Amtrak Derailed

I wonder how Amtrak will be affected by the new bankruptcy legislation?

President Bush's budget, submitted in February, provides no funding for Amtrak, a move that the administration and its critics say will probably drive the corporation into bankruptcy by the next fiscal year. The Senate voted 52 to 46 against an amendment offered by Senator Robert C. Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, and backed by much of the New England delegation, to restore $1 billion in Amtrak subsidies to next year's budget.

Four Northeastern Republican senators -- Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine -- joined Democrats in supporting the failed amendment. Collins said that trains are a ''critical part" of the East Coast transportation system and that the railroad ''benefits our environment by reducing harmful emissions."

I think my own attitude towards Amtrak is not unlike my opinion of the new arts center here in Baton Rouge: if you're lost in the desert, ANY water is wet enough.

It's not like I could ever really use Amtrak as a transportation alternative--the one ride within range of me would be a Hammond/New Orleans run that would almost triple the travel time AND REQUIRE an overnight stay (to be fair, these days, most of my trips to New Orleans involve overnights--I can finally afford hotels, and I DON'T want to enjoy the city THEN get into a car).

But I'd still happily pay my tax dollars to fund a national railroad if only because it's a symbol for what one day MUST be done in the US--look to broaden transportation options beyond single, simple-minded reliance on the passenger car.

Rail, both commuter and intercity, could relieve traffic congestion, reduce pollution, reduce highway fatalities, and contribute to an overall improvement of urban life. Oh, and a decent public transit system actually allows genuine enforcement of things like drunk driving laws...

Come to think of it...maybe that's why Bush hates public transportation so much.