The U.S. ought to Privatize Amtrak

Argument: The United States is sadly behind in public transportation development. Most developed countries around the world have advanced and extensive public transportation systems. Japan, South Korea, and Europe all have some of the most advanced in the world meanwhile the United States has little to show. The United States should not be this far behind and could learn something from the international community on how to manage this form of transportation. All of the leading nations in railway transportation heavily subsidize and even manage their railway system with great success. Japan, South Korea, and the European Union all greatly subsidize or even own their railway system. Japan’s Japanese National Railways is owned by their government and is it is the most successful and advanced in the world. [1] I see no evidence that ending government subsidies will help Amtrak become a more efficient or effective company. Amtrak executives already invest a great deal of effort in managing the organization to create success and have accomplished continuing success. [2] According to Amtrak’s National Fact Sheet FY: 2012 they made $2.877 billion in revenue and covered 88% of their own expenses without subsidies. [3] However, they can use the additional subsidy money for further development to quickly become a more successful railway mass transit system. Amtrak’s management has proven time and time again that they are competent as they are. You fail to cite sources to prove your case on how ending subsidies will result in improving Amtrak’s management. Your BoP is not fulfilled in that regard. There is growing demand for railway transport in the United States and around the world. Railways can be seen as a transportation system for the future. Amtrak as broken nine ridership records in the last ten years from 2012 and is at its highest since they started operations in 1971. From FY 2000 to FT 2012, Amtrak saw a 49% increase in ridership. Amtrak carried 31.2 million passengers in 2012 alone; that is over 85,000 passengers a day. Joe Boardman, President and CEO of Amtrak, said, "Ridership will continue to grow because of key investments made by Amtrak and our federal and state partners to improve on-time performance, reliability, capacity and train speeds." He emphasized their need to keep their government subsidies in order to continue to develop their continued success as a mass transit system should be. [4] Even Amtrak’s long distance routes, the focus of Amtrak’s apparent failures, are seeing a steady increase in ridership. Amtrak saw a 4.7% increase in ridership on those particular routes in 2012. There has been a boom in attraction toward train travel in recent years as reflected in Amtrak’s reports. July 2012 was Amtrak’s best month in their entire history. The government should continue to invest in this organization because it is in our economic interest. [5]Comparisons: Mode Revenue Per Passenger Mile Energy Consumption Per Passenger Mile Deaths Per million passenger miles Reliability Domestic Airlines 13.0¢ 2,931 BTUs 0.00 deaths 81.9% Transit Buses 12.9¢ 2,656 BTUs 0.06 deaths N/A Amtrak 30.7¢ 1,735 BTUs 0.03 deaths 83% Autos N/A 3,501 BTUs 0.48 deaths N/A [6] Amtrak is continuing to evolve further in technology and effectiveness as a mass transit system with government subsidized backing. Amtrak is building the equipment, infrastructure and organization it needs to sustain growing ridership. They are investing in projects that will enhance passenger experience, sustain the national passenger network, provide much-needed capacity and improve reliability and safety. [7] In 2013 Amtrak unveiled new locomotives built by Siemens that will be operating in the Northeastern U.S. on some of their busiest rails. The trains cost about $466 million and would not have been possible without significant government subsidy. The trains are built to be far more energy efficient, greener, easier to maintain, and have higher performance than many of their older, obsolete models. [8] Works Cited: [3] Amtrak. http://www.amtrak.com.... May 2013. 2 August 2014. [4] —. http://www.amtrak.com.... 10 October 2012. 2 August 2014. [8] —. http://www.amtrak.com.... 13 May 2013. 2 August 2014. [7] —. http://www.amtrak.com.... 2013. 2 August 2014. [1] Expatior. http://expatior.com.... 2014. 2 August 2014. [5] Jaffe, Eric. http://www.citylab.com.... 19 October 2012. 2 August 2014. [2] Stolberg, John. http://www.railroad.net.... 6 February 2014. 2 August 2014. [6] Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org.... 26 July 2014. 2 August 2014. Rebuttals: “One reason Amtrak should be privatized is because the federal subsidies are simply a waste of money. The Amtrak Corporation — funded by the federal government — has "generated huge losses... each and every year of its existence" [1]. In FY2015 alone, U.S. taxpayers are projected to spend $1.5 billion for Amtrak subsidies [2].” I would argue that “huge losses” is an exaggeration. While $1.5 is projected for Amtrak’s subsidy in 2015 it is actually quite insignificant when compared to other transit budgets. In 2008 the government funds the Highway Trust Fund $10 billion, the FAA $2.7 billion (I covered earlier that Amtrak is more efficient domestically), and $8 billion goes to safety on cruise ships (private cruise liners). Additionally, the annual $1.5 billion that would go to Amtrak only accounts to less than $5 per American citizen in taxes. Source: - http://www.reuters.com...