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Something between a Sleeper and Overnight Coach

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[quote user="daveklepper"] I support Amtrak, and believe it to be the best we can do under present political and economic conditions, but to be a true believer, I would have to believe it is the ideal situation, which it is not. To me, the ideal situation would be for all modes of passenger travel to pay the full share of their costs to the economy, including use of real-estate (Interstates and similar roads being part of the highway transportation industry), the freight railroadds unburdened of harmful regulation, and the freight railroads seeing passenger service as their best window to the public. Subsidization of commuter transportation to make cities and towns work better is a different matter. [/quote] The land that has been taken off the tax rolls for roadways, including the interstate highways, which make up approximately 2.5 per cent of the roadway miles in the United States, would be difficult if not impossible to value for current tax purposes. What goes unsaid in this argument is all the value that has been added to the tax rolls as a result of the nation's roadways.  The 10s of thousands of businesses that have been spawned by roadways, i.e. motels, restaurants, service stations, etc., pay taxes.  And while it would be difficult to prove it, I suspect that they pay far more in taxes than the owners of the land that was taken for the roadways ever paid. Motorists pay for the roadways, but they don't see the true cost at the price point, i.e. pump, motorist fees, etc.  I have argued that they should see it, but I have had some second thoughts about it. Following WWII millions of Americans were encouraged by government policy to buy cars and flee to the suburbs.  Today most of them don't have a good alternative to their cars to get to work, shopping, entertainment, etc.  If the U.S. all of a sudden passed the true cost of driving through to motorists, it probably would cause a massive recession or perhaps a depression.  Low and moderate income motorists, who are subsidized by upper income motorists, would be slammed. Over time users should pay the true cost of their selected mode of transport.  However, given the politics of transportation, especially driving, it probably never will happen.
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