ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 20, 1997 TAG: 9702200004
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: VICKI DUNAWAY
THE HEADLINE on your Feb. 4 editorial, ``Highways aren't the only path,'' was certainly agreeable enough, and I agreed with most of the statements made. But glaringly missing was a plea for some other type of reliable, easy-to-use long-distance transportation, i.e., rail service.
After calling an airline recently and finding that it would cost $875 round trip from Charlotte, N.C., to Little Rock, Ark. (about 800 miles, traveling southwest), I called Amtrak to see what it could offer.
The poor operator apologetically told me that Amtrak's path would take me first to Washington, D.C. (northeast), then to Chicago (northwest), and then to Little Rock (south), and would take two days.
I laughed at the absurdity of such a trip, but in reality it's no laughing matter. When our only alternative to highway travel is by air, we're talking about most Americans being grounded should there come a time when fossil fuel becomes scarce and expensive.
With my car having more than 232,000 miles on it, I am already unable to travel more than a few hundred miles. And there are going to be a lot of elderly baby boomers soon who cannot drive and do not want to fly. The major airports are already the stuff of nightmares.
For once, could we in this country really look ahead? What if we took all the funds earmarked for new highways (including the ``stupid road'') for the next 10 years, and invested them in the beginnings of a nationwide, high-speed rail transportation system that would be accessible to everyone?
This isn't my idea, or even a new idea. Why hasn't anything happened? Is it just too farsighted to be politically advantageous?
Back when they were building Metro around Washington, D.C., some outlying towns withheld their support because they felt ridership wouldn't justify the funds they contributed. But when the Metro stations were finally built in those places, ridership far exceeded initial expectations.
We cannot compare ridership on Amtrak - with its outdated equipment, ridiculous schedules, bus trips and layovers - with what might be possible if a decent passenger-rail system existed to every city with, say, more than 100,000 people. There could be privately operated shuttle connections to other areas (how many new jobs would that create?) that might also serve the airlines.
Rail travel can be economical, pleasant and relatively relaxing compared with other forms of transportation. Wouldn't it be great for kids traveling between separated parents, for college students away from home, for the elderly, for those who cannot afford air travel? What a project for our citizens to unite behind!
Vicki Dunaway of Willis is a part-time market gardener.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB