Home
»
Trains Magazine
»
Forums
»
Passenger
»
Transport Subsidies Lead to Bad Decisions

Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="cordon"] [:)]It's a very attractive concept. We may as well throw into the "automobile costs" the costs for that portion of your police department and court system devoted to traffic safety.We don't have to speculate about politics here, but I don't think that the politicians will sign up to any new principle unless they understand how it will affect them in every detail.I also feel that some people are concerned with costs and benefits that we don't ordinarily measure in monetary terms.  For example, I frequently gladly pay more for a product "Made in the USA" than for an identical product made elsewhere because I see an American job at the other end of that product line.[:)]  [:)][/quote]The price of gasoline should reflect the cost of policing our highways; it should also reflect the cost of responding to an accident and cleaning up the mess.  Amtrak's costs include the cost of cleaning up a train wreck and repairing the equipment.Economics and politics go hand in hand.  After all, if it had not been for politics, Amtrak would not have seen the light of day.  That said, the probability of changing the current system is very slim.  It would not happen unless the U.S. hits a major economic crisis, and the politicans determined that rationalizing the price of transportation would be crucial to solving it.Today's paper carried an announcement by GM that it is shutting down four SUV and pick-up truck plants because people have stopped buying GM's big vehicles.  With $4 gasoline, many people realize that they cannot afford to drive them.  If gasoline had been priced properly, as per my argument, they would have realized this decades ago, and they would probably have opted for more fuel efficient vehicles.As I mentioned, cost is only one compenent of selecting a transport mode.  Other factors, such as convenience, safety, dependability, comfort, are equally important.  But most economic models suggest that cost is a major driver.  One only needs to look at the success of Wal-Mart to verify this fact.  Its business model is the envy of the retail and marketing world.
Tags (Optional)
Tags are keywords that get attached to your post. They are used to categorize your submission and make it easier to search for. To add tags to your post type a tag into the box below and click the "Add Tag" button.
Add Tag