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HarveyK400My point regarding the documentation is straight forward.  The proponents of rail argue that they have documentation (marketing surveys) to show that Americans want more passenger trains.  But when asked for it, they cannot or will not produce it.  I can ask ten people what they think about passenger trains.  But their responses do not constitute a valid statistical sample, which requires a highly structured methodology, and therefore cannot be projected to the population as a whole.    Of course there is no documentation to show that people don't want passenger trains.  That would require conducting a negative poll, which is not an acceptable methodology.  The key question is whether the claim that Texans want passenger trains is properly supported.  Commercial airlines arguably get a small subsidy because they can fly from airports that were built with tax free financing.  But it is smaller than most people assume.  Most of the benefit is enjoyed by general aviation.  At Love Field, for example, Southwest accounts for approximately 25 per cent of operations.  The remainder is flown by general aviation and the military.   This data can be verified from FAA documentation.  Passenger rail in Texas runs on tracks that were built for freight and passenger traffic.  Without the freight component, the tracks would not have been laid down.  Moreover, if passenger rail had been required to build its own tracks, it would never have happened.  Passenger rail shares a right-of-way, just like vehicles share the highways and commercial airliners share the airways.  The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) runs on tracks that were originally owned by the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific.  They were acquired by Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) in a bankruptcy proceeding.  Had the tracks not be built by the Rock Island, there would be no TRE.   This claim can be verified by reviewing the history of DART and TRE.  Most of the railroad construction west of the Mississippi River received generous federal government subsidies before the turn of the last century.  Calculating the present value of these subsidies and the present value of the subsidies to construct the nation's airports would be a difficult if not impossible task.  But to claim or imply that only the airlines have received federal subsidies is in error.  However, in both cases it is a sunk cost, which is an accounting way of saying that it does not matter.  It is irrelevant for current and future decisions.      The best opinion poll is how people vote with their feet.  Only a small percentage of the Texans served by public transit (includes all forms of rail) use it.  For example, in 2006 (latest audited figures) approximately 11.65 per cent of the population in DART's service area used it.  Interestingly, slightly more than 40 per cent of the bus riders did not have a choice.  They did not have a car.  Moreover, approximately 20 per cent of the people riding the light rail system were in the same boat.  They did not have a car.  And approximately 11 per cent of the people who rode the TRE had no alternative.  This information is available on DART's web site or it was given to me last year, upon a request to DART management, for route performance numbers.  Most people don't know the full cost of driving.  This is true.  But most drivers' directly or indirectly pick-up the total tab.  The majority of them pay federal, state, and local taxes in addition to fuel taxes and fees.  The subsidies come from the federal, state, and local taxes, although it is true that wealthier motorists tote a large share of the subsidy than motorists who are less well off.  By contrast, DART's light ride riders received a $3.66 per ride subsidy in 2006.  And most of it was paid by people who do not or cannot use the system.    AlThe question was which to build if the President of Amtrak had an extra $2 billion a year to play with.  Presumably some of it could have been spent in Texas.  Nevertheless, this was the wrong question.  The question should be where is commuter rail or intercity rail a valid solution to a transportation problem?  I am addressing the question through the eyes of a Texan because it is where I live.  It is the place that I know best.  It has been my home for more than 35 years.  I have travel extensively throughout the state.  I know a little bit about it.
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