Long-distance passenger train travel has languished in the United States ever since the automobile and airplane took their places as the preferred modes of transportation. But several factors have come together in the last few years to make travel by rail more attractive.
First off, with the astronomical rise in the price of oil we saw over the course of 2009, many turned to train travel as a cheaper alternative than either flying or driving. Second, with the new restrictions and fees airlines have put on luggage, traveling with anything more than one bag has become a real headache on planes. Lastly, many people are turning to train travel as a low-carbon option of traveling long distances.
Although Amtrak may be the greener choice of the three, some questions still remain about the company’s overall environmental policies; and this is exactly what The Good Human argued today in an epilogue to a round-trip cross-country trip aboard Amtrak.
David’s argument went something like this: while train travel is a greener choice, Amtrak still has a long way to go in terms of greening what goes on inside the train itself. He writes:
“So while your trains are more efficient than traveling by air or car, and you are certainly doing your part to increase your efficiencies, I am afraid you are neglecting a big part of your environmental footprint – the inside of your trains. And as much as I wanted to, I could not have lugged all that plastic off the train myself, so it went right in the trash, where it was probably headed straight for a landfill in whatever city we stopped in.”
If I may, I suggest that Amtrak is not entirely to blame here. Our system of propping up airlines and giving priority to commercial freight over passenger rail has doomed the train to play second (or even third) fiddle. Trains are not money-makers and Amtrak is no exception. From the sounds of it, they are cutting some of their greener practices to shave a little off their expenses, but at what cost to the environment?
All those great trains in Europe and Asia that Americans love so much are great because the countries they operate in recognize the need to sink some money into them for them to be an attractive option (yes, that means subsidizing). But if we can subsidize banks, the auto-industry, insurance companies, to name a few, can’t we give a few more bucks to Amtrak?
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Image: Caveman 92223 via flickr under a Creative Commons License
About Timothy B. Hurst
I agree about the funding, for sure, but recycled content TP and paper towels cost the same as the "regular" ones, and they could ditch the plastic water bottles which would actually save money. Now if we can just get them the money they need to operate successfully – after all, we bailout the airlines every time they ask…
While the article interested me, the photo scared me. What in the world is going on with that girl's jeans? Do they really make pants you can't pull up?
@Allison:
Haha!
No, the picture was part of a group of photos on flickr that were titled: "29th Annual Moon the Amtrak." I could have gone with a picture of a train — and there are lots of good ones — but I thought this one helped me portray a little bit of snark in my tone.
I agree – yes Amtrak could do better (who couldn't?). But I don't think they are doing any worse than the airlines. Have you been on a plane recently? It isn't like they are recycling or using bio bags for trash and compostable plastic.
What we need is to fund a nationwide train system just like we need to fund mass transit in our cities. We need to understand that an adequate transportation system needs to be part of the commons and that we all benefit from it, even if we are prosperous enough to use a more private form of transit.
PS>
In college, I commuted to see my boyfriend via AMtrak. It was great. Four hours of homework time for a whopping $24 (roundtrip). That was in 1991.
The problem is that Congress issued a mandate to reduce food service cost onboard. So Amtrak eliminated
the china and dishwasher and replaced that person with high grade grade plastic “china”! I’m willing to bet that with the plastic “china” at 87 cents a plate and salad bowls at around 50 cents each, it would be cheaper to pay the dishwasher. Amtrak’s new CEO, Joeseph Boardman is said to be addressing this very issue.