(The following column by Ross Capon appeared on The Tennessean website on July 9. He is Executive Director of the National Association of Railroad Passengers.)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Some say we can’t afford to bring intercity passenger rail to Nashville. I say we can’t afford not to.
Gasoline is above $3 per gallon. Runways and roadways are more clogged than ever, and will get worse. The Federal Aviation Administration predicts crippling gridlock at airports, and the American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials anticipates that, by 2020, 90 percent of urban interstates will be at or above capacity. All those idling cars and planes hurt the economy and our quality of life while pushing the world toward irreversible climate change.
By contrast, U.S. Department of Energy figures show that, for every mile a passenger is carried, Amtrak consumes 27 percent less energy than cars and 21 percent less than planes, reducing both our nation’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Amtrak’s showing would be even better if federal policy stopped treating rail as the Rodney Dangerfield of transportation.
Nashville’s own Music City Star commuter-rail service averages 55 miles per gallon, per passenger carried. One Music City Star rider told USA Today that he saves $5 a day by taking the train. In fact, a national study has shown that, in cities with passenger rail, people spend a smaller share of their incomes on transportation.
The National Association of Railroad Passengers recently laid out a vision for change that would connect Nashville to a “grid and gateway” system networking across America. The major terminals (“gateways,” including Nashville) would connect long-distance, commuter and high-speed train services making up a “grid” serving all major metropolitan areas. The frequently discussed Chicago-Nashville-Florida train, as well as an east-west route through Nashville, could be part of such a grid.
The beauty of NARP’s vision is that it is achievable. Almost all of the rail lines or rights of way are already in place. No land would have to be seized and communities would not be disrupted.
For decades, federal policy has starved our national rail network. Some states have stepped in, but are hampered because the federal government provides generous matches for state highway and aviation investments but none for intercity rail. Expecting individual states to pay for a national grid makes no sense. Imagine the result if President Eisenhower 50 years ago had left it to the states to fund the national interstate highway system!
Nashville residents pay the taxes — both the gas taxes and the general fund revenues — that subsidize highway and airport construction nationwide, and provide meager support to rail service elsewhere. Only two U.S. metropolitan areas bigger than Nashville also lack Amtrak service — Las Vegas and Columbus, Ohio.
Nashville residents deserve an alternative to long airport lines, crawling interstates, and $80 trips to the gas station. Nashville deserves to have federal funds invested in an attractive transportation choice that can lower transportation costs for families and keep people moving when weather, accidents or national security disruptions paralyze other systems.
The need is there. Future demands are pressing. The time to act is now.