Feel better after spouting off about Trump? How did Amtrak fair under Obama? Or better yet, Carter?

FWIW, I believe Essential Air Service (EAS) is a huge waste, and a program that has long outlived its usefulness. It was meant to soften the blow of airline deregulation (which occurred in 1978, BTW) so the airlines didn't immediately abandon service to smaller communities. Most of the passengers in EAS communities don't even use it, electing instead to drive to a larger airport for better service or because they don't want to fly on the "puddle jumper" the government pays to fly to their city. I'm sure they believe nothing smaller than a 737 will do to serve the 3 passengers a day their community generates and won't lower themselves to flying on the Beech 1900 which can somewhat economically serve the route (you know, lessen the bleeding from a fatal hemorrhage to something needing some stitches after compression is applied).

We're to the point where cities will pay airlines to fly to their cities through subsidies to at least guarantee a break-even operation for a period of time. Pretty much a "Hey, fly here...give us a try. We desperately want your service in our city. We'll make sure you don't lose any money doing it. If it doesn't work out after a year, we tried." That's essentially a local/state government mimicking the Federal EAS program at the local level. So this boondoggle doesn't need to occur anymore at the Federal level. Let the local communities bet on it with the people who would potentially use the service footing the bill.

The same thing needs to happen with Amtrak. I would make the case these two programs have more similarities than differences when compared.




d Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> with any luck, the orange liar will be tossed out.
> That said, even at double the current Amtrak
> budget, the figure is a rounding error compared to
> DOD, DOE (where all of the nuke research waste has
> been moved), or the 'black budget' for the spy
> agencies. So, for those of us legally prevented
> from driving, living in rural areas not served by
> buses, funding Amtrak is far cheaper on a per
> rider basis than so-called essential air
> serviceand should be expanded and improved IMHO.
> As with ANY Federal effort, you vote may vary.