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Jan. 14th, 2011 09:32 pmCompare and contrast:
Water transport: governments maintain the waterways and ports, and private entities and individuals own the vehicles and use them to ship people and goods. System financed from general revenues and user fees.
Air transport: governments (and quasipublic agencies) maintain the airports and supervise air traffic, and private entities own the vhicles and use them to ship people and goods. System financed by general revenues and user fees.
Road transport: governments maintain the roads. Private entities and individuals own the vehicles and use them to ship people and goods. System financed from general revenues and user fees.
Train transport: private entities own and maintain the tracks, and run their vehicles on them. System financed by user fees and heavily taxed on both income and property.
One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is not the same. But perhaps not for much longer. The State of Maine just took ownership of a long stretch of freight track in the northern half of the state, whose owners found unprofitable. State owned track is not a new thing in the US. That sums up how commuter rail works around here. But state owned freight track, owned by a state that also owns a stretch of passenger track, that is a new matter, and a welcome one in my view. Now all it should take is the State of Maine looking at how much it costs them to run the roads in the same region, and perhaps they can start putting two and two together.
Water transport: governments maintain the waterways and ports, and private entities and individuals own the vehicles and use them to ship people and goods. System financed from general revenues and user fees.
Air transport: governments (and quasipublic agencies) maintain the airports and supervise air traffic, and private entities own the vhicles and use them to ship people and goods. System financed by general revenues and user fees.
Road transport: governments maintain the roads. Private entities and individuals own the vehicles and use them to ship people and goods. System financed from general revenues and user fees.
Train transport: private entities own and maintain the tracks, and run their vehicles on them. System financed by user fees and heavily taxed on both income and property.
One of these things is not like the others. One of these things is not the same. But perhaps not for much longer. The State of Maine just took ownership of a long stretch of freight track in the northern half of the state, whose owners found unprofitable. State owned track is not a new thing in the US. That sums up how commuter rail works around here. But state owned freight track, owned by a state that also owns a stretch of passenger track, that is a new matter, and a welcome one in my view. Now all it should take is the State of Maine looking at how much it costs them to run the roads in the same region, and perhaps they can start putting two and two together.
