The Little Engine That Could

Thousands of people and companies have discovered a great way to decrease emissions and save money at the same time. There doesn’t have to be a tradeoff between protecting the earth and enjoying cheap, convenient travel and commerce. Rail travel and shipping are very obvious ways to decrease the environmental impact of our way of life without new economic costs. An extensive network of tracks rivaling our interstate highway system already exists, and lays waiting for us to use its full capacity.

Many individuals and commercial entities have already caught on to the benefits of railway use. Ridership on Amtrak, our nation’s only high-speed intercity rail line, has increased an average of 1.8 percent each year since 1991. Likewise, since 1980, freight rail use as a percentage of all available modes of transportation has gone from 30% in 1980 to 42% in 2006. Shippers and travelers have consistently been drawn to rail travel over recent decades.

The Obama administration has identified infrastructural improvement as a key aspect of its economic recovery plan, and has gone as far as to allocate funds for rail projects and empower the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to develop a national rail plan for long term development. The FRA’s Preliminary National Rail Plan identifies safety, reliability, and relatively lower logistic costs as key features driving the increased use of our railways. In other words, users do not select rail because of their environmental concerns; they select it because of practical considerations of cost, convenience, and whether they or their shipments will arrive on time. The plan highlights pronounced environmental benefits as secondary effects of the increased use that will come with infrastructural improvement. For example, passenger rail travel uses an average of 21% less energy per passenger mile than automobile travel; freight transportation is between 1.9 and 5.5 times more energy efficient than trucking, with greater benefit at longer distances; and easily accessible intercity rail reduces highway congestion and creates attractive urban living environments, which have a host of environmental benefits of their own.

The railway industry stands alone among forms of overland transportation in that it finances the construction of its own infrastructure. Where highways are financed by federal, state, and local agencies and provided as a public good, rail freight companies have been largely responsible for investment in track laying, procuring right-of-way, and providing connections with other modes of transport. The industry even pays property taxes for land it owns and operates on. All of this is financed through shipping charges and fares. This proven viability under market conditions means that the rail industry is more than adequately poised to take advantage of funds made available by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.

Our railways present an easy opportunity to significantly reduce our national carbon footprint. Even given the need for expanded capacity and new passenger lines, right-of-way is already long established along the lines of our present rail corridors. With all these advantages, intercity rail may seem like a cure-all for our transportation problems. However, a straight line from point A to point B is rarely an easy or unobstructed route, no matter how you travel.

National promotion of rail shipping and travel is sure to encounter opposition from the automotive and petroleum industries. The automakers and oil producers depend on our continued use of personal cars to get to and from work, shopping and tourist destinations, and anywhere else we go (as well as government handouts and continued instability in the Middle East). They have a long history of opposition to railway use; between the late 1930s and 1950, GM, Firestone, Standard Oil, and a couple other companies even went as far as to form monopolistic holding companies to buy floundering electric streetcar lines and replace them with bus services in these areas.

Even without industry conspiracy, Americans’ own attitudes may be the greatest barrier to increased rail use. Millions of people ride the rails every day, but millions more drive to work, the store, and other destinations. Whereas the value or moving freight by rail is becoming increasingly evident to many companies, passenger rail use requires lifestyle adjustments. First, a rail commuter or traveler is constrained by a train schedule. She may have to walk a couple blocks from a train station to her destination, rather than travelling directly from door to door. She might have to go through transfers, interchanges, or worst of all, have to spend time in close proximity with her fellow rail travelers on a daily basis. Whether we care to admit it or, our love of convenience is a cornerstone of the culture of the car, and a major barrier to the widespread adoption of passenger rail.

Increased rail use and capacity is inevitable. Commercial freight companies can and do invest in the infrastructural improvements necessary to their industry, and enjoy an increasing share of the overland shipping market. However, on the passenger side, we’ve got a lot of catching up to do. U.S. ridership, average speed, and access to passenger rail all lag behind all other industrial nations. Hopefully nothing will derail the administration’s attempts to at least give us the option of enjoying fast, efficient intercity rail travel.

Source:

1. FRA Preliminary National Rail Plan, http://www.fra.dot.gov/Downloads/RailPlanPrelim10-15.pdf