U.S. highways lose an average of $37 per car trip. Long car trips are far worse. Trips of over 1000 miles create highway losses of $403 - $987. Trucks are even worse, causing losses of as much as $6000 per trip. These are the losses above and beyond the amount collected by the puny federal gas tax which hasn't been raised in decades nor accounted for increased fuel efficiency. These losses also don't account for the feeder function of local roads which are paid for by property taxes.
Should taxpayers have some say in how much general budget money is spent on roads and subsidizing car passengers?
Oh, and airlines cost taxpayers an average of nearly $100 per traveler in paying for the air control, the FAA safety programs, the TSA, grants to build airports, essential air services. Only a small fraction of these expenses are every collected in user fees.
The subsidy is particularly egregrious for those flying in private jets, who pay less than 1% of the cost of the airports they use and the air traffic control services they receive - to say nothing of the congestion cost they impose on commercial plane travel.
Forty-one of Amtrak’s 44 routes lost money in 2008 and on average the railroad lost $32 per passenger, according to Pew’s Subsidyscope.
However, that average doesn’t show the vast range for Amtrak’s money-losing routes. Losses ranged from $5 to $462 per passenger, said Subsidyscope.
The line with the highest per passenger subsidy—the Sunset Limited, which runs from New Orleans to Los Angeles—carried almost 72,000 passengers last year. The California Zephyr, which runs from Chicago to San Francisco, had the second-highest per passenger subsidy of $193 and carried nearly 353,000 passengers in 2008. Pew’s analysis indicates that the average loss per passenger on all 44 of Amtrak’s lines was $32, about four times what the loss would be using Amtrak’s figures: only $8 per passenger. (Amtrak uses a different method for calculating route performance).
The Northeast Corridor line—think Washington D.C. to Philly to New York to Boston—carried 10.9 million people in 2008 and the Acela Express made a $41 per passenger profit. The Northeast Regional, the cheaper and more popular service, lost $5 per passenger.
The AP quotes one transportation wonk who notes that other forms of transportation also lose money, but the question remains. Should that taxpayer have a say in what routes Amtrak runs? And is subsidized rail travel a worthy cause?
Andrew Nusca: Is high-speed rail worth it in the U.S.?
John Dodge: High-speed rail is worth it
