In their continuing competition against the freight railroads, the trucking industry is watching closely legislation to restrict the sizes and weights of their fleet: Most prominent is House Resolution (HR) 3132 seeking to cap truck/trailer length at 53 feet anywhere along the 156,000 National Highway System (NHS) -- not to be confused with the Interstate Highway System. Some exceptions remain but loopholes are plugged in the bill. A maximum of 80,000 pounds per vehicle is also included. Currently this load limit only applies to the 44,000-mile Interstate system.
Labeling the Amtrak Reform Council's 6-5 vote to start liquidation of the nation's passenger rail system as "the wrong decision at the wrong time," 21 U.S. senators have signed a letter to Pres. Bush urging that he keep Amtrak as part of the nation's transportation system. They assure the president that the Senate is not about to vote in favor of an Amtrak phase-out. But talk of liquidation is causing a downgrading of Amtrak's credit rating, they worry. Meanwhile, it appears September 11 has changed how Americans view their passenger trains with ridership up 21% or better, and an entire new look by Congress.
The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is considering a $7 billion tax-free bond issue for Amtrak meaning that interest paid on such debt would be exempt of federal income taxes. There is uncertainty if this legislation should be included in the president's economic stimulus package.
Continental Airlines, with a hub at Newark, N.J., and American, building a new terminal at Kennedy, have each expressed an interest in improved rail connections from downtown Manhattan. NJ Transit trains can now make it from Penn Station in 18 minutes. Before the attacks, the NY/NJ Port Authority, owner of the World Trade Towers, was constructing a monorail extension to Newark financed by a $3 departure fee. Meanwhile hearings have been held on toll increases for motorists entering Manhattan, and an increase in PATH fares.
Governors of eight states have written to Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta stressing that leadership is badly needed to preserve and further develop intercity passenger rail. This in contrast to another proposal to liquidate Amtrak, the nation's passenger rail system. The governors -- Pataki of New York, Dean of Vermont, Rowland of Connecticut, King of Maine, Swift of Massachusetts, DiFrancesco of New Jersey, Almond of Rhode Island, and even Shaheen of New Hampshire -- citing hundreds of millions in state matching funds, emphasize the importance of the North East Corridor, one of the region's lifelines, and other routes.
The multi-billion dollar Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, on the Congressional "fast-track," was signed into law just 11 days after the terrorist attacks. It compensates the nation's airlines for losses suffered from the attacks including the federal shutdown of the air traffic system leading some rail advocates to question the label "subsidy" long applied to their industry. Enactment of this legislation has raised old questions of what constitutes a transportation subsidy, direct and indirect.
