Agree totally with HEP no matter the cynicism (sp?).
The time for a serious, federally-funded, comprehensive passenger rail system in this country was decades ago. I think the Interstate highway system was money well spent, but the architects of the system clearly didn't anticipate today's traffic volumes and repair costs -- or maybe they did, but figured politicians and engineers in the 80's and 90's would be willing to spend the money to make the necessary improvements. Instead, in so many places, the system has simply been taken for granted as HEP points out.
And in the meantime air travel skyrocketed, thanks to publicly funded airports, manufacturing subsidies, and a federally-managed air traffic control system (and since 9-11, a huge publicly funded security program as well!).
I tend to think of the total restructuring of our energy supply system -- which is going to have to happen, and soon -- as an engineering problem, not a social one. Make no mistake, the transition from a low-effiency, fossil-fuel based society to a high-effeciency, non-fossil-fuel dependant one will be the engineering project of the century, if not in history. " Nice, friendly, green "social" changes just won't cut it. Transportation is one huge component of that. But I fear our country has lost the ability (and maybe the desire?) to spearhead such a project. And given the current environment, and the way the Federal government is spending our tax money these days, I think I might just buy a horse or two.