Where does the money go?
Where does the money go?
Not to mention the fact that, with rare exception, the roads you drive on are also publicly subsidized.
Where does the money go?
Not at all, it's most assuredly widespread, especially in places like Europe, where they built a ton of rail infrastructure fifty and a hundred+ years ago and therefore can't justify building a system based on cheap new technology (say, monorail or passive maglev) which would be completely incompatible with existing rail lines.I get the vibe by this quote, mean, that you are under the impression that subsidized transportation is only an American "problem".
Which isn't to say there isn't profitable (or at least non-subsidized) rail transit in Europe: at least two of British Rail's 25 TOC's are profitable, and the whole system is on target to be profitable by 2005. The Paris Underground routinely turns a profit as well. Other than this, there are several rail transit systems in Asia which turn profits, including several in Japan and Hong Kong, as well as Singapore.
Granted, London, Paris, and Hong Kong are many times more densely populated than KC. This is a key to their profitability. 19th Century-style rail systems require high density to be profitable. Such a system would require massive subsidies if it were to be implemented in Kansas City. However, by deploying a system with construction, operating, and maintenance costs that are ten to one hundred times lower than "oldschool rail" I am convinced we could eliminate subsidies despite our disadvantage in the density department.
"It is not to my good friend's heresy that I impute his honesty. On the contrary, 'tis his honesty that has brought upon him the character of heretic." -- Ben Franklin