According to a NY Sun article appearing on January 17th, a Metropolitan Transportation Authority board member has indicated an interest in banning the sale of alcoholic beverages on LIRR and Metro-North trains, due to the concern that drinking on trains poses several safety hazards for riders. 

However, since 1950, the LIRR has been selling alcohol on platforms and aboard trains and Metro-North has been serving it since 1976.  In that time - according to reporting by the Sun and also cited on the blog gothamist.com no car accidents have been directly related to onboard drinking have been reported and bartenders on the trains are not allowed to sell alcohol to passengers who seem to them to be inebriated.  Unfortunately I do not have a citation for the source of this research to check its accuracy, but from my experience commuting, the reality of the situation is that commuters are only buying a beer to carry on the train.  And if you’re heading to the bar car (for those on the Metro North New Haven line) it’s crowded and the bartenders are not allowed to sell alcohol to passengers who seem to them to be inebriated. 

Here’s the way I see it: what’s wrong with having a drink on the way home from work?  After a long day, the commuter rail can be a social environment, a time to unwind and enjoy conversation with your friends (or just quietly enjoy the end of the day).  You’re not driving, and as long as you are being responsible knowing that you need to get in a car following your commute, there should be no issue.  In fact, if you read the recent New Yorker on the same subject, you’ll find that enjoying a cocktail or beer on the way home from work has become a way of life for many commuters. 

Now - I know that some will say that there are those that are not responsible and thus putting others at risk.  But reading the recent backlash from the affected commuters on these trains, it seems to me that this isn’t the environment that these trains breed. 

Instead of banning the sale of alcohol altogether on commuter lines, couldn’t the MTA consider addressing the issue of social responsibility in a more active way on the trains?  Why not work to have local taxi service numbers posted in the bar cars, just to ensure that commuters have access to them? 

It just seems that before taking the step to fully ban the sale of alcohol, there are a number of steps to be considered along the way.

If you live in a city experiencing some of the growing pains that can be associated with the rapid growth of downtown dining and entertainment zones, then you will be interested in the work of the Responsible Hospitality Institute (RHI) and its upcoming 2020 Vision Leadership Summit” at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.

Participants in the December 6-9 meeting in Chicago include city teams from 12 US and Canadian cities, representing hospitality, safety, development and residential perspectives. They may choose to attend sessions on a variety of topics, including managing split-use districts, setting up a Hospitality Resource Panel, managing magnet projects like a new arena or stadium, and modernizing regulations. Participants will also receive copies of RHI’s new “Practical Guide to Planning, Managing and Policing Hospitality Zones,” which encapsulates 5 years of research and practice in these areas.

RHI is a non-profit organization that helps businesses and communities create safe and vibrant places for people to socialize.  The organization provides resources to facilitate cooperation and consensus-building among key stakeholders to maximize economic, employment and social benefits while reducing risks to public safety and impacts on the residents. RHI is at work in 13 U.S. and 3 Canadian cities. RHI receives major funding from Diageo, the Diageo Foundation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Radley Balko, a blogger from http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/, the official Cato Institute blog, recently deconstructed the CASA study we�-?ve been discussing here and brought up some�= interesting points that I wanted to share with you.

Bottom line - according to independent experts, the misuse of data that we have been discussing in this space may actually be putting our youth at risk. Read on.

Balko points out that CASA has a nasty habit of fudging its numbers for the sake of sensationalism.�= (And you don�-?t have to take my word for it �-? read what a Ph.D., who suggests CASA change its name to �-�the Center for Alcohol Statistics Abuse,�-? has to say about their historical manipulation of the facts.)

Subsequently, and perhaps even worse, there is a dangerous trend among some well-respected journalists at top tier media outlets �-? The New York Times, for one �-? who fail to confirm the accuracy of CASA�-?s research and jump to cover the �-�news�-? from this organization and others in the habit of fictionalizing science.

One of the reasons I find this trend so troubling is because perpetuating this �-�data�-? could actually increase underage drinking.�= At Diageo, we think any underage drinking is too much, period.�= Exaggerating these numbers is not only unethical, it is also downright dangerous.

H. Wesley Perkins, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology and department Chair at Hobart and William Smith Colleges has done extensive research that suggests students often believe their peers drink more, and more often, than they actually do.�= And the troubling part is that those students will then model their behavior after what they think their peers are doing, oftentimes leading them to drink more.

Dr. Perkins accurately hypothesized that correcting these misperceptions can reduce underage drinking.�= This led to a revolutionary new approach to alcohol education.�= Instead of utilizing traditional, ineffective �-�scare tactics,�-? many academic institutions now use the social norms approach to educate students on accurate norms amongst their peers.

And it works.

In April 2006, when the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) issued its Alcohol Alert, it was noted that �-�the phenomenon of perceived social norms�-�or the belief that �-�everyone�-? is drinking and drinking is acceptable�-�is one of the strongest correlates of drinking among young adults�-�Recent research has shown that addressing these misperceptions can help reduce drinking.�-?

At the end of the day, we all want to eliminate underage drinking.�= And the good news is that underage drinking is on the decline.

So why does CASA continue to release erroneous �-�research,�-? putting our youth at risk?

Cheers!

guy