Put public funds on the right track

Re “Battle of the rails and roads,” Feb. 11

Why not use bond money for the railroads? We’ve used public money to support private motoring and commercial trucking for years, but railroads have to build their own rights of way on their own land. Fuel taxes, vehicle taxes and fees pay only about half the cost of merely providing road infrastructure, let alone environmental and other costs imposed by driving. It makes sense to support rail freight and passenger rail travel because freight trains are four times more fuel efficient per ton/mile than trucks. We already give money to the inefficient trucking industry in the form of asphalt, so why not help the railroads clear up their own bottlenecks, given that they serve our society better than trucking does?

Richard Risemberg

Los Angeles