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well, one example -- i live in North Carolina. People here fly into NYC sometimes, often into other airports, and take trains into the city. They tell me that the whole system is screwed, everyone says it is a nightmare getting from NJ into Manhattan. So I haven't been to NYC in 15 years and even I hear about this problem.
Why are federal taxpayers on the hook for an Amtrak tunnel that serves one specific area? Amtrak is supposed to be a popular service on the East Coast. Why not use the profits from their service to fund the new tunnel, or maintenance on the old one? If they need a little more money-just increase the rates a bit-and make sure they use low-cost contractors to do the work.
Bingo! This serves only a small number of local people.
Transportation needs to be subsidized to actually work. That's the unfortunate reality. That includes air travel, road travel. Even walking; sidewalks and pedestrian crossings cost public money.
Expecting Amtrak to be profitable and pay for itself is essentially saying, 'its ok if we don't have any passenger rail service.' It will never be profitable because it competes with roads subsidized by sales taxes, property taxes, income taxes, and a tax on gasoline.
Oh, so now you want the Federal Government to subsidize the airlines? City sidewalks and "pedestrian crossings (whatever you mean by that)?"
These things are the responsibility of the States involved, not every American taxpayer. Let them raise the local state taxes, if the people want these things. Put it on the ballot. Raise the taxes of those who use the service. From what I understand, it is a very small number of people who benefit from this.
I just hope that this "infrastructure" bill will not be about *building new things* right now... all over the US there are roads that are in bad shape and transit that actually exists but is in bad shape. That is what I am thinking when I think infrastructure. I don't want to see my money stole for prestige projects to make the elites' lives easier.
Why is the whole country on the hook when a tornado happens in Oklahoma? Massive flooding from a hurricane in an area of TX that should not have been overbuilt? Earthquakes in the West? Amtrak is a federal company that most Americans may benefit from, no matter where they live or travel, and by nature funds are not dispersed in the way you wish.
This is a massive mass transit area benefitting not just us living here, but any visitors from both the country and whole world - and there are a lot of them. This is NOT just a NY/NJ/or even East Coast thing. If they let this infrastructure fall apart, a lot of people are getting screwed over and a lot of travel plans will be hindered as well as daily commutes. It is not our fault, living here, any more than it is yours that the government is not doing its job here, or anywhere else.
Amtrak is a man made disaster not a natural disaster.
No need to let the infrastructure in NY and NJ fall apart. Raise the taxes there to pay for it.
The tax payer in Denver or Orlando isn't benefiting by the tourism in NY.
Did you read the article? Another out of stater who has no clue. This tunnel would benefit Amtrak and its entire NE Corridor line. We are talking territory that is federally controlled and operated, not state. This is NOT solely NJ and NY's problem when Amtrak is involved.
Not everything is some political game you all have to be so partisan about. Without this and with the existing infrastructure that needs improvements, the mass transit situation that many people benefit from, not just us locals, will not be getting any better. It will get worse. And that is not good.
Quote:
President Donald Trump dropped his own New Year's ball—in the form of a wrecking ball—with a late Friday afternoon announcement that effectively wipes out plans for perhaps the nation's most crucial infrastructure project.
The president officially scrapped his predecessor's proposal to have the federal government underwrite half the cost of a multi-billion-dollar Amtrak tunnel connecting New Jersey to Penn Station, the busiest transit hub in the U.S. The lone existing tunnel is rapidly deteriorating, threatening to sever Amtrak's popular Northeast Corridor and to divert tens of thousands of New Jerseyans from their daily Manhattan commutes via New Jersey Transit.
And read the readers' comments following the article. Many are quite intelligent and get the gist of the problem here.
Do not cheer failing/lacking infrastructure in a major US city (the most major), especially when it involves connections to other major US cities and highly populated areas. You guys have no clue.
well, one example -- i live in North Carolina. People here fly into NYC sometimes, often into other airports, and take trains into the city. They tell me that the whole system is screwed, everyone says it is a nightmare getting from NJ into Manhattan. So I haven't been to NYC in 15 years and even I hear about this problem.
I read that there are very few people from outside the area that would benefit from this.
Amtrak is a man made disaster not a natural disaster.
No need to let the infrastructure in NY and NJ fall apart. Raise the taxes there to pay for it.
The tax payer in Denver or Orlando isn't benefiting by the tourism in NY.
Whatever happened to states' rights? Amtrak is a federal program, NY and NJ have nothing to do with it and it is not singlehandedly our problem to deal with it just because this particular project is located here.
Did NY and NJ benefit from the new improvements Amtrak made to that WA state train project, the one that just crashed and killed a few people? We benefitted far less than people elsewhere can benefit from tunnels connecting NJ, a state with an NYC area airport, to NYC, the country's biggest city. Or an Amtrak line that connects DC to Philly to NYC to Boston and other smaller East Coast cities along the way.
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