Comments on: Decatur Traffic Signal Upgrade Project Pushed Back To 2017

By: smith

smith — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 12:56:46 +0000

Not disputing the fact that European railways favor passenger traffic over freight, but the nationalization of railways in Europe is the reason why they have maintained a system that works. From the history of the French national railway SNCF:
1937

A SINGLE NETWORK HEADED BY THE FRENCH STATE

One hundred and ten years after the first rail line opened in France, trains were powering the nation’s economic growth. Yet by 1920, all of the rail companies were losing money—and by 1936 they were 37 billion francs in the red.
Nationalization was the only solution. And on 31 August 1937, the groundwork was laid for SNCF—Société national des chemins de fer français—under an agreement approved by legislative decree. France’s big five rail companies merged into a single network to be operated by the French State for a periodof 45 years. Their merger was symbolized by a logo featuring the new acronym as four intertwined letters.

As others have said, all forms of transportation – car, bus, train, air – are subsidized by the government. In the US we chose to favor road-based travel over rail and we have reaped what we sowed. Getting the genie back in the bottle is hard since the RRs who own the track (that was heavily subsidized by the government while the system was being built) can and do make money on freight.

By: Allen

Allen — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 23:33:44 +0000

In twenty years the technology in cars will be such that they will not require a driver.

By: smalltowngal

smalltowngal — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 21:08:51 +0000

I wonder how true that is, any more. People in “the other Georgia” certainly don’t want to spend a penny on mass transit for the urban/metro areas but that’s because it doesn’t directly benefit them. The only way they have to get around is by private vehicle, so they need good roads. But they got no taxis, so anybody who can’t drive (or doesn’t have a car) is good and stuck. I do wonder what folks in southwest Georgia would think about the possibility of using the train to get from where they live to where their doctors are (not to mention better shopping).

By: Robert Butera

Robert Butera — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 20:53:53 +0000

I read this article in the Economist a few years ago that was highly informative on the “why” – Basically, US railways are highly optimized for freight, Europe’s are highly optimized for passengers. Apparently the two don’t mix very well.

http://www.economist.com/node/16636101

I do wonder if Europe has a similar model of track ownership by railroads that the US does. The railroads here have a lot of historically granted power over such discussions.

Sadly (to me), riding MegaBus to New Orleans or Washington DC from Atlanta is less expensive and likely more convenient than riding the train aka AmTrak. Example: Atlanta to DC Union Station this Saturday. Megabus — 2 trips/day, 12 hours, $70. AmTrak, 1 trip, almost 14 hours, $178. And the Atlanta MegaBus leaves from a MARTA station.

By: Cubalibre

Cubalibre — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 20:15:25 +0000

Unfortunately, most folk in rural areas don’t want rail because they’ve been convinced that it’ll usher in the inner city thugs, who’ll take the train to come steal their TVs & whatnot.

By: brianc

brianc — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 19:25:26 +0000

I can’t remember whom to attribute it to, but I recently came across this quote in a news article, that went something like this: “If you’re in your 50s or 60s and live in the suburbs or beyond, you should be more concerned about how you’re going to get around in your 80s than whether SS and Medicare are going to be there.”

By: smalltowngal

smalltowngal — Thu, 21 Aug 2014 18:45:39 +0000

IMO there’s not been a time in the past 100 years when we should not have considered gov’t investment in passenger rail. Gov’t subsidy of highways at the expense of other forms of transportation was one of the biggest boondoggles of the 20th century. Here’s hoping it doesn’t last long enough to be on the short list for the 21st. My grandparents and great-grandparents, who were elderly in the 1930s-50s, had an easier time getting around in the rural South than did my parents who reached their elder years in ’80s and ’90s.