working for a transportation system that gives this community a huge economic and environmental impact.
What is really disappointing is how little most people know about the railroad and its economic and environmental advantages. San Luis Obispo and other cities ban plastic straws, and that makes a local positive impact to the environment. The Santa Maria Valley Railroad took 10,000 trucks off the road last year. That is not just locally, but nationwide. We haul freight across the country and take 10,000 trucks off of our interstate highways and roads, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and wear and tear on highways among all of the large and small communities across the country. We can make a difference not just locally, but nationally.
Economically, we save significant transportation costs for our customers, giving them a huge advantage when compared to businesses and industries in non-rail served communities.
For our local governments, fewer trucks means less wear and tear on our local roads. There was a recent study by TRIP, a national transportation research group, that said driving on Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-SLO-area roads costs an average driver $1,419 annually due to driving on rough roads, the cost of lost time and wasted fuel due to congestions, and the financial cost of accidents.
I have a firsthand look at how the city of Santa Maria staff treats our railroad. They do not have a clue of the railroad’s historic role in building the Santa Maria Valley, and most important, they have no clue of the economic and environmental role the railroad currently plays today for the valley. With our transload operations, customers on the Central Coast who do not have rail access can benefit by transporting their goods across the country and have it unloaded or loaded in our new transload facility.
There are three council members in Santa Maria who are not only shortsighted, but don’t really care about the environment. They voted to proceed to go ahead with the process to rezone industrial zoned land next to the railroad tracks to high density residential housing. The piece that the City Council voted on is only 2.2 acres, but it is right across the tracks from one of our growing customers, Cochiolo Warehouse. Only Mayor Alice Patino and Councilmember Etta Waterfield voted against the proposal.
Working on the train, I see where the city has systematically changed zoning from industrial to residential housing, permanently eliminating possibilities for rail-served customers.
We have a transportation system right here in Santa Maria that can help alleviate traffic congestion, reduce greenhouse gases, and lower transportation costs to our customers. Yet the city treats us as something that gets in its way and would rather turn us into a walking trail.
Keith Summers works train and track operations for the Santa Maria Valley Railroad. Send your thoughts to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Oct 4-11, 2018.