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You're going to have to show me some citations to convince me that the government is keeping anyone other than Amtrak from opening an interstate passenger railroad, especially in the face of state/metro-run non-Amtrak interstate lines in New England. The closest thing I can find are the ICC rate controls, but they predated Amtrak by 60-some-odd years, and the ICC ceased to exist in 1995, 15 years after the Staggers Rail Act removed its power to set rates. Entirely privately owned interstate passenger rail existed until 1983 when the Rio Grande Zephyr was sold to Amtrak because the company that was running it was losing money trying to serve the wrong coast even though for its last three years, they could have charged whatever they wanted (though at some point, the "end of the line" in Utah was a bus stop, so maybe it was too far gone to save by the time the rate controls were eliminated).

Searching for amtrak monopoly just tells me that it is a de facto monopoly (outside of the new england corridor) but I can't find anything to suggest that it's a de jure monopoly. Did I mention that Obama is apparently unaware of this law banning interstate rail and thinks other railroads can run passenger rail too (I guess the government handouts are to convince them to break the law)?

BTW, I've used fedex to deliver letters. The only thing they can't do is deliver to a post office box. Or get enough junk mail delivered through their system to make "fedex ground" for a flat "package" cost half a dollar.

...time, but in my East Coast city, with it's hills and curves, as well as mix of urban one-way grids and wide blvd's, combined with an at the time 10mi one way communte, I didn't want to chacne arriving at work smelling like Thor, then riding home in the driving rain. Only recently did my lcoal PT (one of the largest in the country) install bike racks on its buses, and it still doesn't allow bikes on trains during rush hour (yes they are that dumb -- they encourage car use, really), so mixed mode only recently became an option. The best option I could see was an electric bike. It would allow cheap, Earth friendly travel, without the extreme exertion -- and sweating.

I looked seriously at electric bikes, but most I saw were either not cheap kits I had to install myself, which I balked at, or prebuilt bikes that were expensive and either looked like circus bikes, or something left by aliens. I refused to look like a goober while riding my bike. Fine for ex-hippies but not if I have to pay for it. So I waited and figured someone would sell something for the rest of us. And I continued to drive my not very Earth friendly European sedan.

While lounging on the couch watching the FineLiving Channel, I saw a piece on a electric assisted mountain bike and perked up. I watched for the next 10 or so minutes a report about exactly the product I'd been waiting for, the Wave Crest TIDALFORCE electric bike. I looked like a real bike with the batteries and motor in the wheel hubs, and it was on a regular bike frame. And better yet it was silent ( or nearly so). I couldn't buy one fast enough! When I went to the website the next Monday at work, the price slowed me down. $2500. I decided to wait a few or 6 months to see if the price went down.

After forgetting and remembering about a year later, I rechecked the website. Apparently I waited too long and the company stopped selling due to poor sales. All products, equipment, and lic. sold to a French company. I'm sure they have no intentino of selling any products in the US. What was worse, the few used and new units still in channels we often selling for higher prices than new -- the cheapest complete bike I found was $2700. Broken and incomplete examples could be had for anywhere from $1500 - $2000 on Ebay. Once again I gave up.

Walmart began selling cheap electric bikes, some as low as $200. I was prepared to pick on up, even at the cost of having to ride around with a brick of batteries on a bike rack, but after waiting a weekend to buy off the website, they were all gone. As if they never exhisted. What gives?

Finally, last Spring, while trolling the web for excitment I came across E+ Motion Systems. They apparenly have resurrected the Tidal Force name, and engineering, added thier own, and are reselling bikes and add-on kits. I happily picked up a kit ( I am a cheao bastard after all), installed it, and haven't looked back. It was as easy as installing two wheels and the connected wire, and done. Reading the instructions took longer than the install.

My bike commute in the morning including putting the bike on the front of a bus (crappy PT that doesn't allow bike on trains) is only 10 minutes longer than driving. I let the bike do almost all of the work going in, so no sweating, and oddly less stressful. Coming home I could actually use the bike path recently finshed, and the out-ride, in the same direction as rush hour traffic, took between 15mins, and 30, depending on whether I pedalled, the bike dragged by fat ass, or whe shared the load. I must say the bike tops out at 20MPH on cruise control, and I know I could push 25 easily pedalling. Not a big issue. I'd have been ecstatic to average 20MPH on the Expressway at the say time of day, or even during daylight hours! Saved gas and wear and tear alone for the summer recouped a good portion of the kit cos

And have instead been relying on Philadelphia's Regional Rail to get to work. It's so much nicer than having to drive into work. Consider the following:

- 25 minute train ride versus a 45-60 minute drive

- I can read or sleep on the train. Can't do either when driving!

- I no longer have to worry about maintaining my car, insurance, gas prices, etc. Not only do I have more peace of mind, but I'm saving hundreds of dollars per month now.

I've noticed something else when dealing with public transit companies, they respect us more than car companies. Every time I took my car in for maintenance, or when I would buy a new car, I would also feel like I was being taken advantage of--it was just this unpleasant vibe I got from doing business with the dealership. But with public transportation, I don't get the same feeling.

Don't get me wrong, SEPTA has tried raising its rates and cutting service a number of times, but when that happens, there is a public outcry as passengers criticise the company en masse, and SEPTA backs down. That's the way it should be, and it's worked out pretty well so far.

Please, Mr. Obama, build more trains. I'll ride 'em!

You british don't know the meaning of late trains. I live in a suburb of philadelphia, and it's assumed that a train will run late. I have never been on an on time SEPTA train, ever.

If you want to know why so many lose money, all you have to do is follow a bus around; our local stops at every freakin' block!

But enough about that, on to what I think users should do to circumvent these terrible systems: A wiki Mass Transit site!

The benefits would be immediate: No more stupid PDF schedules that can be difficult to navigate, and real users able to comment on the transit system's efficacy.

And the sweetest benefit: a black eye for local transit 'authorities' when word gets out that their operations suck so bad riders and users have to take matters into their own hands.

Just my 2 cents :)

None of which are representative of LRT. To have a better sense of light rail, go see DART, Houston METRO, Salt Lake City UTA, St. Louis Metrolink, San Francisco MUNI, Santa Clara VTA, Philadelphia SEPTA, Portland Max, Baltimore MARC, and so on.

Jointed tracks cause the "clickety-clack" most people are familiar with. Modern systems use Continuously welded rail to solve this problem.

Referring to me? I'm for transit in all its forms (bus/BRT, LRT, heavy rail, monorail, even maglev)but I just want to make sure people make their decisions for the right reasons.

ive heard the same said about public transportation a few times

I don't know about most areas, but in Southeastern Pennsylvania, SEPTA can never make as much money in fares as it needs to spend. Even with generous government subsidies, it has massive budget shortfalls year after year after year.

Now the governor of Pennsylvania, in an amazingly audacious or clever move (depending on your viewpoint) is figuring out a way to redirect federal highway dollars to the public transportation system.

Say what you will about the benefits of a public transportation system, I realize there is an argument that can be made on both sides. But realize that it is a public welfare system. No different than a public WiFi network.

ive heard the same said about public transportation a few times

I don't know about most areas, but in Southeastern Pennsylvania, SEPTA can never make as much money in fares as it needs to spend. Even with generous government subsidies, it has massive budget shortfalls year after year after year.

Now the governor of Pennsylvania, in an amazingly audacious or clever move (depending on your viewpoint) is figuring out a way to redirect federal highway dollars to the public transportation system.

Say what you will about the benefits of a public transportation system, I realize there is an argument that can be made on both sides. But realize that it is a public welfare system. No different than a public WiFi network.

All of those things benefit you whether you choose to use them or not. The roads carry emergency vehicles, schools provide employable citizens [theoretically], police deter crime, parks increase your property value. How does EVERYONE benefit by this, even if they don't use it? Maybe it increases property value? I don't know, I'm being honest.

I disagree with the end of your statement, though. Government's job is NOT just to do things that benefit a large number of people. They have the power of coersion -- they take money out of everyone's paycheck, and people can be sent to jail for not complying. You need to keep that as limited as possible. Couldn't this just be done through a non-profit organization instead? Why do we need to put a usually corrupt, usually inefficient, usually slow, always political bureaucracy in charge of it? The City of Philadelphia can't even fund SEPTA properly, and they're always going for more and more money from the state. Just what we need, another bloated government project. I'd rather that was the LAST resort, not the first.

For tomorrow's fares, Boston to NYC is $64 one way by Train, $123 by Air (cheapest American Airlines), both for Tomorrow at 9AM. So, Train still wins.

And if you need a subsidy example, it's called the SouthEastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA). They're really happy, because they've managed to reduce their 2004 operating deficit "from $54 million to a still-formidable $26 million" (link) (last year's budget was $875 million + a $55 million deficit).

Who pays for all of this? We do... One way or another, the entire nation is paying for this inefficient mess. From this article, the counties pay for 8%, states at 38%. Another report states that even though federal subsidies have dropped in the last 5 years, money is still indirectly funnelled from Federal to State to SEPTA ($800 mil given to PA from the fed last year, $40 mil is directly accountable to going to SEPTA), not counting the $2 billion that the Federal gov has already invested in rail & car refurbishments. Oh, and they've only been sucking our money since 1963... not quite 60 years, but pigging out the same.

Now, imagine if we privatized the deal, and actually forced them to make money on their own? Because by Bus (the 3rd method of mass transit, privatized), I can go from Boston to NY City tomorrow at 9AM for $30. At 215 miles at 20 mpg & $1.75/gal for gas, its $18 by car, the ultimate privatized driving method, and I guess thats why people like to drive themselves.