Although I worked for several years in lower-level technical support, most of my carrer has been spent in and around the field of transportation, and I recently returned to it after a ten-year hiatus. What I have found most disturbing since that time is the increasing fragility of all modes of transport.
I’ll begin with the obvious. The Interstate Highway System today is a shadow of its former self. The few new highways have been built in predominately rural areas, plus additional lanes for commuters on the outskyrts of the major cities. Truck traffic, which boomed after the completion of the system simultaneousy with a spate of rail bankruptcies, probably does not pay a fair share of the higher maintenance costs; we essentially rebuild our interstates every twenty years or so. Funding is mostly through taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, and may diminish. So I don’t think it’s merely a coincidence that our highways have become increasingly vulnerable to foul weather.
As for the airlines, there is Southwest, and there is the rest of the world. Virtually every other carrier has endured, or flirted with bankruptcy due to the fickle nature of the markets and the complications of dealing with governments (which subsidize most of the infrastructure) on every level.
And finally, the railroads. About 50 major North American players in the late 1950’s have now been consolidated into six. And the boom in traffic in easy-to-handle containers has brought stability. But the railroad is an extremely capital-intensive mode, the right-of-way is privately-owned rather than furnished and maintined by the government, and the technology to increase capacity will be very expensive. Passenger and freight traffic don’t mix well, so building high-speed intercity networks along the lines of those in Europe isn’t likely without public participation carrying a whopping price tag.
So I’d like to get some input from the participants in these forums as to what’s most needed. I belong to a forum at another site which involves a transportation/statecraft crossover, and will be inviting their membership to review the posts submitted. Thanks.