Paul MilenkovicOne can draw different boundaries around things or invoke various manners of indirect subsidy or withdraw to claiming that subsidy is "complicated" that it cannot be quantified, or invoke some manner of "allegation." But that one form of subsidized transportation is subsidized at a much higher rate is a consistent outcome of these exercises.
Well yes. But one can also use simplistic analysis based on cherry picked facts to avoid the hard work of digging up all of the facts needed for a rational decision.
oltmanndI just want to reform Uncle Charlie to the level of the other "boarders" in our house.
Well, since those of us who post here are not Members of Congress we probably will not see any of the reforms we want. But given the current Congress perhaps the anti Amtrak people will succeed in zeroing out the Amtrak budget.
John WR oltmanndI just want to reform Uncle Charlie to the level of the other "boarders" in our house. Well, since those of us who post here are not Members of Congress we probably will not see any of the reforms we want. But given the current Congress perhaps the anti Amtrak people will succeed in zeroing out the Amtrak budget.
As long as there are $15 hamburgers and $200+ per passenger subsidies, 'zeroing out" is a possibility....or worse...going sideways for another 40 years.
The Brooking analysis, the Amtrak NEC plan, the actual forward progress in Michigan and Illinois, the possibility of "off the shelf" standards for the NEC and even the CAHSR project are all creating an opening. They are all focused on the kinds of things passenger rail does well - even though there's lots to nit-pic on all of them. So, now is the time to push - and not for more - or even preserving lines on the map. It's time to push Amtrak to act like a real business. It's time to push Congress - not to keep Amtrak in limbo for another year, but to demand, solid, cost effective, efficient performance from Amtrak - with the carrot of "good behavior will be rewarded with capital".
If all we do is whine about the "unfairness" of it all, while sticking our heads in the sand about the solid facts of the cost and utility of the LD trains, we only have ourselves to blame when this chance is gone and nothing good happened.
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
John WR Dakota, What I know is that in the past I've purchased a ticket on line and got a bar code to scan on Amtrak's machine. The last time there was no bar code, nothing to scan, so I had to go to the ticket window to get my ticket and produce my id. The ticket clerk explained about the Homeland Security regulations. That is what in fact happened to me and what I do know. John
Dakota,
What I know is that in the past I've purchased a ticket on line and got a bar code to scan on Amtrak's machine. The last time there was no bar code, nothing to scan, so I had to go to the ticket window to get my ticket and produce my id. The ticket clerk explained about the Homeland Security regulations. That is what in fact happened to me and what I do know.
John
I don't think their web site reflects what the current practice is as you found it. The web site contains references to Quik Trak as well as promoting an E-ticket application for smart phones. In the latter case, there never is a physical ticket to be obtained.
I'll be using the NE Corridor toward the end of this month and will be sure to pay some attention to the ID procedures.
John WR Paul MilenkovicOne can draw different boundaries around things or invoke various manners of indirect subsidy or withdraw to claiming that subsidy is "complicated" that it cannot be quantified, or invoke some manner of "allegation." But that one form of subsidized transportation is subsidized at a much higher rate is a consistent outcome of these exercises. Well yes. But one can also use simplistic analysis based on cherry picked facts to avoid the hard work of digging up all of the facts needed for a rational decision.
Passenger train advocacy has been around at least since the founding of NARP, perhaps the Trains Magazine "Who Shot the Passenger Train" article over 50 years ago. The idea is "trains can't compete against subsidized highways and airways" so we have Amtrak. But the Amtrak subsidy has gone on for so long with apparently not much work product in return that even people who "should be on our side", people who are not against the idea of government paying money towards meaningful public and social purposes, that people like the Slate contributor are starting to ask questions.
Maybe instead of throwing up our hands that the cost-benefit relationship of Amtrak is unknowable, maybe people interested in trains need to look carefully at those figures that are known instead of criticizing the Slate writer as being wrong.
If GM "killed the electric car", what am I doing standing next to an EV-1, a half a block from the WSOR tracks?
I view Congress as somewhat of a parent, a overly controlling parent. A parent that can't let it's children grow up and have their own independent life. They provide the child most of what is needed for the child to become a independent person - but not enough of a financial footing for the child to have it's own selfsustaing job and be able to get and pay for it's own residence, make it's own decisions. The parent while criticizing the child for it's life choices does everything possible to keep the child dependent upon the parent.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD I view Congress as somewhat of a parent, a overly controlling parent. A parent that can't let it's children grow up and have their own independent life. They provide the child most of what is needed for the child to become a independent person - but not enough of a financial footing for the child to have it's own selfsustaing job and be able to get and pay for it's own residence, make it's own decisions. The parent while criticizing the child for it's life choices does everything possible to keep the child dependent upon the parent.
Nearly every child I have ever met feels that the parent is overly-controlling. Nearly every parent feels that they are doing everything they can, and trying to let go as soon as the child is ready, with due concern for the child's health & safety. There are always at least 2 views of "what's best" foe the "child".
The reality, if there is such a thing, usually lies somewhere in between.
How about a child who cannot spend the small amount of money wisely and hence is not trusted with a larger amount of money by its parents (Congress) or by a relative otherwise sympathetic (the Slate columnist), a child with its cohort of bad friends and other enablers (those in the advocacy community who cannot find any fault with Amtrak in its present form) that keep it on its current destructive path?
How about a child that can't take what meager stake they get from their parents and go out and get a job, any job, and show themselves to be resourceful and reliable and work their way "up the ranks"? How about a child that has a cohort of persons constantly making excuses, "Well, that kid over there got all of their college tuition paid for by wealthy parents, so you can't expect this kid to ever amount to anything."
Parent child relationships are not equal; the parent has the power. In the Congress Amtrak relationship Congress has the power. But of course the parent child analogy only goes so far. Both Congress and Amtrak exist within the framework of a democracy. In our democracy there is a very basic right of petition. Advocacy groups use that right for a wide variety of causes. There are advocacy groups that support Amtrak and advocacy groups that oppose Amtrak. Neither is going to go away.
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