A non-profit volunteer comunity-based action group, whose
mission
is to bring passenger rail service back to New Mexico
Red Herrings
-
A modern rail system is more expensive than a freeway.
- Actually, it isn't. You may
be thinking about bullet or "maglev" trains,
which are expensive (though
not more than a freeway). Appropriate passenger rail
solutions are much less expensive than
the high-profile, high-tech trains, and a downright bargain
compared to
the endless expansion of our highway systems.
-
Rail is not self-supporting.
- You have us there. Rail is
not
"self-supporting". No mode of transportion
in America is,
especially not automobiles.
-
Mass transportation is for the "transit dependent"
only.
- This is not only snobbish and
offensive, it is also
simply not true. All economic
classes will ride a well run inter-modal transportation system
anchored by rail.
-
You'll never get people out of their cars.
- Of course not. You can't put
tracks everywhere.
Seriously, ridership has soared beyond all expectations
everywhere rail has been introduced, including in some pretty
car-dependent states such as Texas.
-
More and better buses will solve the problem.
- Although large, small and express
buses are an
important part of the transit picture, the fact is that
nothing beats a train in most larger transportation
corridors. And many thousands of people will ride a train who
won't ride a bus. Also, commuter and light-rail systems
have been shown to increase bus, bicycle, and pedestrian use.
-
There are too many scheduling and liability problems
with Amtrak and the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe freight
railroad.
-
These problems have been and are being worked
out all over the West through good-faith negotiations.
-
Our population is too dispersed for an efficient rail
system.
- Not around Albuquerque and Santa Fe
and points south.
-
Everyone has the right to choose how they get around.
- You're preaching
to the choir. That's
why we're promoting more choice,
not less.