1. WSDOT Passenger Rail Service Outcome Agreements
SCORT
Annual Meeting
JASON BIGGS P.E., Operations Program Manager – Rail, Freight, and Ports Division
February 2017

2. Amtrak Cascades corridor
467-mile corridor
300 miles in Washington
134 miles in Oregon
33 miles in British Columbia
18 stations from Vancouver, BC to Eugene, Oregon
Current daily roundtrips
Four between Seattle and Portland
Two between Seattle and Vancouver, BC
Two between Portland and Eugene, Oregon
Starting in 2017 – Service Outcomes
Two additional roundtrips between Seattle and Portland
Improve reliability to 88%
Shorter travel times between Seattle and Portland
A service of the states of Washington and Oregon

3. Service Outcome Agreements
Why are they needed?
Definition and protection of public benefit
Planned investments on Host Railroad owned corridors
FRA Requirement for funding eligibility
What do they provide?
Sets forth how the corridor will be operated
Defines Roles and Responsibility (State, Amtrak, Host RRs)
Defines Reliability standard
Corrective measures (if applicable)

4. Example requirements from WSDOT Service Outcome Agreements
Obligation of WSDOT to construct improvements
Obligation of WSDOT to maintain improvements (separate agreement)
Amtrak permitted to operate new service
Defines Operating Schedules
Access and frequency for new service levels by host railroad
Identifies On-Time Performance levels by host railroad
Memorializes Maximum minutes of delay by host railroad
Defines Term Length yr commitment

5. WSDOT Service Outcome – Reporting & Analysis
Reporting and analysis is required to FRA on the service outcomes that includes contractual obligations of:
At least an average of 88% on-time reliability
Delay Ceiling thresholds to be met
Report frequency includes weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly

6. Cascades Performance Database - Reporting Tool
WSDOT, in coordination with BNSF and Amtrak, developed a comprehensive data source for Cascades train performance
The database compares host railroad and Amtrak delay codes and minutes
Imports data directly from external partners (Amtrak and BNSF) about all delays, reconciles differences, and reports data
Allows WSDOT to document, analyze, verify and report compliance

7. Cascades Performance Database project timeline

8. Challenges met – lessons learned
Timing - Early partner engagement is essential
Start early to develop the parameters of the agreement
Establish clear expectations and commitments among partners
Recognize the long-tem commitments (20 Years)
Resources – Resources are available and committed throughout life of SOA
Discuss potential obstacles, such as access to proprietary data, data collection, and timing for release of data
Understand the stakeholder’s business model and relationship to other agreements
Acknowledge there will be differences on approach and create a process to address them fairly

9. Questions? For more information, please contact: Jason Biggs, P.E.
Rail, Freight, and Ports Division
Operations Program Manager