Posted on 06/16/2010 2:08:27 PM PDT by Willie Green
A group drumming up support for high-speed rail in Wisconsin says the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is more proof we need to break away from our dependency on oil.
Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group, or WISPIRG, stopped in Green Bay Wednesday on a statewide tour.
The consumer group made up primarily of college students and researchers says connecting Wisconsin cities by high-speed rail will reduce traffic congestion and pollution and create 9,000 permanent jobs.
"WISPIRG is calling on Congress to dedicate funding to passenger rail in the next six-year federal transportation bill which will be taken up next year, so we can build the system Wisconsin needs and our country deserves," the group's Sarah Seibold said.
WISPIRG says high-speed rail is 23-percent more fuel efficient than flying and up to 50-percent more fuel efficient than driving.
Unless of course they're talking about those magical, mythical high speed trains that run on Unicorn farts....
Coal powered would be more accurate. High speed rail is electric, and we get 50% of our electricity in the US from coal, 20% from natural gas, 20% nuke, and 7% hydro.
The proposed line from Milwaukee to Madison is more aptly called highway speed rail due to the fact that it will be running through many small towns along the way, never able to reach the speeds it’s capable of.
It’s also been estimated that in order for the rides to be affordable to those who will most likely be using the system (minimum wage earners mostly) each ride will have to be subsidized to the tune of about $24 per rider. Increased property taxes for all homeowners in the five county region, increased gas taxes (up to $1 per gallon) and raiding the highway funds will be the methods used for paying for these rides.
Personally I will have absolutely no use for this little choo-choo project but I and all my neighbors will be forced to pay for it.
Subsidies, eh? As usual for rail projects. No, no, no!
That's about as silly as Sarah telling you to go raise some capital to build your own private highway.
It’s also been estimated that in order for the rides to be affordable to those who will most likely be using the system (minimum wage earners mostly) each ride will have to be subsidized to the tune of about $24 per rider.
Did WPMCA have anything to do with that estimate???
It wouldn't surprise me if they did.
They get paid to spread misinformation on these types of issues, you know.
Not such a bad idea!
From wikipedia:
A private highway is a highway owned and operated for profit by private industry. Private highways are common in Asia and Europe; in addition, a few have been built in the United States on an experimental basis. Typically, private highways are built by companies that charge tolls for a period of time while the debt is retired, after which the highway is turned over to government control. This allows governments to fulfill immediate transportation needs despite their own budget constraints, while still retaining public ownership of the roads in the long term.
An obstacle to private highways is that government regulation can stifle price flexibility and introduce negotiation and paperwork requirements that increase operational expenses. In addition, private highways lack some advantages that governments have, such as sovereign immunity against liability for accidents and the ability to issue tax-exempt securities.[1]
Free market roads are advocated by libertarians, who consider them more efficient and safer than public roads.[2]
Seems like a good idea...unless government intervention fouls it up.
I KNOW that Wikipedia is just people's opinions, but there is nothing in this passage that I can diasgree with.
I'd be willing to reduce gasoline taxes and increase the number of toll roads. Let people who use roads pay for them, but don't make people who use roads pay for trains! Let people who use trains pay for trains!
We've already got those Willie boy. They're called Toll Roads. And the same folks who built them using our tax dollars sold them off to private investors.
You're wrong Willie boy, you're wrong.
You're more than wrong, you're enabling thieves, and that makes you a thief yourself.
I think we are in agreement that politicians are capable of destroying ANY good idea.
You're more than wrong, you're enabling thieves, and that makes you a thief yourself.Crawl back under your rock, you deranged libertarian troll.
No, we just need to reduce our dependence on BP.
Do these morons not realize that trains run on diesel fuel which is made from oil? How frigging stupid are these choo-choo people?
Actually, most modern high-speed trains are electically powered with energy supplied from the grid. (And most of our electricity generated for the grid comes from sources other than oil.)
But even if diesel/electric engines are used on this particular route, it would be a more fuel efficient method of transportation than everybody commuting in individual cars. So the resultant lower oil consumption would help reduce, if not totally eliminate, our dependence on oil.
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