RAILforum: D.O.T. Sec'y Mineta reveals his ignorance of several things Amtrak

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Posted by CG96 (Member # 1408) on :

Go to http://www.narprail.org , then select "hotline," and click on the March 5 link. Post your comments below.

I can't beleive that someone hasn't posted this so far. Note that Mineta cites figures according to "per-passenger," while the correct and accurate measurement rubrik is per Revenue Passenger Mile. Also notice how he cites figures only comparing airfare for the two endpoints of one certain route, then uses that figure to draw eneralizations and conclusions regarding the system as a whole. I guess folks who travel from one mid-point to another don't count, or that people only travel from end-point to end-point. i wonder what the prices would be if someone tried to get airfare from Savannah, GA, to MSP, or Minot ND, or Spokane, WA. some folks at the D.O.T. apparently think that people only travel from one large market to the next. I could go on. One more thing to note was that congressman Istook attended this meeting, but our favorite opponent of Amtrak, Mr. McCain, was absent.

Post your comments / remarks below.

Posted by Mr. Toy (Member # 311) on :

With all due respect

Mineta is proving to be even dumber than I thought. Sealing up trains through states that don't want to pay for them is just nutty. For a Democrat, he seems awfully susceptible to extreme right wing-nut propoganda. He has been a real disappointment. For someone who was instrumental in creating the Capitol Corridor, he should have a far better grasp of rail issues.

(Note to normal, intelligent right wingers, I wasn't referring to you as wing-nuts. The wing-nuts are the unintelligent ones.)

------------------
Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car

Posted by Mike Smith (Member # 447) on :

No offense taken, Mr. Toy.

It's a mystery as to why President Bush kept Mineta as Sec Trans... He is not friendly to Amtrak and real friendly to the airlines.
(Wonder if he's having an affair with Sen Daschle's wife?)

[This message has been edited by mikesmith (edited 03-06-2004).]

Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :

Now, now Mike. That was a low blow in what is otherwise polite political debate. Why pick on a guy from a state with no Amtrak service? Are you inferring that if someone is a Democrat they have lower morals than say, President Bush's brother Neil?

Couldn't Mineta be locked in a room with HEW Sec. Tommy Thompson (an energetic Amtrak advocate) and Sen. Hutchison until they properly educate him? Statements like Mineta's and Istook's (that Amtrak threatened to shut down if they got less than 1.8 bil. -not true) should be challenged by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :

I will strongly resist temptation to get on the the extraneous (to the issue at hand) views, mentality and morals or lack thereof concerning various people in politics. Let's add Trent Lott and Olympia Snowe (is that right for the Maine senator?) to that room. Let's also remember that the biggest bloodbath that Amtrak took was under Carter. With politicians in general, turn off the sound and watch the action, and the action is how they vote and who benefits.

Posted by George Harris (Member # 2077) on :

Oh yes, lest we forget, The whole point of the "per passenger" figures rather than the "per passenger mile" figures is to make the northeast corridor look good by making the 90 mile New York to Philadelphia passenger equal to the 3000 mile Jacksonville to Los Angeles passenger.

Given the well known historic large fraction that terminal costs play in railroad operations, for anyone to think that short haul has the potential of being more profitable than long haul is a denial of reality.