On Sunday, May 17, 2015 at 4:52:44 PM UTC-4, Kurt Hackenberg wrote:   
      
      
   > Motor vehicles are heavily subsidized by all those free public roads.   
      
   For both highways and airways, it must be remembered that much of the subsidy   
   comes from general funds, not fuel taxes.  Amtrak critics consistently ignore   
   that fact.   
      
   They also ignore that Amtrak's ridership keeps growing year after year, yet   
   cost recovery improves every year.  If it wasn't for so-called Congressional   
   "reform*", Amtrak would be even more efficient.   
      
   In addition, highways and airways are extremely congested, and the cost to   
   expand them is astronomical.  Expanding Amtrak service in developed corridors   
   is more cost effective and less disruptive.   
      
   *Thanks to "reform" legislation, Amtrak was not permitted to replace, at   
   modest cost, key pieces of equipment.  So, instead, Amtrak had to pay workers   
   to manually do the job 24/7.   
      
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