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Re: When will AMTRAK go direct to Phoenix?
Author: ghost of mook
Date: 05-06-2019 - 12:58
Not before the heat death of the Universe.
The federal government is out of the transportation business, even roads. Both parties, though led by the Red-State one, have mostly ignored transportation funding for more than 30 years, and political posturing about an "infrastructure program" is just that - posturing, with no real money or planning behind it. Amtrak is a publicly-owned corporation, and lives on variable (and subject to withdrawal at any time) annual subsidies, so it's unable to plan for anything either.
State governments in general have big ideas and (relative to what they would cost) small budgets. AZ in particular, being quite Conservative, has a very small transportation budget, and an imperative to spend it (logically, considering what the taxpayers outside of Phoenix want) on roads.
Local governments can sometimes push a sales tax program for transit through, but unless they have shelf-ready project to spend the money on the voters can develop buyer's remorse and withdraw their approval. Then, voters loathe tax increases for operations, especially open-ended ones and most especially those that have inflation adjustments. Finally, while local funds might cover part of the cost for building or upgrading a station (usually doubling as a bus station), they can't and won't cover the cost of rebuilding a railroad for 3 trains a week.
Private business, mumblings by XpressWest notwithstanding, have neither the capital nor the operational funding to build anything for passengers.
Finally, who's going to ride it? PHX has an excellent airport, that even has decent connections to local rail transit (rare in the US). The Phoenix area has pretty good roads and freeways. Transit ridership probably (like in most US cities) has a pretty small market share, and is likely made up mostly of those who have no car (which makes it a social service, not just transportation, and US voters especially in Red States like AZ hate social services with a passion (unless they're collecting something from them, and even then voters often vote against their own interest). How many buses are currently used to haul Phoenix-area passengers from the Amtrak stop? If it's more than one or two that would be surprising, and even if it increased 2-3 fold with a more direct train it wouldn't justify the kind of cost structure UP would impose.
So, again, your "direct" route to Phoenix will not return. Period. Next subject?
The federal government is out of the transportation business, even roads. Both parties, though led by the Red-State one, have mostly ignored transportation funding for more than 30 years, and political posturing about an "infrastructure program" is just that - posturing, with no real money or planning behind it. Amtrak is a publicly-owned corporation, and lives on variable (and subject to withdrawal at any time) annual subsidies, so it's unable to plan for anything either.
State governments in general have big ideas and (relative to what they would cost) small budgets. AZ in particular, being quite Conservative, has a very small transportation budget, and an imperative to spend it (logically, considering what the taxpayers outside of Phoenix want) on roads.
Local governments can sometimes push a sales tax program for transit through, but unless they have shelf-ready project to spend the money on the voters can develop buyer's remorse and withdraw their approval. Then, voters loathe tax increases for operations, especially open-ended ones and most especially those that have inflation adjustments. Finally, while local funds might cover part of the cost for building or upgrading a station (usually doubling as a bus station), they can't and won't cover the cost of rebuilding a railroad for 3 trains a week.
Private business, mumblings by XpressWest notwithstanding, have neither the capital nor the operational funding to build anything for passengers.
Finally, who's going to ride it? PHX has an excellent airport, that even has decent connections to local rail transit (rare in the US). The Phoenix area has pretty good roads and freeways. Transit ridership probably (like in most US cities) has a pretty small market share, and is likely made up mostly of those who have no car (which makes it a social service, not just transportation, and US voters especially in Red States like AZ hate social services with a passion (unless they're collecting something from them, and even then voters often vote against their own interest). How many buses are currently used to haul Phoenix-area passengers from the Amtrak stop? If it's more than one or two that would be surprising, and even if it increased 2-3 fold with a more direct train it wouldn't justify the kind of cost structure UP would impose.
So, again, your "direct" route to Phoenix will not return. Period. Next subject?
