Highways had more bailouts in 4 years than rail did in 4 decades says Amtrak to critics
Skift Take
To get proper perspective on federal and state support for rail, it's about time rail advocates began yelling loudly about the true cost of highways and how it dwarfs anything given to subsidize rail.
The head of Amtrak defended U.S. support of the railroad’s operations, saying highways have received more emergency help from U.S. taxpayers in the past four years than Amtrak has gotten in its 41-year history.
“In the past four years, the federal government has appropriated $53.3 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to bail out the highway trust fund,” Amtrak Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman said in testimony at a congressional hearing today. “That’
