OK, let’s say you live near Airline Hwy or Sherwood Forest. (Baton Rouge landmarks and residential/light commercial areas).
Option A - you get in your car, drive to the train station and wait for a train that runs infrequently on a schedule set by the gummint. You take the train that stops some distance from where you really want to go (except perhaps the NO airport). You then have to arrange or obtain transport to your final destination in NO. Same for the return trip.
Option B - You hop on Interstate 10 at your convenience at the Bluebonnet interchange and drive the not quite 80 miles to your final destination, at your convenience. The TRIP probably lasted a *total* of 90 minutes.
It cost you 4 gallons of gas, one way; how much will the trian cost?
More than $18 Million/yr?
Anyone that is for government building this train is a socialist/Marxist/liberal. Read up on it.
Socialism(government ownership) doesn't work.
The biggest problem the U.S. has is that government is too big and is getting bigger and more powerful.
One of the main reasons government grows is that the liberal media gets some people to say “why we ought to do this” or “we ought to do that” . who is “we”.”we” is the government as things cannot be done “communally”. See the word communism in communally and commune? When “we” do something what is empowered is the government and individuals and private businesses lose more freedom and money(taxes).
No matter how good the liberal media makes something sound the only thing it will do is empower government which is the liberal media's goal. Take the "going to the moon" thing. NASA is now doing global warming studies and Muslim outreach but a lot of people thought that it would be a good idea to create this massive government agency.
Why isn't any government manufacturing a product like a car, or notebook computer or cell phone or even cereal? It's because for 5 trillion per year government can't even compete with small private companies(capitalism). 5 trillion is the federal budget and state and local budgets.
The liberal media and government bribe us with our own money.So the government is exploding because everyone has their own pet project and because of government tyranny. The damage done to freedom and prosperity by creating one government agency, or by one law is immeasurable as evidenced by the democrats'/socialists' government healthcare law.
Government agencies and many of their supporting laws must be abolished: To create even one more like this train thing is UTTER INSANITY. If the U.S. does not start abolishing government agencies and reducing government spending at all level then we will all be on the road to socialism which will mean hellish 4th world living standards, starvation, oppression etc.
Only individuals or private business can do anything and should do what they want to for the most part with only a few laws that are common sens. That is called a free market, capitalism, or freedom. Anything else is socialism or creeping socialism as we have now.
Not to side with WillieGreen, but the cost to a taxpayer for driving their car on the interstate is NOT merely 4 gallons of gas, one way. Add in your insurance, maintenance, licenses, registration, fees, moving violation fines, parking costs... then add in the portion of all your other taxes that go to pay for constructing and maintaining interstate highway infrastructure. If there is a profitable market for passenger rail between any 2 points, private enterprise would be all over it.