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[quote user="BaltACD"] The only political will in the country today is for each party to obstruct the other at the expense of the country.  No winners....only losers. [/quote] Whether the political environment is more contentious today than in the past is debatable.  On more than one occasion members of Congress have gone after each other with fists, canes, clubs, etc.  Those familiar with the nation's history know that the debates from the 1820s to 1860 were rife with acrimony.  As long as the funding of transportation and its infrastructure is controlled by politicians, who gets favorable treatment will be hotly contested by the representatives of those who are left out or get fewer dollars than they think that they deserve.  This is true irrespective of which political party is in power or the party of the representative who is on the losing side.  A better way would be to stop all transport subsidies, make sure the full cost of each mode is displayed at the price point (ticket window, pump, etc.,) and let the chips fall where they may.  If this were allowed to happen, passenger rail might be able to compete in relatively short, high density corridors where the expansion of highway and airway capacity is cost prohibitive.  Unfortunately, it will never happen.  The politicos will never give up their grasp of the transport purse strings.  Surrendering the ability to pass out political goodies is too much to ask of politicians.  So the subsidies will continue to flow.  And few people will understand the mish mash outcomes.   If passenger rail or any other mode of transport could not survive in an open, competitive market, it should be allowed to die.
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