There has been a fair amount of media coverage on the trend of Republican governors turning down Federal money for developing passenger railways. Randall O'toole is demonstrating his influence (read the Antiplanner for more on this subject) and this is being called an act of courage or stupidity depending on political orientation. I have a slightly different take on the subject, which reflects my bias as a daily MBTA commuter.
Money for rail travel, federal or otherwise, should focus on high density, short-trip heavy rail in cities that already have existing infrastructure. This gets the most bang for the buck and will help ease auto traffic congestion and improve air quality, etc.. Building medium-trip and long-range trip capacity in places that don't have a lot of density doesn't make sense at the moment. These options should be studied for the future, but places like Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia need a more robust rail system inside their metro areas.
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