Suppose you want to get to Dallas from Fayetteville. It's 333 miles by car amounting to 5 1/2 hours one way, not counting stops for gasoline, eating and unwinding your cramped body. The American Automobile Association estimates it costs 60 cents a mile--$400 for the round trip. Or you could fly. The flight takes only 70 minutes, but the downtown-to-downtown trip costs $550 (round trip) and takes 4 hours each way including check-in and ground transportation at both ends.
Or you could take fast rail, with comfortable seating that stretches out for sleeping plus spacious accommodations for walking, eating, drinking, television, reading, etc. This will cost you $160 for the top-rated "business-class" round-trip and take 3 1/2 hours each way, downtown to downtown, including six stops.
The only problem is, you'd have to be in China. Chinese rail runs seven daily "G" trains from Wuhan to Nanjing, 338 miles each way (comparable to Fayetteville-Dallas). Check it out by searching on "high-speed rail in China." Marie and I took China's maglev train out of Shanghai in 2008; as we watched the in-train speedometer climb to 270 mph, we wondered why America couldn't have this.
Modern transportation is a significant mark of a great nation. America trails far behind nearly every European nation in this regard, and behind rising nations such as China. Nothing illustrates our third-rate status better than the plight of passenger rail. Driven by our conservative fear of government, we have a plethora of cars and trucks and a near-absence of trains. Arkansas, for example, has $20 billion in road "needs" over the next 10 years, and only $4 billion in revenue to pay for it. This is despite a new sales tax in 2012 that financed a $1.8 billion program to widen highways--money poured down an unsustainable drain. There's a similar disaster at the federal level. Roads are congested, infrastructure is crumbling and trains are nearly non-existent. We lack even the means to install positive train control to prevent the kind of wreck that killed eight and injured 200 recently on our typically old and slow trains.
Contrasting sharply with America's stubborn opposition to high-speed rail, other nations recognize the value of passenger trains. In China, tens of thousands have taken to the streets because they have seen neighboring cities prosper from high-speed rail and they demand the same for their city. Think of what it would mean to be able to get on a fast train to Little Rock, Tulsa, Kansas City, Dallas or Denver. It would de-congest our highways, and brighten our lives.
Things will change, but it will take a while. There has been progress toward high-speed rail in Texas, Minnesota, Illinois, and California. California's project is currently under construction, with Phase 1 planned to connect Los Angeles with San Francisco, but it will take until 2029 to finish.
A big part of the problem is America's confusion about government subsidies. People oppose government support for rail while ignoring our enormous automobile subsidies. Drivers pay for only a fraction of the cost of roads. Serious studies by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, energy expert Charles Komanoff and the International Center for Technology Assessment estimate the true cost of driving at $15 to $25 per gallon. Other nations know this, and raise their gasoline taxes accordingly so that users come closer to paying their actual costs. This of course reduces automobile use and increases mass transit. It's democratic capitalism in action.
Northwest Arkansas has taken some wonderful steps in progressive transportation recently, with its enormously popular trails system. The healthy spirit is contagious. From Bella Vista to Fayetteville people are walking more, running more and bicycling more. During the bad old days of the 1990s, Fayetteville aldermen and some businessmen grumbled about bicycle lanes of any kind, and commented that bikes are only for little kids. Tell that to the adults and oldsters who are out there on their bikes today!
We need a similar spirit on behalf of commuter rail. Northwest Arkansas is perfectly aligned for local rail that would connect Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, Bentonville, Bella Vista, and XNA airport. Years ago, the University of Arkansas Community Design Center developed plans for such a sustainable and humane system. We need to stop throwing money at unsustainable urban freeways and begin investing in something more rational. A 21st century mass transit system would be the perfect jewel in Northwest Arkansas' crown.
We need to get out of our cars and onto our feet, onto our bicycles and onto the train.
Commentary on 06/23/2015