Re:U.S. Passenger Rail Ridership (2013)
by twoodfin on Sunday December 07, 2014 @12:15PM
(#8712800)
They could also be completely user-funded, if politicians weren't so squeamish about the gas tax and other user fee-like schemes. (Albeit somewhat unfairly, because folks using "profitable" Massachusetts interstate highways would be subsidizing vastly less-traveled roads in Montana.)
Amtrak, outside the NE corridor[1], could not possibly be purely user-funded. Increasing fares would decrease ridership significantly enough to offset any added revenue. Whatever fare rates would maximize revenue couldn't pay for the system.
[1] And I'm skeptical about this, too: Gas taxes pay for the lion's share of capital expenditures to build and repair our interstate highways. Reports like this about Amtrak's "profitability" are limited to operating costs, which are all you need so long as your tracks and trains last forever.
Amtrak, outside the NE corridor[1], could not possibly be purely user-funded. Increasing fares would decrease ridership significantly enough to offset any added revenue. Whatever fare rates would maximize revenue couldn't pay for the system.
[1] And I'm skeptical about this, too: Gas taxes pay for the lion's share of capital expenditures to build and repair our interstate highways. Reports like this about Amtrak's "profitability" are limited to operating costs, which are all you need so long as your tracks and trains last forever.