Joe Boardman, Amtrak’s president, appeared before a Congressional committee today and some interesting nuggets can be found in his prepared remarks. On the subject of long distance trains, Boardman used the California Zephyr as a specific example. He chose the Zephyr because its route is the longest of all Amtrak trains, traversing 2438 miles between…
It’s no secret that Republicans in Congress, egged on by conservative pundits like Michael Barone and libertarian “think tanks” like the Cato Institute, have been critical of Amtrak for years. Their hot button is the annual subsidy Amtrak gets from the federal government. (They’re agin it.) Among transportation experts, however, it’s accepted as a certainty…
Congressman John Mica (R-FL) has a great deal of influence over our country’s transportation infrastructure. And that’s a damn shame. Mica, you see, is out to get Amtrak and he uses his bully pulpit to disparage the railroad every chance he gets. Unfortunately, as the powerful chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Mica…
I’ve just returned from the annual NARP* meeting in Washington, DC, and as always there was a great deal of interest to absorb. I suppose it’s my background in advertising and marketing, but I am always drawn to the concise statements of fact that clearly illustrate the point to be made. Certainly that’s important in…