Our own little one trick pony.
Well I do want a pony.
I’m going to need it when they take our highway funds to build the marxist’s railroad.
Trains are the black wholly funded entity. This is paying back the brothers.
The world is aflame, socialism is being imposed, bribery and theft run rampant....
....but you can count on Willie and the Trains!
Kind of a one-track mind...
Hey, in some ways I don't really blame Willie. I utilize trains myself when it makes sense.
The ~$2 train one-way fare from O'Hare to downtown Chicago is a bargain and I use it -- no more $25+ fares from Chicago's cabbies whom I long ago learned to distrust. The $3.20 roundtrip light-rail fare I paid yesterday from Baltimore airport to the convention center is probably less than the gas used by a rental car, and that's even before you consider the rental and parking in the city. (I stayed at a hotel by the airport because it was half the price of being downtown, and in this case being downtown overnight had ZERO pluses for me.)
Boston's underground system, in memory dirty and noisy, could be extremely cost-effective and much quicker than ground transport (including taxis) especially to/from Logan airport. Haven't run into "Charlie" yet though... did he ever return?
In Europe trains from airports are usually even more a bargain for all the fares can be a bit higher than the U.S.
Sure, they're all heavily subsidized and I don't pretend I'm paying anything like the full cost of the ride. But incrementally I'm helping more than costing. (But then again, I'm adding to ridership levels...) If they've built it (at their expense) I'll usually ride it.
Though Seattle has been so monumentally stupid with its light rail I'm not likely to use it. If my Sunday morning flights out require me to be at SeaTac airport at least an hour before church, family drops me off at the nearest transit center and I take the bus (also subsidized). At least I get to see views I don't usually see -- "views" can be very nice in Seattle at the right times of year. even on the bus.
The question to be asked is whether the subsidy can be justified -- and on what basis? If, like Atlanta's Marta, it was built for something else (Olympics) but now it appears to mean more jobs for people of possibly low income (because they can get there!), it might be a good thing. I use it too, if it goes where I need to be in Atlanta.
OTOH, when it recently looked like TSA rules were going to take a major step downward I priced a trip from Seattle to Orlando for a week of meetings. Amtrak with two changes cost several times more than Alaska Airlines' non-stop prices and took 3 days vs 5 hours.
So much for seeing the country by rail on the company dime. *\B^|
Willie likes rail. So do I. I don't know his reasons, but you have mine. And though it seems he might not have ever encountered a project/system he dislikes, I have encountered a few in the U.S. I dislike and that generally do not deliver on the promises given when the sale was made.
(I know too little of the economics involved to judge the European systems I encounter and regularly use.)