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Rail is the US is a nightmare. It impossible for a private entity profitably operate passenger transit because the government subsidizes road transit to the tun
by Duff 15y ago
Rail is the US is a nightmare. It impossible for a private entity profitably operate passenger transit because the government subsidizes road transit to the tune of trillions of dollars.
- kevinburke 15y agoOn a per passenger mile basis, the government subsidizes rail much more than it subsidizes highway use.
- Duff 15y agoDoes that statistic include: - Freight traffic - State and municipal costs, including law enforcement. (Ex, New York employs over 40,000 state and municipal workers dedicated to roadways, not including contractors) - Health impact. (Exhaust has significant health effects and associated costs. See http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/eode/comm-air-survey-report.pdf http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/eode/comm-air-surv...) - Direct and indirect government support of various auto-related industries. The costs are more than just laying down blacktop.
- blendergasket 15y agoSomewhat of a different case, but urban light rail networks were actively destroyed by car companies who didn't want the competion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scandal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_streetcar_scanda... It would seem monied interests want to keep us in cars sucking oil instead of whizzing along tracks. I see this as being a big impediment to the creation of viable nationwide rail networks.
- lliiffee 15y agoThis is true, but note that streetcars also got shut down in cities where the car companies didn't play these games.
- mkr-hn 15y agoThe common use of street cars probably kept prices on maintenance (and upgrades) down. A smaller town or city wouldn't be able to afford them once prices went too high.