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Finally, when looking at the competition between Amtrak and buses (and cars, for that matter), it's good to keep in mind that the federal highway program gets about $43 for every dollar that intercity passenger rail gets from the federal government. This is the opposite of "free market conditions," it reflects a public policy choice to feed one mode and starve another

But roads provide more than 700 times as many passenger-miles of transportation as Amtrak. Not to mention a huge amount of freight transportation. 700 times as much transportation for 43 times as many dollars sounds like a bargain to me. If either mode is being overfed, it's Amtrak, not roads.

That said, I don't really have a problem with current Amtrak subsidies. In the context of total federal spending, a billion or two a year isn't much. I think a decent case could be made that it's worth spending that much to maintain a basic functional national passenger rail network. But the days of passenger rail as a major component of our transportation system are gone for good. For the vast majority of modern passenger travel needs, road and air modes are simply a much better fit than rail. Rail's strength is in the freight market. But of course that's not Amtrak.

by Bertie on Aug 23, 2011 6:33 pm • link • report

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