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[quote user="henry6"] There was an intersting paper released by a Washington Think Tank yesterday explaining that public monies pay for over 50% of the cost of driving an automobile on highways and streets.  This is a cost similar to public (tax, government, whatever your want to call it) subsidies for air and rail travel.  To pick at Amtrak is only a third of the transportation subsidy picture in attribution and much  less in actual dollars.  Yes, some rail routes cover costs, Acela and NE Corridor, some of the California Corridors, for instance.  But the real question we should be asking is if there is any stretch of the Interstate Highway system that has a 100% or better return on investment.  Same with any airport or airlane.  Then compare it with rail passenger services. <div style="clear: both;"></div> [/quote] Whether or not something is subsidized is beside the point.  It is a red herring.  The one pertinent point is whether or not the users pay.  When you compare private automobiles on public highways to public passenger rail, the highway traveler is far closer to paying their fair share than the rail traveler.  <o:p></o:p> And if we must talk about subsidies, it should be noted that just because the money comes out of the public sector, does not mean that it is a subsidy, as is always falsely assumed in these types of debates.  <o:p></o:p> As a point of definition, no matter whether users pay for a service directly out of their pocket or out of their tax contribution to the public sector, if the entire cost is paid by the users, there is no subsidy.
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