Opinion: Making the case for California high-speed rail
(Source: Sacramento Bee opinion column by Bruce Malman, January 21, 2014)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Train travel works. The Altamont Corridor Express trains have attracted thousands of Silicon Valley techies who, from Tracy to Stockton, have generated property taxes, local businesses, sales taxes, local jobs and income taxes. These are new and permanent suburban growth revenue streams.
Opposition to government-subsidized rail systems isn’t new, but what’s rarely acknowledged is that it’s dwarfed by comparison to our government-subsidized car culture. As Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman explained to Congress in late 2012, the Highway Trust Fund has gotten $53.3 billion in federal subsidies. In the past four years. Amtrak’s federal subsidy? Nearly $1 billion. In its 42-year existence.
Full story: Sacramento Bee
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
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