HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 02231988 - S.8 s
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
FROM: Supervisor Tom Torlakson Contra
Costa
DATE: February 23, 1988 County
SUBJECT: NO SMOKING POLICY FOR AMTRAK
SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Request the County Administrator to
send a letter in behalf of the Board of Supervisors to Amtrak
requesting a "no smoking" policy on Amtrak intrastate lines. Request
that Supervisor Nancy Fanden, as our representative on the Amtrak Task
Force, convey the Board' s position to the task force.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: During a recent Amtrak ride with my
daughter, I noted that Amtrak does not exercise a "no smoking" policy
on its trains. I expressed my concern about this to Amtrak. Arthur
Lloyd, a representative of Amtrak, indicated that Amtrak must follow
Federal law which supersedes state law, but they are looking into a
policy. . (Please refer to attached letters. )
TT:gro
Attachment
CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: YES SIGNATURE:
RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE
APPROVE OTHER
SIGNATURE(S)
ACTION OF BOARD ON APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER x
Requesting a policy of smoking only on specified cars on Amtrak.
intrastate lines.
VOTE OF SUPERVISORS
X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE
AYES: NOES: AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN
ABSENT: ABSTAIN: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD
OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN.
CC: ATTESTED February 23 , 1988
Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board of
Supervisors and County Administrator
M382/7-83 BY DEPUTY
Tom Toriakson
300 East Leland Rd.
Supervisor, District Five - - Suite 100
Su
p �i Pittsburg, California 94565
Contra Costa Count �_ = s
Y (415)427-8138
Board of Supervisorsv
January 11, 1988
Arthur Lloyd, Director
Amtrak Western Office of Corporate
Communications and Public Affairs
1 California Street, Suite 1250
San Francisco, CA 94111-5434
Dear Mr. Lloyd:
May daughter and I are still raving about our first
Amtrak train ride on December 31 from Antioch to Oakland!
We also enjoyed the very efficient and quick shuttle bus
ride to San Francisco.
Both of us were thrilled with the experience! I was
particularly pleased at how quick the "commute" was--once we
got onto the train. The conductor on our way in to Oakland
gave an excellent "tour guide" narrative of interesting
sites to see and provided us with important historical
facts.
Ever since this ride, my daughter and I have been
telling all of our friends and relatives about this
experience and are encouraging more people to take train
rides. In fact, in talking to fellow club members of the
Delta Kiwanis Club in Antioch, we would like to invite an
Amtrak representative to come to our meeting as a guest
speaker to tell us about some of your other train
experiences such as the ride to Reno that we have heard so
much about. I would appreciate your getting back to me with
more information about the availability of an Amtrak
representative to attend our meeting.
There are only two minor points of criticism that I
would like to share. One is that the train was about 40
minutes behind schedule on the way to Oakland. Also, as
newcomers to the Amtrak experience, we were disconcerted to
find no signs posting the train schedule and not much of a
train station at all. I am separately writing the City of
Antioch to suggest that they provide a bus stop-type shelter
of some kind perhaps in cooperation with your company.
Mr. Arthur Lloyd
January 11, 1988
Page TWO
The second issue related to cigarette smoke present in
your cars. I hope you will be considering the full
implementation of the new state law which, as I understand
it, prohibits smoking in passenger train cars and airplanes.
The health as well as the comfort of non-smoking passengers
is at stake. I am sure that smokers could have a designated
place to go to such as the lounge if they needed to have a
cigarette. It would make the ride even more comfortable and
enjoyable to have clean air to breath!
Thank you for providing such a good service. I hope
you will not only continue it, but expand it.
Sincerely,
Tom Torlakson
TT:gro
National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Public Affairs, One California Street, Suite 1250, San Francisco, CA 94111-5466
Amtrak j RECEIVED ,�/'t tJ 2
..// 9 1988
January 28 , 1988
Hon. Tom Torlakson, Supervisor
Contra Costa County
300 East Leland Road - Suite #100
Pittsburg, California 94565
Dear Supervisor Torlakson :
Thank you for your very nice letter of
January 11th. My apologies for the delay in reply
but I have been out of the office on business most
of the past two weeks. I have the eleven western
states to cover so am not in my office all the time.
I would be pleased to talk to your Kiwanis
club in Antioch and tell about Amtrak and its .history,
present operations and future. Just give me as much
advance time as possible as I have a fairly full
schedule. My calendar in the next few months has me
in and out of town but I will be gone the first two
weeks in April on vacation.
As to the station sign and shelter :
Amtrak has little or no capital funding so
we are unable to do little more th an stop in Antioch.
Most cities do erect station shelters at their expense
and we will, of course, work with them. Antioch is a
separate story, however, for when we started service the
Southern Pacific/Santa. Fe merger was in the works and if
it had happened we did think we would have to move to the
SP line through Antioch. This now doesn' t appear likely
so a station shelter is in order.
Smoking is a tough one for we must follow
Federal law which supersedes state law. We are, however,
looking into a policy along the lines you suggest and,
perhaps , no smoking at all on intrastate trains such as
the SAN JOAQUIN.
S ' xfcereJ ;
Arthur L. Lloyd, Director
Public Affairs - West
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER