Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
Moving people is a service, not a profit source. Beginning with canals and harbors, the federal government has funded capital intensive transportation projects in concert with the several states. In most cases these projects are state - federal ventures, often with local money added to the pot. For years the government provided subsidy to passenger rail service through mail contracts. When the mail left the rails, so did the trains. In response to this unintended consequence of transfering federal mail subsidies from trains to airlines, Congress created the creature we know as Amtrak. Like any transportation service, Amtrak lives on money. Since its creation the apparent intention of the federal government has been death by starvation. Direct subsidy is only one way the government can encourage passenger rail service. Public policy encouraging freight railroads to allow operation of reliable high speed passenger trains is another, perhaps better, method. Amtrak's small usage payments do little to encourage freight railroads to share their track. Would their attitude change if main lines hosting high speed, on time passenger trains were exempt from local property taxes? Would they invest in capital improvements such as increased siding length, double tracking and signal improvements if they could claim the cost of the projects as a tax credit in the year they spent the money With the infrastructure and performance issues addressed by tax policy, we then move to operations. The federal government should invest in Amtrak infrastructure as it invests in most other transportation projects - 80% federal dollars with the remainder from state, local or private sources. The federal tax applied to airline tickets should also apply to Amtrak tickets. The government would use this money to provide the same services for Amtrak (traffic control, terminal security, etc) it provides to the airlines. Amtrak could then lower ticket prices by the amount of the tax becoming more competitive with pre tax airline fares. With the cost of services provided by the government to other modes removed from the direct Amtrak budget, we can more correctly identify the direct cost of providing service. Fares should cover most if not all of the direct service cost. Where they don't, a specific formula would identify the state and federal share of the operating deficit. Amtrak needs a dedicated funding source to insure survival Last, Amtrak needs to rething its' "train" paradigm. A train need not be a locomotive and set of cars moving from A to B. It can be a dynamic transportation mode, allowing a one seat ride between multiple destinations. Airlines hub passengers by herding them between planes. A modern rail system can facilitate cross platform transfers and through routed cars. Self propelled vehicles whether diesel or electric can open new corridors, and offer greater frequency on existing ones. <steps down from the soapbox>
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag