As Congress gears up for another year, reining in spending and debt should top the agenda, but one issue heading squarely against that priority is reauthorization of the transportation program. The last transportation bill, SAFETEA-LU, was marked by gluttonous excesses, which ranged from its porcine spending increases and wasteful spending… Read more
In its request for substantial sums of taxpayer money to move and rebuild Amtrak’s Atlanta train station, the railroad notes that its Atlanta passengers have increased by 16 percent over the past year. But since no more than an average of 308 passengers get on or off the two Amtrak… Read more
They stab it with their steely knives, But they just can’t kill the beast. —The Eagles, “Hotel California,” 1977 With Congress eliminating spending for the President’s faltering high-speed rail (HSR) program and making cuts in Amtrak’s… Read more
America’s transit systems confront serious financial challenges that will force them to raise fares and reduce service unless they can get better control of their costs. Carrying less than 5 percent of commuters and less than 2 percent of all urban travel and concentrated primarily in large urban areas, these… Read more
If Rep. John L. Mica of Florida gets his way, passenger rail in America will no longer be in the death grip of the Federal Railroad Administration, Congress, rail unions and Amtrak management. The Transportation Committee chairman has introduced legislation that would (1) transfer the 363 miles… Read more
At May congressional hearings, Representative Jon Mica (R–FL), chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, proposed (1) that 363 of the 456 miles that comprise the Northeast Corridor (NEC) owned by Amtrak be transferred to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) or a newly created government entity and… Read more
Gimme a ticket for an aeroplane, Ain’t got time to take a fast train. Lonely days are gone, I’m a-goin’ home,‘Cause my baby just a-wrote me a letter. … Read more
President Obama’s budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2012 is an unabashed attempt to grow government and add $1 trillion to the national debt. While a detailed review of the flaws in the President’s budget is beyond the scope of this paper,[1] one of the budget’s more fiscally… Read more
Early this year, the new Congress will confront several challenges relating to the size, scope, and nature of the federal surface transportation programs. These challenges will in large part be driven by the need to constrain overall federal spending and by shortfalls in the highway trust fund. Congress should embrace… Read more
In This Week on the Hill Brian Darling explains why congress needs to stop wasting spending on Amtrak and a wasteful farm bill. … Read more
In January 2007, Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Trent Lott (R-MS) introduced the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 294), the most recent version of a costly Amtrak bailout bill that was introduced in the previous Congress.[1] In late May, the Senate Committee on Commerce,… Read more
[1]As has been the case every year since Amtrak's creation in 1970, the passenger rail system is once again before Congress seeking a federal subsidy larger than the one it received the previous year: $1.6 billion compared to the $1.3 billion it… Read more
Want a fast way to blow some taxpayer dollars? Buy a ticket on President Barack Obama's high-speed spending...… Read more
As the President’s ambitious passenger rail program falters, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood is attempting...… Read more
Elected officials in Washington finally seem to get it that something must be done to reduce federal spending. Last...… Read more
President Obama’s proposed $53-billion more for “high-speed rail” (on top of a previous $10-billion) is a testimony to...… Read more
After decades of losing millions of taxpayer dollars, the Senate finally voted this week to privatize the Senate...… Read more