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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices
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To: tejek who wrote (495268)7/14/2009 11:28:11 PM
From: i-node  Read Replies (1) of 1578222
 
The taxpayer pays for the development and upkeep of the roads you drive your car on; for the airport terminals and runways at airports. Why shouldn't they pay for the upkeep of trains?

There is a trend toward user fees (tolls) for some of the expensive highway developments, and I think they make a lot of sense. While I have no problem with basic road infrastructure being maintained as they always have, it is time the users paid for the multi-billion dollar freeways. I'd rather everyone just pay for what they use except for the most basic infrastructure such as city streets and the US highway system.

Airports and ATC are a subsidy the airline industry have received forever. Of course, airlines pay for these, but nowhere near the operating costs. But I think this is a perfect example of why we need to prevent further government bankrolling of such provisions. Today, we are reliant on the airline system whether we like it or not, and so it is just one more thing the government has gotten sucked into. I use airlines quite a bit -- maybe 20-30 round trips a year -- practically always personal travel. I can't think of any reason someone else should be footing the bill for any part of this.

Why do we need trains to become another ward of the state? If routes can be profitable, let business go after them. If they can't we don't need them.

If it were up to me I would tell airlines, "We'll provide ATC and related technology improvements; but if you want hard infrastructure improvements -- runways, terminals, etc., you'd best plan for them and have the money to pay for them. Learn to compete."
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