Pennies for Amtrak
Our only national passenger train service, Amtrak, and our California rail passenger systems, may be virtually eliminated by the 104th Congress and President Clinton if they proceed to cut all federal rail subsidies.
Amtrak has been a success story by increasing its annual ridership by 24% since Amtrak was created, yet its inflation-adjusted operating subsidy is some 70% less. Amtrak covers its operating costs from fares--80%--more than any other passenger railroad in the world!
Considering inflation, aviation and highway federal spending went up 97% and 25% respectively from 1982 to 1991, while Amtrak went down 36%. Yet we see no proposals from the 104th Congress to eliminate air and highway subsidies.
California and all of America cannot afford to make cuts in Amtrak. Just look what it has cost us when large cities such as Los Angeles did away with rail transit systems decades ago, only to pour billions of our tax dollars into creating the same systems today.
There is a simple solution--divert one penny from the existing federal highway tax to Amtrak. That’s all--one penny. That would more than take care of Amtrak’s funding needs, and would eliminate the need for all other federal subsidy.
MICHAEL DAVIS
San Gabriel
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