By Ross B. Capon
In recent weeks, the long-term problems hampering Amtrak’s performance have become a full-scale crisis. But this should not obscure America’s need for a strong national passenger rail system.
Even before Sept. 11, the nation faced a growing crisis of congestion on our highways and in our airports. In coming years, congestion is only going to get worse, posing a direct threat to our economy and mobility.
As if this problem wasn’t clear enough, the terrible events of Sept. 11 put an exclamation point on the need for a balanced transportation system, boosting demand on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and other corridors.
Some people say rail service is too expensive to maintain. But improving passenger rail is much less expensive than building new airports and highways. Amtrak typically receives less than 1 percent of all federal transportation spending. Increasing that fraction to just 2 percent or 3 percent would deliver a huge increase in mobility at modest cost.
Plus, passenger rail stations are hubs for job creation and commercial development, especially in revitalized city centers and communities between major city pairs. And rail is the most energy-efficient form of travel, offering a significant opportunity to reduce air pollution and restrain our dependence on foreign oil.
All over the world, passenger rail service is a comfortable, reliable mode of transportation. Rail is the best way to travel between Paris and London, Tokyo and Osaka, New York and Washington.
Today, about a third of U.S. flights are for distances less than 350 miles. If most of those passengers were on a first-rate, high-speed rail system, the overload in our aviation system would ease considerably. Indeed, if the United States were to make the same commitment to passenger rail service as we have made to highways and aviation, we would have the finest rail system in the world.
But what do we have instead?
Under a 1997 law, Amtrak is expected to achieve self-sufficiency by the end of this year – something that hasn’t been possible for any passenger railroad in the world, or for America’s other transportation systems. But general taxpayer support for Federal Aviation Administration operations – including air-traffic control – is projected to more than triple, to $3.7 billion next year.
After nine months of sharp reductions in air travel and modest growth at Amtrak (in spite of a travel-industry recession), Congress and the Bush administration must send a clear signal that they won’t allow Amtrak to go bankrupt – not ever. In addition, a federal grant of $1.2 billion is the minimum necessary to maintain the system in 2003, or else major service cutbacks will become necessary this fall.
To get beyond recurring financial crises, Congress and the administration must adopt a new strategy to reform our passenger rail system. That strategy should include encouraging convenient air-rail linkages. Thanks to the new Amtrak station at Newark Airport, Continental Airlines and Amtrak have an agreement for passengers taking trains from New Haven, Stamford and Philadelphia. This model should be emulated elsewhere.
Congress should reaffirm its mandate that Amtrak continue a nationwide system. The Northeast-Florida line is Amtrak’s most heavily used long-distance route, reflecting the fact that many people have medical restrictions that prevent them from flying, some people live in smaller communities where air service is either not available or not attractive, and lots of people just prefer the train.
It is gratifying to hear that the Bush administration does not want an abrupt shutdown of Amtrak. But the administration’s goal of eliminating all operating grants for passenger rail would have the effect of killing the service just as surely as the zero budgets that Presidents Reagan and Bush proposed – and Congress rejected – during the 1980s.
Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta’s call for more state funding of passenger rail should not obscure the fact that 38 states have invested nearly $1 billion in passenger rail in recent years.
What they need is a reliable federal partner in rail development – a partner they do not have today. Many states have been discouraged from investing in passenger rail because the federal match is zero, as opposed to 50 percent to 80 percent for highway and aviation investments.
If Congress and the administration will face the policy issues, they will go a long way toward providing a national passenger rail system that meets our country’s needs. The costs of not doing so increase with every passing day.
Ross B. Capon has served as executive director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers in Washington since 1976. He wrote this for the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel.