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The federal share of the project was $900 million (about 18%), the balance from state and local sources.
But raising $4+ billion from local and state sources was a difficult challenge that took lots of political and economic deals. Now unwound by a single bureaucratic move.
Best Hopes for 90% Federal Funding for Urban Rail, just like the funding for the Interstate Highway System,
Alan
More and more, depending on the Fed will be futile.
Better is to go the Eisenhower Interstate route:
That this is indispensible to the Pentagon.
Pentagon rail to Dulles?
Yeah, I know - I live in the middle of this area. If this project had gone through, we would have a station walking distance from home. They had actually gone so far as to start some of the utility relocation.
It is far too early to say where things go from here. There is a public meeting next Monday of the task force that the county has set up to work up a new master plan for the area - I would be tempted to go to see what the consensus is.
Our state government isn't in a good shape right now. The House is held by the Republicans who refuse to consider *any* form of tax increase whatsoever. Our state gas tax is among the lowest in the nation, but any increase whatsoever is out of the question. Yet 'transportation' is always one of the things highest on the list of things that people want (primarily more roads, I guess, but things like rail and bike lanes also have trouble).
Last session they went so far as to pass a set of "abuser fees" - essentially fines to people with bad driving records can can amount to thousands of dollars, and the author of the bill was of course an attorney who specializes in traffic cases. No, no conflict of interest there. That was the Republican solution to raising money for transportation projects. The outrage has been so great that they are in the process of undoing that - even the author of the bill has bailed on the concept.
I live in the area as well. The Post article mentions a new 1% car tax on new vehicle sales, and three bills under consideration contain a gas tax increase.
No tax at all up to 2.0 liters, then $500/liter for used and $1,000/liter for new each time they change hands. Utility vehicles might get different treatment, but they have to be utility vehicles, not this minivan/SUV stuff sneaking through.
Last year I had to take a flight to DC. I chose National over Balt or Dulles in spite of the higher cost and scheduling problems. The ease of getting on the subway made all the difference in the world. Still impressed by it.
Don't you mean Reagan National
Yes, Ronald Reagan National Airport over Baltimore-Washington International Airport or John Foster Dulles International Airport. With all the acronyms on this site, I thought an abbreviation might be tolerated.
BTW, wasn't it George Washington National Airport originally? And how does it keep the name National when, I think, international flights leave from there?
I can drive MY VEHICLE on any road in the USA. Railroads, including the right-of-way, rail beds and rail traffic control systems are all privately owned by companies with no desire to support efficient low cost rail systems with any real level of competitioon between companies supplying service on the rail system.
If the government would acquire all the railroad right-of-way, trackage and railroad traffic control systems nation wide and then open access to those rails to any private enterprise, Then I would give strong support to rail. This type of public/private operation works very well for both highways and airways and could work equally well for rails.
Can you imagine if trucking companies owned all the highways and only the one company that owned each segment of the road could operate on that segment and NO public vehicles were permitted on the road? Or if all the airways were owned by the individual airline companies and only each airline that owned that particular part of the airways was allowed to operate in that air space and NO corporate/private avaition was allowed to operate at all?
I can not give support to continued massive financial support for antiquated structures like our current all private rail systems. It simply does not work to the benefit of the public. Even 100 to 150 years ago people used horses and horse & buggies for transportation becasue railroads were not organised to provide the transportation they needed.
In my dreams, each state would have a single RR system. It would be owned by the public, but not by the government. Instead, an elected board of trustees would be responsible for operating the system in the public interest, and be accountable directly to the voting public. If people wanted more/better rail service, all they would need to do is vote in trustees that were dedicated to doing that, and to pay the increased fares that this would require. Those wanting absolutely lowest fares could vote for that ticket, and they would then get what they pay for. Providing the citizenry with a direct political feedback loop in addition to the economic feedback loop of the marketplace would best assure an outcome that is both socially and economically optimal.
This arrangement would cover both passenger and freight, which would all be under the same management. This would eliminate the problem of Amtrak being a 2nd class citizen because it doesn't own the rails it runs on.
Routes that crossed state lines could be operated on a cooperative or joint-venture basis between the two neighboring states. I would not envision any route that ran longer than between two cities; traveling longer distances by rail would require changing trains at each city.
This arrangement would get the federal government out of the railroad business altogether, except possibly to arbitrate any disputes between states. It would also get corporations out of the railroad business.
I think this would work great if we could ever get it set up. Working out the financing for the initial buyout, and getting both the FedGov and the corporations out of the way would be the really difficult part.
Community investment trusts. Doesn't have to be only at state level, but could work fine at muni or regional level too. Requirement that ownership, investment and control remain within a bounded geographic area. That form of ownership is a very good replacement for corporations. Which, of course, is why corporations try to stop them, a classic example being the big telcos attacks on muni wireless and the demise of community cable tv.
Historically, it was this sort of coop that wired and powered the rural areas in US.
cfm in Gray, ME
I can drive MY VEHICLE on any road in the USA.
Nope. A few 'roads' have restrictions. Like number or people, weight, or if you have or have not paid a toll.
If the government would acquire all the railroad right-of-way, trackage and railroad traffic control systems nation wide and then open access to those rails to any private enterprise, Then I would give strong support to rail.
Not necessary - under the natural monopoly concept, the government can say 'yes you own the railway, now you must allow others on it at X regulated price'