Playing the system
It's a well-known fact that the privately-owned airline industry is subsidized to a much greater extent than the publically-owned intercity passenger rail network. The airlines don't just get money because more people use them, they get money because they can give money -- to politicians. Yesterday's campaign finance ruling won't change that.
If government-owned industry will always be undersubsidized because it can't engage in rent-seeking behavior and privately-owned corporations can't fail because politicians are so well taken care of by them, thenwhy wouldn't regional, privatized passanger rail lines soak up even more subsidy than Amtrak without the burden of money-losing continent-crossers?
An example: JetBlue got its prime spot at JFK airport with the help ofNew York Sen. Charles Schumer. All he wanted in exchange was service to Buffalo and Rochester so it would be easier for him to visit and fundraise in other parts of the state. All a rail company would need to do is provide a stop in a legislator's hometown for essentially unlimited bond-guarantees, write-downs, Army Corps of Engineers studies and whatever else it takes to run a railroad.
There's no such thing as an unsubsidized mode of transport in America anymore, so why not take advantage?
Post Author:
rj3 | 10:15 AM |
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Those who do not remember the past ... Why would a United Aircraft Turbotrain designed for speed along Long Island Sound be running into central West Virginia? And why would there be two daily transcontinental trains across North Dakota and Montana, the (still-running) Empire Builder and the (discontinued) North Coast Hiawatha? Didn't have anything to do with Representative Harley Staggers serving as chairman of the Transportation Committee, and Montana Senator Mike Mansfield being the Majority Leader?
Amtrak has long been an exercise in rent-seeking, and the national network exists precisely because rural-state Representatives will not provide funding without some trains of their own. (Some of the high-speed rail money has been sent that way also, witness the unremarked racetracks in central Illinois and in western Michigan.)
Aah, but the kind of rent-seeking the airlines do is far more effective. Instead of grovelling for gruel with some rural stops as the only solution, spreading a little campaign cash around would bring much more attention, concentrated where it's needed. It works for airlines.
