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Gunn on Amtrak: Here come the Train Offs

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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by bbrant [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by SteamerFan The Future of Amtrak never looked brighter. Now it can finally be moved forward into the 21st century and not backwards into the 19th. [/quote] I agree with that. Get Amtrak off the corporate welfare program and let them make it on their own which I believe is a real possibility. Brian [/quote] Fine! But, let's also eliminate the implicit subsidies for airlines and make each commercial airplane that utilizes air traffic control, landing, and terminal facilities pay its fair share of the costs. Also, let's increase the fuel tax that 18-wheelers pay so that they bear their full share of the costs of road construction, maintenance, and repair. The point is, practically every form of transportation receives some form of direct or indirect subsidies, so why should passenger rail be different? "Making Amtrack pay its own way" sounds good from an ideological point of view, but economically, it is nonsense. What we need is a comprehensive transportation policy that looks at how all modes of transportation, rail, air, truck, bus, private auto, etc. me***o provide transportation both locally, short intercity (<300-500 mi.) and long distance (e.g., NYC to LA). I notice that most of the folks who gripe about Amtrack subsidies don't use the service, but, if they had to pay the full costs of *their* air transportation, would howl and scream bloody murder.
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