From the diaries--Chris
Hidden by the debate over the neocon death cult's plan to
destroy social security is the their plan to destroy Amtrak.
Amtrak gets around a third of it's $3 billion budget
from a federal subsidy. By including no money for Amtrak
in their proposed 2006 budget, the administration is trying to
fulfill the longtime conservative dream of ending a 150-year
tradition of long-distance passenger rail service in the U.S.
America needs Amtrak both to satisfy existing transportation needs
and to provide a foundation for future demands that air and highway transportation
will not be able to deal with effectively on their own.
This essay details the numerous Progressive virtues of intercity
passenger rail transportation and debunks the some of the myths about Amtrak
propagated by the right-wing noise machine.
Passenger rail has numerous quantifiable merits that fit firmly with the
Progressive vision for America:
- Energy Efficiency: Rail travel is more energy efficient than air travel and reduces our
dependence on fossil fuels and foreign sources of oil. Even when it was using a fleet of old,
energy-intensive engines and cars, Amtrak was up to 45 percent more energy-efficient
than domestic commercial airline service (2,351 Btu's per passenger-mile vs. 4,304)
(NC Outdoors)
- Environmental Preservation: Rail travel reduces the severe environmental impact of
automobile travel and the associated infrastructure.
(Kay)
It also reduces the environmental impact of air travel,
which includes an annual release of 600 million tons of CO2 emissions (the leading greenhouse gas)
and tons of nitrates, ash, sulfates and water vapor that deplete
the protective ozone layer.
(TierraAmerica)
- Congestion Relief: Rail reduces airport and highway congestion and the associated pollution.
Expansion of high speed rail in particular would reduce costs associated with highway and
airport expansion as well as productivity lost in travel time
(DOT)
- Speed: For distances of 500 miles or less, rail travel can be as fast or faster
than other modes of transportation when all factors are considered
(highway congestion, airport security, travel to air hubs, etc.)
(lp1)
- Weather Tolerance: Rail travel is often more tolerant of severe weather conditions than air
or highway travel
- Backup to Air Travel: Rail travel serves as a vital redundant backup to a fragile air traffic system.
A robust transportation system is essential to the economic future of the country.
9/11 demonstrated that diversity in long-distance travel is important.
Redundancy does not come for free.
- Diversity: Passenger rail provides a transportation alternative to older and disabled people, who
either cannot because of disability or age, or who simply do not want to be forced to drive or fly.
Rail travel is also more accomodating than air travel by virtue of it's larger seats, wider aisles and relaxed pace.
- Interstate Connectivity: A national rail system insures that people can travel from one state to another
without interruptions in service because of regional fundings that leave a patchwork of incomplete
service from state to state. A "regional only" system will result in insufficient
or non-existent train connections and a lack of needed continuity from one system to the other.
Transportation and its efficiencies must be coordinated across state, regional and local boundaries
since public transportation, by its very nature, transcends these artificial boundaries.
(Boerio)
- The Future of Transportation: Rail is the domestic alternative to air travel, which
is trending in an economically and environmentally unsustainable direction.
(Airportwatch)
- Renewable Energy: Electric locomotives powered via 3rd rail or catenary wires
will require no modification to be able to use power from renewable energy sources
like wind, solar, hydro or biomass. Automobiles and airplanes will require complex
redesign to be able to use gaseous or cryogenic hydrogen and the technology will require
significant advances to be cost-effective.
The aesthetic advantages of rail travel are also myriad
- Rail travel is much more comfortable than air or bus travel, with plenty of
leg room and the ability to walk around or eat at your leisure.
- Rail travel allows you to see our great country, including the majestic
beauty of the Red States that Blue Staters often think of as "flyover states."
- Rail terminals in large metropolitan areas are located in city centers
(where the action is), eliminating the need for long drives to crowded remote air hubs.
- Rail travel permits travel time to be productive time or resting time,
without the need to devote full attention to dodging non-union truckers or finding a
bathroom for your screaming progeny.
- Railroads can't lose your luggage - you can carry it on the train with you.
- Rail security is less intrusive than airline security.
- Rail travel is a comfortable alternative for those with a fear of flying.
- A lower profile and more limited potential for spectacular destruction make
railroads less attractive to those interested in highly-visible mischeif.
- Railroad accidents can involve fatalities, but rarely involve complete incineration
and dismemberment of the entire passenger manifest.
The Subsidy
Transportation systems are subsidized by government
because they are vital to the functioning of society and well
worth the investment. Rail service is almost never self-sustaining,
including the popular Northeast Corridor and
almost all European systems. Almost no existing transportation systems
of any type exist without direct or indirect subsidies and any suggestion
that Amtrak (or a private company) can run self-sufficient rail is
either delusional or disingenuous.
Ironically, Amtrak was created in 1971 under a Republican administration.
In fiscal year 2003, Amtrak served more than 24 million passengers,
an all-time record. Each day, approximately 66,000 passengers travel on Amtrak.
In 2003, Amtrak had $2,077M in revenues and $3,206M expenses (50% for salaries)
for a $1,281 net loss. Amtrak is also increasingly burdened by a debt load incurred
to cover inadequate Federal funding.
(Amtrak)
Many of the problems that Amtrak has had during it's
34 year existence are rooted in the failure of political leaders
to define a clear strategic vision for passenger rail or to fund
it at anything more than subsistence. That Amtrak has
been functional at any level is a testament to the dedication of
it's employees and management. Safety is always the primary
concern of Amtrak employees and that safety often comes at the
expense of firm schedules and visually appealing train interiors.
The Lies
As with many things conservative, the Republican loathing
for passenger rail ignores the long-term transportation needs
of the country in favor of short-sighted, rigid ideology. The question of
why an Oklahoma farmer should pay for a train he will never
ride is oblivious to the fact that the people who finance his
operation, build his farm machinery and buy his product might
benefit from train travel. It also largely symbolic question, since the
$1.2 billion FY 2003 Amtrak subsidy divided by 300 million Americans
works out to under $4 per citizen. Certainly less than the $300 billion and
thousands of lives expended thus far to ensure access to cheap oil in Iraq.
Conservative proposals about what to do with Amtrak almost always involve involve privatizing,
franchising, regionalizing and devolving train services to competitive, private operators.
The conservative ideas are rooted in narcissism and hubris and are based on
a dogmatic mystical faith in corporate greed rather than a foundation of logic, history
and facts and an aspiration for the common good.
(PRNewswire)
America is a land of entrepreneurs. The reason no one has stepped up to start a private
rail service is that a private rail service cannot be profitable on its own. Amtrak
was started in 1971 because private rail operators were not able to compete with subsidized
air travel. With high fixed costs and market constraints, private sector rail cannot be
self-sufficient and profitable while charging fares that are competitive with other
publicly-subsidized modes of transportation.
(Coston)
The argument that no one wants to ride trains cannot be defended based on the experience
of the current underfunded system. European rail systems are a better demonstration that
if you build it, they will come.
The argument that, unlike Amtrak, federal subsidies for aviation and
highways are paid for by usage taxes is inaccurate and misleading.
The following is a partial but representative list of the ways the public
subsidizes all forms of transportation:
- The FAA Budget for 2004 detailed $12,561M in outlays and $9,372M in fund receipts, meaning
that taxpayers subsidized air travel $3 billion ABOVE AND BEYOND taxes
and usage fees payed by air travelers directly and through fares paid to airlines.
(FAA)
- Highways also recieve a signifigant amount of public funding ABOVE AND BEYOND fees and taxes
directly paid by drivers. In 2001, the $133 billion spent on highways included gasoline taxes (35%),
vehicle taxes/fees (20%) and tolls (4%). Non-user subsidies included general fund appropriations (15%)
and property taxes (5%).
(Brookings)
- Boeing, the sole remaining U.S. manufacturer of passenger airplanes
receives around $23 billion in federal and state subsidies each year, not
counting losses offset by Federal spending on military aircraft.
Boeing's primary rival, Airbus, receives around $15 billion in subsidies from
European governments. This disparity has been the subject of an ongoing trade dispute.
(USA Today)
- The Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act
(P.L. 107-42) provided $5 billion to compensate air carriers
for direct losses incurred during the Federal ground stop of
civil aviation after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks,
and for incremental losses incurred thereafter.
(OMB)
- Many small community airports are subsidized by foreign travelers who
never set foot in the United States. The Essential Air Service Program
subsidizes arports in underserved areas. The Federal Aviation
Reauthorization Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-264) authorized the collection
of user fees for services provided by the FAA to aircraft that neither
take off nor land in the United States, commonly known as overflight
fees. The Act permanently appropriated the first $50 million
of such fees for the Essential Air Service program and rural
airport improvements.
(OMB)
(DOT)
- Gasoline is a very heavily subsidized commodity with hidden costs
in government subsidies to the oil industry, military costs for
protection of production and shipment services, and environmental costs.
The true cost of a gallon of gasoline may be five to fifteen times
the cost actually paid at the pump.
(Center for Technology
Assessment)
- A 2001 study estimated that public funding of private services associated with
driving cost $59 billion annually, with the top cost being $40B for the costs of streets and
highways not covered by fees and tolls. Additional "social costs" that
are more difficult to quantify totaled $125 billion, with the top cost being
$56B for health damage due to air pollution.
(Redefining
Progress)
- In 2002, truckers paid $30 billion in federal and state highway-user taxes.
This is certainly appropriate given the wear on highways caused by trucks
and the use of public highways for private profit. Because these costs are
passed on to consumers, the public effectively subsidizes automobile use of
highways through what can be viewed as a small but regressive tax on most products we buy.
(ATA).
- The ultimate in subsidized transportation is the Space Shuttle, with each launch
costing over $500 million. The primary remaining purpose of the shuttle is to
support the International Space Station, whose primary purpose is to serve as
a destination for the shuttle. The shuttle is a huge hunk of flying pork for NASA
contractors. Almost all the significant space exploration and space science work of
the past 30 years has been done by unmanned craft, which are much more cost-effective
than manned missions.
- Around 40% of airline pilots were originally trained by the U.S. military. Following
their service to the country, they then sold their valuable skills to the
airlines, providing an indirect Federal subsidy to the air transportation system.
(FAA),
(Aviation Today)
- As mentioned before, the costs both in dollars and human lives incurred
by the military in securing access to foreign oil for all forms of
transportation (including diesel locomotives) is substantial.
The Future
Amtrak faces a manufactured crisis each year and a dance of death between
impossible administration budget proposals and congressmen who restore some of
the budget to preserve service to their constituencies. Amtrak has always
managed to dodge the bullet, although this is the first year where the
administration has zeroed out funding completely.
While the value of passenger rail is relatively easy to defend in the
abstract, the future direction depends on a long-overdue political debate.
Population growth and increased density, coupled
with increased energy costs and budgetary and physical constraints on airport and
highway construction will only increase the attractiveness of various
forms of rail transportation in the future.
Regardless of the involvement of the Federal government, high-speed rail
is already under serious discussion for heavily-travelled corridors in California,
the Northeast and the Gulf coast.
The modest vision for intercity rail spelled out by the current leaders
of Amtrak is simply one of survival. (Amtrak)
Anything more bold than than will have to wait for a Democratic congress and
a Boxer administration in 2008. For now the best Progressives can hope for Amtrak
is much like our hope for the Environment and for Social Security: to preserve it
for our children.
Advocacy and Resources
