The highway funds don’t cover the cost of maintaining or building highways anymore. The haven’t for some time.
The train station I wait at was built and owned by a private company long before the government took it over.
You can’t say that about your highway. Talk about government control.
Actually highway funds are stripped at multiple points and would be a lot more effective if the criminals stripping them didn’t find other means of leeching of the driver.
The rail nazis need to admit that they’re leeches, liars, and thieves with a control fetish.
Highway funds (tolls, tariffs, and gas taxes) cover about 70% of the cost of roads. Show me ANY train passenger system in America that has come close to that in the last two decades and then we’ll talk. Your earlier post that rails is cheaper than highways is a flat out fantasy.
The efficiency of rail is dependent on the huge mass of the train to give it great momentum that requires only the energy to overcome rail friction to keep going. That is what gives you 700 mpg. That number is reduced with each stop. It is the reason that they did not stop trains to collect mail in the old days, but grabbed it as the train passed by. Rail is great only for cargo travel over long distances with few stops. A bus is more efficient for short hops and stops.
Gov Doyle in Wisconsin has been trying so hard to get rail from Chicago, through Milwaukee and Madison, and dreaming of going to Minneapolis/St. Paul. It has been a big debacle here, and even if the Feds were to completely fund the construction, the ticket prices would be outrageous just on the maintenance costs. It is all just a waste.
Seraphicaviary
“You can’t say that about your highway. Talk about government control.”
When speaking of the highways, you are correct. However, almost EVERY SINGLE sub-division road was built by the original developer. So, you can’t even get out of your driveway, to get to your train station, if not for private developers.
“The highway funds don’t cover the cost of maintaining or building highways anymore. The haven’t for some time.”
The passenger fees have not covered the cost of maintaining or building the trains and tracks and MOST stations! That’s why my taxes help pay for people to ride Amtrak!
It's about 70-80% covered, depending upon your reference. Meaning gas and excise taxes cover the vast majority of the operating costs of the highway system.
Do train fares cover anywhere near that amount of the costs of operation?