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The busiest rail corridor in the US is between Boston and Washington DC, with stops in major cities like NY , Philly and Baltimore. You think the millions riding on the northeast corridor trains each year can all walk to their ultimate destinations?
I use commuter rail in to NYC each week and don't walk to my ultimate destination-- I take the subway.
History Lesson - the ATSF and the BMSF have NEVER gone through Santa Fe. There is a Branch line to Santa Fe from Lamy, NM - 15 miles southeast of Santa Fe. Funny stuff.
This "commuter rail" is a joke. It starts in Belen, NM (a small town of 7,000 people - it bypasses the Albuquerque Airport (only airport in the State that can accept a large jet) and ends in Santa Fe - city of about 70,000. There used to be express bus service between Santa Fe & Albuquerque (roughly 100 miles), but they ended that with the new Rail Service.
I've spent a considerable amount of time in Santa Fe, less in Albuquerque. The first time I went to Santa Fe, I drove around to get a feel for the place. I found dirt streets just 3 blocks from the State Capitol. All home/business must be built by law in either the Pueblo or Territorial style - very odd to see all buildings looking pretty much the same.
I use commuter rail in to NYC each week and don't walk to my ultimate destination-- I take the subway.
I know this must come as a total shock to the North-East Elites - there is NO Subway in New Mexico or anywhere in Texas for that matter.
History lesson, yes they did. ATSF owned the right-of-way which transferred to BNSF with the merger. See below. It may not be used but the right of way is owned by BNSF. Ergo, the commuter rail pays for the usage of the right-of-way.
History lesson, yes they did. ATSF owned the right-of-way which transferred to BNSF with the merger. See below. It may not be used but the right of way is owned by BNSF. Ergo, the commuter rail pays for the usage of the right-of-way.
WRONG! New Mexico purchased the trackage from Belen to Lamy outright because BNSF doesn't use the section from Albuquerque northward anymore, and what trains they do run to Albuquerque can be run as trackage rights on the now state-owned trackage, meaning BNSF PAYS the state to run on the line.
Rail lines for public use only makes sense where there is high congestion of the road for a particular route and only then for a particular reason... people going somewhere where they have to haul heavy stuff, doesn't make sense for a rail line... There are only several cities/states that rail lines make sense, NYC, California, Seattle, Chicago, DC, etc... the roads over there are congested daily and mainly for commutes to/from work/school... Should we be subsidizing for those businesses/schools? I think I would make them pay for the system... not the whole thing but at least for the service to their address... but that's just me...
Texas toll roads are not going anywhere, other than they are working on more of them, simply someone giving it lip service, the Cons Love Toll roads and if some had their way every highway here would be a toll road.
All roads are basically toll roads because you're paying a fuel tax, typically larger vehicles that do more damage to the road get less MPG and pay more. Tolling individual roads is not a good idea because now it's double taxation and locals will try and avoid them. What we need is a per mile tax based on the weight of the vehicle, that is the fairest way to do it.
This is going to vary by state and actually pinning down what is being spent where becomes very problematic. NJ for example has one the lowest fuel taxes however other taxes are through the roof. The big problem with the fuel tax is neither side wants to touch it. They just raised the state fuel tax here in PA and Corbett's Democrat challenger hammered him over the head with it. A substantiual amount of that is going to mass transit.
I just did a Giigle search and found that the PA Turnpike charges on average 13 cents/mile and the NJ Pike 15. .
It's actually about half that for the Turnpike. Half the toll you pay on the Turnpike is shifted back to Penndot for other roads. Good old Spendell instead of raising the fuel tax robbed the Turnpike hence the reason they are in financial difficulties and ever increasing rates.
It's actually about half that for the Turnpike. Half the toll you pay on the Turnpike is shifted back to Penndot for other roads. Good old Spendell instead of raising the fuel tax robbed the Turnpike hence the reason they are in financial difficulties and ever increasing rates.
Actually most of it was shifted to the underfunded pension funds of the Pittsburgh and Philly mass transit systems. But a law was passed om Nov 2013 to reverse that and repay the PA Pike back, the Pike is using that for a massive upgrade.
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