As the price of gasoline drops from the unbelievable to the unaffordable, and as Barack Obama grapples with trying to turn government in the general direction of the public interest while John McCain pretends to do so, here are some figures concerning the most efficient form of transportation -- rail -- that are worth thinking about:
Percentage of transportation project costs for which Federal support dollars are available to states:
Air: 90%
Highway: 80%
Rail: 0%
–From Maryland Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari, speaking on NPR station WYPR-FM, 9/3/2008
Air: 90%
Highway: 80%
Rail: 0%
–From Maryland Secretary of Transportation John D. Porcari, speaking on NPR station WYPR-FM, 9/3/2008
Bruce,
In what way is rail "the most efficient form of transportation?" Inland barges get more than twice the ton-miles from a unit of fuel than does rail. Ocean-going ships are even more fuel efficient.
mike
Posted by: Mike | October 29, 2008 at 05:15 PM
Mike,
I meant rail is the most efficient of today's major ways of moving jillions of people (as compared with highways and planes). I'll take your word for it about freight barges and ocean liners. (Makes me wish we had the moxie to try a canal system of mass transit.) If I had it to do over I'd have been more precise. Thanks for the comment.
Posted by: Bruce A Jacobs | October 29, 2008 at 09:08 PM