Dedicated federal funds key for passenger rail growth
By Frank Busalacchi

State Journal-Register, Springfield, Illinois
March 26, 2007

Travelers across America are voting in record numbers for expanded passenger rail service in the United States. These votes are coming in the form of record passenger rail ridership. Amtrak ridership increased again in fiscal year 2006, with double-digit increases in many corridors.

Why are more and more Americans traveling by train?

Americans are struggling with worsening highway and airline congestion, even as fuel prices rise. This past summer, we saw gasoline prices jump higher than $3 a gallon in many parts of the country. Another spike in gasoline prices cannot be ruled out. Anxious motorists are buying more fuel-efficient cars and abandoning their cars for rail. In the post-9/11 environment, travelers are wary of a system that depends so heavily on airline travel. And everyone from business travelers to older citizens are looking for options that won't cost them more time or money.

Illinois in 2006 showed very strong growth on many of its routes. The Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha Service, supported by the states of Illinois and Wisconsin, had another very strong year. Hiawatha Service ridership for calendar year 2006 was 588,036, exceeding 2005 ridership by 8 percent and setting an all-time record for the service. A total of 544,348 passengers boarded the Hiawatha in 2005, yet another in a string of record-setting years for ridership.

In addition, Illinois significantly expanded state-sponsored service in 2006. Illinois' partnership with Amtrak was expanded to include two additional trains on the Chicago to St. Louis corridor, known as the Lincoln Service and an additional round-trip on the Chicago to Quincy route, known as the Carl Sandburg. There is also an additional round-trip on the Chicago to Carbondale route, which was named The Saluki.

These new trains are supported by a doubling in Illinois' state support to Amtrak, from $12.1 to $24 million annually.

Additional increases were posted in many regional corridors in all parts of the country.

Americans want transportation alternatives, with rail playing a significant role. The States for Passenger Rail Coalition, of which I am chairman, was founded in 2000 just as we started to see passenger demands for expanded rail service increasing. Today, there are 28 states represented from all parts of the country, and we will continue to make the case for strong state-federal partnerships to expand our natiion's passenger rail network.

I believe we owe the traveling public the transportation choices they demand, as evidenced by their increasing use of rail. But improved passenger rail service will not come without a strong funding commitment by the federal government.

For too many years, passenger rail service in America has been hamstrung by the year-to-year funding decisions of Congress. If passenger rail is to be a permanent part of our transportation system, why do we debate its future over and over each year in Congress? The uncertainty of the annual appropriation process has made long-term planning for passenger rail improvements extremely difficult.

The States for Passenger Rail Coalition is calling on Congress to provide a dedicated source of capital funding for passenger rail, just as Congress does for highways and aviation. We support federal legislation that gives passenger rail the same 80/20 federal-state funding split that the highway system enjoys. It is time to level the playing field for all forms of passenger transportation. Congress needs to act on this important legislation now.

Over the past year, I have traveled to Europe and Asia and witnessed how advanced their passenger rail systems are. Frankly, they put us to shame.

In Spain, I toured their passenger rail system. It is fast and reliable - trains travel between Madrid and Barcelona at 217 mph. This is happening in a country with a gross domestic product similar to Korea's and Mexico's. The key in Spain, as in most European nations, is that passenger rail development receives strong government funding support.

Likewise in China - high-speed maglev trains whisk passengers from Shanghai's airport into the city at 267 miles per hour. The trains not only are fast, but smooth and quiet.

Many Americans return from Europe and Asian cities every year and ask this question: "Why can't an advanced nation like the United States have first-class, high-speed rail travel like the Europeans and Asians enjoy?"

The answer is simple.

If Washington policy-makers would cease bickering over Amtrak and follow their own advice to provide a dedicated source of capital funding, we could have the same level of service available in Europe. Over the next year, the States for Passenger Rail Coalition will work hard to support a dedicated source of capital funding for American's passenger rail system.

We no longer can allow passenger rail to lurch along on unpredictable annual appropriations. We can provide Americans with the level of service they seek and for which they vote as they step aboard passenger trains in record numbers.

Frank Busalacchi is chairman of the States for Passenger Rail Coalition (www.s4prc.org) and secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.