We Need Amtrak Back on Track (7/3/02)
by Dean Hartwell
Only the government
can solve some problems facing the United States. For instance, at one point in
our history, there were few highways or freeways to connect cities and states
to one another. President Eisenhower signed the Federal Aid Highway Act (FAHA)
of 1956, then the world’s largest public works project, which created the
interstate highway system as we now know it.
Given its role to serve all of the people, it used our taxes to promote
transportation throughout the nation. Private companies would likely have found
building roads in low-income areas to be unprofitable and would not have
pursued it. Such is the most important distinction between the private and
public sectors.
A similar problem now faces the United States. With gasoline prices going up
and the availability of oil declining, many of us want to look past our cars to
travel. Many are taking the train to get to work or to get to another part of
the country.
With the debut of Amtrak a little more than thirty years ago, finding a train
route has been fairly easy in most places. But now Amtrak may lack the funding
to continue this service for much longer. It recently asked Congress for help
in resolving a $200 million deficit.
To their credit, the Bush Administration and Congress approved loan guarantees
for them to postpone their closing, but it will only help in the short term.
Mike Dukakis, Vice-Chair of Amtrak, told me that Congress should “commit to a
modest but consistent amount of capital in the system” to sustain a rail
passenger system.
Why isn’t this idea popular?
It can’t be the money. With the United States government often bailing out big
corporations (including some airline companies) with billions of dollars, such
an investment in trains would be small by comparison.
Maybe it’s the leadership. Here is an issue that President Bush can take the
lead. He should proclaim that a good train system will not only connect places
around the nation, it will help us solve other problems like pollution and
traffic congestion as well.
When we have a chance to reduce problems like these, it’s time to say, “All
aboard!”