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Re: Laying tracks for high-speed rail in the U.S.
Author: Edward
Date: 03-13-2015 - 19:27
Having spent two decades of my life in countries with excellent infrastructure - not just trains - I find it so discouraging... We can't spend money on any infrastructure. Roads are falling apart. We have expensive mobile phone service. We have a duopoly of internet service that puts us below some so called third world countries. And we have trains slower than in the '30s.
Why? Because some already have all they need and more and don't want to pay taxes. And so, even though both unions and the national chamber of commerce are pleading with congress to fix the highways... They won't adjust the federal gas tax for inflation. Not raise it, just adjust it for the inflation since the last time it was adjusted.
And these same people who think Amtrak is a subsidized boondoggle are willing to subsidize the federal highway system from income tax instead of user taxes to a level an order of magnitude greater than Amtrak.
It is going to take a few truly great disasters before something is done. Say 800 dead in a bridge collapse, or 5,000 in a dam collapse.
Why? Because some already have all they need and more and don't want to pay taxes. And so, even though both unions and the national chamber of commerce are pleading with congress to fix the highways... They won't adjust the federal gas tax for inflation. Not raise it, just adjust it for the inflation since the last time it was adjusted.
And these same people who think Amtrak is a subsidized boondoggle are willing to subsidize the federal highway system from income tax instead of user taxes to a level an order of magnitude greater than Amtrak.
It is going to take a few truly great disasters before something is done. Say 800 dead in a bridge collapse, or 5,000 in a dam collapse.
