Here we go again....
- Thread starter Cancel 2016.2
- Start date
In our area roads are only built by new construction, if you want a permit, you need to pave the road. It works out well.
Cancel 2016.2
The Almighty
The rails are used predominantly in the Northeast corridor... they can pay for their rail subsidies if they wish. Amtrak is used by about 10% of the population in a given year. The roads are used by closer to 90-100%. It is in no way the same thing. We pay for the roads via property tax, the gas tax etc... for a service we all use. The rail lines are not efficient, 41 of the 44 routes LOSE money.
Gas taxes do not come close to paying for the roads. Roads are funded through taxes that have no relation whatsoever to use of the roadways. Roadways are not efficient. They all lose money all of the time and suck up tax revenues.
Moreover, 90-100% of the people use the roads because they have no alternative since people like you oppose investments in alternatives. If highway construction and maintenance received the proportional share or our transportation dollars that rail currently gets and rail got the share that the roads get, I imagine the statistics would be quite different.
Lastly, more people using rail service benefits people using the roads so they should subsidize rail ridership.
Billy the Great Khan
Uwaa OmO
Rail transit isn't practical for America because we have a high number of people living in rural areas. It'd be too inefficient to rely on the rail to get all those people where they need to go. Now if you wanted to support rail transit for heavy freight as opposed to TT's in most circumstances you'd have my support.
DamnYankee
Loyal to the end
I've already paid for yours.
The choices we have made regarding transportation infrastructure (roadways, not railways) are part of the reason we have the development patterns that we do. I agree that not all areas are appropriate for rail transportation, but those that are do not have the infrastructure. I mean, even in the Northeast the commuter rail systems are paltry compared to what they could be.
PostmodernProphet
fully immersed in faith..
if the business world wants to save time, let the business world pay for it.....
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
I agree. Now that bin Ladin is dead it's time to consider scraping such laws and to get rid of the Yellow Bellied Coward Act (AKA The USAPatriot Act). The single biggest dissapointment i have with the Obama administration is that they have not all ready done so.
PostmodernProphet
fully immersed in faith..
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
You need to do your homework. That's factually incorrect. The majority of Americans live in Urban and Suburban regions and rural populations in our nation have been declining.
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/thematic-maps/usa-population-map.html
There are many advantages to rail for mass transit, particularly in urban areas where most of the population live but rail must swim or drown on it's own economic merits.
Railway's used to be the largest business and employer in our nation and they grossly abused their power and with the advent of the automobile the American public took it out on them in spades and rightfully so considering their abuses in the past. So has enough time gone by where most Americans have forgotten that history and are willing to move forward with investment in rail?
Mott the Hoople
Sweet Jane
In principle I agree but rail for mass transit is, I think, an example of where private and public partnership can achieve positive results but it has to make sound business sense to do so.