Amtrak funding cuts make no sense

Amtrak funding cuts make no sense

I believe in controlling spending, but politicians who think they can balance the budget by taking away funding for Amtrak are making me have second thoughts about their competence for office. They seem to think that Amtrak should take steps to regain financial independence.

Here’s the real deal; No mode of transportation is financially independent. Some food for thought; The 2012 federal funding for Amtrak is $1.42 billion which amounts to .2 percent of the federal budget. In fiscal year 2010, $41.3 billion of federal money was appropriated for highways and $15.9 billion for aviation assistance. In contrast, the Amtrak appropriation for that time was $1.565 billion.

To put that in perspective, that is 26.3 times more funding for highways and 10.1 times more for aviation. Amtrak usage continues to grow, year by year. In the Northeast, they have 60 percent of the market share over airlines and highways. It is shear lunacy to even consider shutting Amtrak down.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey said it best, “Last year we spent more than $40 billion on highways. And Lord knows we need that. But that’s more than we spent on Amtrak in its entire 40-year history.”

Makes you wonder.

Terry Tallian

Wood Dale