All-In for Infrastructure: Who Derailed America?

In 1869, the ceremonial “Last Spike” of the world’s first transcontinental was driven into the ground at Promontory Heights, Utah. Not only did it revolutionize transportation in the United States, but also it instantly became a proud symbol of American progress, optimism, and audacity. Now, well over a century later, there is a great deal of uncertainty about America’s future as the United States seems lacking in the progressive optimism that brought it to the top. But the question I’m concerned with at the moment is much simpler, though perhaps equally enigmatic: What happened to the American rail system?

Well, it’s no mystery that the invention of airplanes and automobiles took a huge toll on rail companies. However, it doesn’t add up that rail companies have been completely outcompeted by car and air travel in the United States, since rail is far and away the most efficient of the three. Especially in an age where many consider “green” technology a high priority, it is staggering that cars continue to reign as Americans’ preferred form of transportation. Is it our individualism that prevents us from taking advantage of mass transit? Is the train too plebeian for middle class working Americans? (A brief glance at Amtrak’s exorbitant fares rules out the latter.) How much is our automobile addiction costing us? To answer this question I decided to do some research. WARNING: The following includes disturbing statistics that may horrify anyone who is even remotely interested in preserving the environment. According to a comprehensive 2009 traffic survey, Americans collectively spent 4.6 billion hours--or almost 500,000 years--stuck in traffic in 2007 alone. During that time, they burned enough fuel to fill 370,000 eighteen wheelers. In addition to the untold environmental cost, this needless waste amounts to $87.2 billion each year in fuel costs and lost productivity.

Now let’s look at Germany—a country reputed for its efficiency. Americans who travel to Germany are invariably impressed at the way you can get almost anywhere by a clean, fast, punctual train. A glance at the map of Berlin's subway system attests to Germany’s highly developed transportation infrastructure. German trains move over two billion passengers annually compared to Amtrak’s meager volume of thirty million passengers per year in the United States, in spite of the fact that the United States almost quadruples Germany in population. Throughout the European Union, train travel is vastly cheaper and more extensive than in the United States. This difference can largely be attributed to the fact that European voters have been willing to buy into their governments’ attempts at large scale structural improvements in transportation by paying higher taxes and taking public transit, whereas Americans prefer to sit in traffic listening to an NPR special on solar-powered camera straps.

The search for smarter “green” technologies should certainly be a priority, but more emphasis should be placed on smarter application of technologies that are already available. Rather than expanding that traffic- plagued stretch of six-lane highway to eight lanes, wouldn’t it be smarter to explore mass transit alternatives instead? Of course there is a high initial investment cost, but arguably the costs of needless waste and dependence on foreign oil are so great that we can’t afford not to make the transition. A strong commitment to modern transportation infrastructure is vital if the United States is going to get back on the right track.