Posted on 06/25/2010 3:33:50 AM PDT by Willie Green
Edited to fit.
What will the government do — force people at gunpoint to ride trains?
What a friggin’ waste of the taxpayer’s money!
“Invest” == take taxpayer dollars at the barrel of a gun to subsidize train fanatics’ big toys.
Half a billion and counting, not including operating costs, repairs, maintenance( deaths of tens of million dollar bleeding cuts) to get to a tax subsidized ball park a few times a year and a junk, poor payoff rinky dink casino.
Yeah, that’s some productive ‘investments’ that pay off with union jobs, more taxes, more repairs....
The tragic thing about that tunnel is that it will only be used when the Steelers and Pirates are in town...maybe. That money could have been used to fix the sorry roads and bridges around Pittsburgh or to improve already existing mass transit (the kind people ride EVERY DAY).
That's it? Duke couldn't find any more than that? And quite a few of those are foreign companies: Bombardier, Hyundai, Ansaldo, Converteam, Mitsubishi, Westcode, and ZF Sachs. And I believe that most of the American companies listed are small ones.
“Although the U.S. rail manufacturing industry is small — the report’s authors estimate its employment at between 10,000 and 14,000 employees — industry analysts expect it to grow due to pent-up demand for intercity and urban rail service.”
If unions are involved, expect that business to go to China.
What will the government do — force people at gunpoint to ride trains?
No, here in the United States, people freely choose to use mass transit if it's an available alternative.
What a friggin’ waste of the taxpayer’s money!
American commuters make over 27 million trips on mass transit systems DAILY.
They, and their employers, are all taxpayers who benefit from this form of transportation.
It is economically irresponsible to flippantly dismiss transit funding as "a waste".
Have you ever ridden on Amtrak?
I have.
50 empty seats for every person on board.
That's it? Duke couldn't find any more than that?
This article only focuses on companies located in Pennsylvania.
For companies located elsewhere, you'll have to look-up the full report from Duke University.
Self propelled street cars might be the way to go if old railbeds can be reclaimed.
I live in southwest Washington State. We have a transit bus, paid for by federal tax dollars, that cruises around town empty the majority of time.
AMTRAC runs daily between Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington. It, too, is mostly empty. The automobiles on Interstate 5, running nearly parallel with AMTRAC, move faster. Three people in an automobile can travel more cheaply than those same three people could riding AMTRAC.
Like I said, albeit tongue in cheek, will the government force people at gunpoint to ride trains?
It’s provable waste. It can not fund its construction. It requires funds collected at the point of a government gun.
Mass transit can not even generate the cash flow for day to day operation, let alone paying off bonds, or maintaining the infrastructure.
But, it isn’t a ‘waste’.
Let’s recap. It can not fund,run, or maintain itself. So, it must be then what, productive? Wealth producing? Cost effective?
Do you support this?
LLS
AMTRAC (or is it Amtrak - you’re most likely correct!) is exactly what I’m talking about.
Detroit to Chicago this weekend round trip via Southwest Airlines: $137
Why would I choose Amtrak?
Let the people leave. Or stay. It’s not a problem.
“No one goes there anymore, it’s too crowded”
Crowds=success.
Being one of them I can attest to the fact that government is not the answer. My bus is private and gets almost no government subsidies. The 10% or so of operating costs that the state gives is not nearly enough to make up for taxes (diesel, business taxes, etc). Private mass transit like my bus is a freebie for the government and is milked to subsidize your stupendously wasteful government mass transit.
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