(The following story by Raju Chebium appeared on the Cherry Hill Courier Post website on February 5.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Bush wants to cut Amtrak’s funding next year but provide more money for mass transit programs to help unclog roads.
The Bush administration’s $3.1 trillion spending plan for fiscal 2009, unveiled Monday, includes $68 billion for transportation programs and services. That’s $2.3 billion less than what the agency requested from Congress last year.
Transit would get a record $10.1 billion under Bush’s proposal to Congress.
But Bush is seeking $900 million for Amtrak, the quasi-private passenger rail service — $300 million for operations, $500 million for capital expenses including upgrades to the Washington-to-Boston Northeast Corridor, and $100 million for grants to states to increase service between heavily traveled cities.
That was the same amount the White House requested last year.
The Amtrak allocation “represents a significant but necessary cut” from the $1.3 billion Congress gave the railroad last year, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said.
Officials hinted that the president would have proposed more money if Amtrak had done a better job reforming itself.
The proposed budget “reflects that Amtrak has taken few steps to align its business with the traveling public’s demand for inter-city rail service and that it consequently continues to hemorrhage taxpayer funds,” the budget agency said.
Congress has dismissed such arguments and consistently increased Amtrak’s funding. The $1.3 billion last year was more than Amtrak ever has received in a year.
Lawmakers are likely to increase the budget again this year. In October, the Senate voted 70-22 to approve legislation by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., to give Amtrak nearly $2 billion a year. That bill is pending in the House.
Bush’s Amtrak request comes as no surprise because his administration has been hostile to the railroad since assuming office eight years ago, said Ross Capon, who heads the National Association of Railroad Passengers.
“The administration would reduce the American people’s travel choices in an era of rising gas prices, concerns about the environment and hours of lost productivity due to highway and aviation congestion,” Capon said.
Meanwhile, Bush seeks a record $10.1 billion for the Federal Transit Administration this year, up from $9.4 billion currently.
Transportation Secretary Mary Peters cited mass transit as one of the key factors in reducing highway congestion.
But Bill Millar, head of the American Public Transportation Association, said in a statement that transit programs actually would see a $200 million cut from levels Bush promised in 2005. Additionally, the administration seeks to transfer $3.2 billion from the federal transit funding pot to the highway program, Millar said. “The tens of millions of Americans who depend on public transportation should not be treated as second-class citizens compared to people who choose to drive cars,” he said.