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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by rrandb [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by MichaelSol Oh gosh, open access is quite a sensitive topic. Some feel it would be a solution, some don't. It was interesting to see that it had been effective for interstate pipelines which share many of the networking considerations that rail does. I think enforcing the 180% R/VC standard in the Staggers Act would be a better solution than open access, but I still haven't quite got a handle on the ramifications of open access in the rail industry. [/quote] I agree if it is updated to todays enviroment. Its a 20th century answer to a 21st century problem. There have been changes to the industry in 40 years. [/quote] Open access is the most logical solution to introducing de facto intramodal competition among rail transportation service providers. The counterclaim (which I acknowledge does have merit) is that such comprehensive competition among carriers will result in many going under, e.g. not able to cover the cost of capital without having those slaves known as captive shippers to pay the majority of the upkeep bills. The solution I introduced some time back is to separate infrastructure from transporting operations (similar to the AT&T breakup a while back), allow de facto intramodal competition among transporters for every rail shipper, but regulate the infrastructure portion like a utility, with transparency of maintenance and capacity expansion costs, and then allowing a portion of infrastructural needs to be financed via federal tax credits, property tax exemptions for ROW, and even a portion of the federal fuel tax receipts. Logically, if railroads are going to receive federal aid for infrastructure maintenance and expansion, they should also pay into the Highway Trust Fund (which would be renamed the Intermodal Trust Fund) via federal fuel taxes on diesel, supplemented by a per energy unit tax for electric or other diesel fuel alternative energy sources. BTW - Open Access is working wonders in Europe and Australia, at least in terms of providing the option of competitive choices for rail shippers.
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