Steaming Towards a Fiscal Trainwreck?

By Adam at August 12th, 2009.

After a twelve year absence, Amtrak could return to Boise, and a lot of other places that fall between Seattle and Denver on the old Pioneer Route that was discontinued in 1997.

Monday, Boise Mayor Dave Bieter and Senator Mike Crapo (R-Id.) held a meeting at the old Boise Depot around Noon-time, when most taxpaying citizens (including myself) are at work. Though to read Dave Frasier at the Boise Guardian, I didn’t miss much. Fraiser walked away with several questions that he still needs to know the answer to:

–How much will it cost?
–How many riders are expected ?
–How often will it run?
–Will the Depot cease to be a venue for catering events as it is today?
–Will the Depot be opened to the public as a waiting room or will AMTRAK operations be relegated to the office space on the east end of the Depot?
–Can AMTRAK afford to pay for the upgrade and maintenance to the 18 miles of track along with installation of crossing signals on Kuna-Mora Road or will Boise taxpayers foot the bill?
–The airport is run as a self-funded “enterprise fund” by the City. Will they do the same with AMTRAK or will they compete with themselves?

As of yet, there a lot of big questions, but no answers. However, for a moment let’s assume that all is well. We’re able to get the Amtrak in with no muss, no fuss–should Boise have an Amtrak route?

First of all, I have to acknowledge why politicians are pushing this. A lot of people would personally benefit from this, myself included. My family lives in Kalispell, Montana. With the closure of Big Sky air, the only options are driving (through some very tough roads) or flying with some very expensive indirect routes. The Pioneer Route would probably allow riders to switch trains near Spokane and ride into Whitefish, which is about a fifteen minute drive from Kalispell.

I know quite a few people who have relatives and religious obligations in Utah. I might want to go down to Denver to see a Rockies game or something and it would be nice to NOT have to go through DIA to get there.

However, the question should not be one of personal benefit. We need to face facts. Why did the Pioneer line close in the first place? Because it was an unprofitable line for Amtrak?. Some believe that in a down economy, Amtrak would do far better than it did before. I don’t see any reason to think so, however.

What ultimately hurt Amtrak is time efficiency, and that has not gotten better over recent years. It is not just that trains take slightly longer to get from Point A to Point B, but rather that they can easily be delayed. Amtrak had a 67% on time rating which means few business travellers are going to take an Amtrak train. And if you want to take a weekend trip on Friday afternoon to Salt Lake City and hope to arrive back in the office bright eyed and bushy tailed, I wouldn’t reccomend taking the train unless you want to risk a long delay waiting around a train station.

Amtrak’s delays just aren’t acceptable in the 21st Century, which means that the Amtrak will still only service a few people.

Beyond this, though, I think it’s time to come to an adult realization when it comes to government-funded railways. We don’t have the money as a nation to pay for this. It will put us nearly $2 trillion more in the red. We already have more than $44 trillion in unfunded liabilities on top of that.

It’s time for voters to stop falling for the promise of “free money” from Washington. This money to finance an Amtrak route or the Folly Trolley, that money will come out of the hide of the next generation of Americans. Only, if we stand up against the pork and waste in our own backyards and demand politicians fix these fiscal issues that must be addressed–do we have any hope of averting a national fiscal disaster.

Photo licensed under Creative Commons 2.0/Flickr.

Tags: Amtrak, Boise, Boise to Seattle, Dave Bieter, Denver, Idaho, Mike Crapo, Pioneer Route, Seattle