Edit post

Edit your reply below.

Post Body
Enter your post below.
[quote user="henry6"][quote user="Samantha"] Amtrak's supporters talk extensively about the subsidies received by air and highway interests while overlooking the subsidies received by the railroads.[/quote] Which is easy to do since railroads, and Amtrak in particular, receive monies counted in single digits while airlines and highways receive monies counted in triple digit billions. [/quote]As I have pointed out in several posts, the gross amount of the federal subsidy received by the various modes of transport is immaterial.  The key number is the amount received per comparative unit, i.e. per passenger, per passenger mile, per vehicle mile traveled, etc.In 2007 Amtrak's passengers received an average federal operating subsidy of $40.68 per passenger or 18.6 cents per passenger mile.  Amtrak's long distance train riders realized an average operating subsidy of $134 per passenger or 20.57 cents a passenger mile.  In most instances commuter and light rail passengers realized an even higher subsidy per passenger and passenger mile.Airline passengers received an average subsidy of $4.30 per passenger or approximately one half of one cent per passenger mile.  Airline passengers travel much further, on average, than rail passengers.Motorists realized an average federal subsidy of $169.12 per licensed motorists or 1.4 cents per vehicle mile traveled.  Motorists on average rack up more miles per year than anyone.These subsidies do not include state and local subsidies, which would change the numbers somewhat.  But no matter how one slices and dices the numbers, rail passengers receive a much larger subsidy per comparative unit than anyone else.  Moreover, because of their large base, airline passengers and motorists in effect subsidize themselves through the payment of taxes to the general fund.  Only rail passengers require a large subsidy from non-users.Whether the U.S. is faced with a transport crisis is debatable.  Clearly, there are some rough patches that need fixing.  However, the U.S. is facing a real financial challenge.  The national debt, plus unfunded liabilities, will in the near future saddle the average American household with debt that could reach $175,000 per household.  This is the low estimate; the high estimate is $440,000 per household.  So those who propose spending government money, as opposed to private money, on fixing our transport system should say how they propose to pay for it.
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