A Different Perspective... (CATO Institute and others)

There is lots of research showing that building more road capacity just results in the same congestion. The more capacity that is built, the more people move to areas to make use of that capacity. Widening roadways is a fool's errand.

This article explains it well: https://www.wired.com/2014/06/wuwt-traf ... ed-demand/

Well, I have been through all this passenger rail advocacy for over fifty years since I was a teeneager.

Outside of NEC, Amtrak has a small impact on travel plans, I am sorry but much of the network could go away with little effect. But the NEC would lose its funding the next fiscal year. In fact, that is only reason for the rest of the network to get the support for the funding of the NEC. It has been that way for fifty years and still it goes on.

There are good points to CATO and rail advocate groups and both are out of touch in some ways.

Intercity railroads vs highways always seem to be a matter of discussion here. Well off hand something that should be noted, highways go everywhere while passenger trains do not. Some pundits will say it is not that bad. Well, lets look at the 100 largest cities in the USA and count how many of them are served directly by Amtrak with trains.
1. New York, NY Yes Yes
2. Los Angeles, CA Yes Yes
3. Chicago, IL Yes Yes
4. Brooklyn, NY No No
5. Queens, NY No No
6. Houston, TX Yes No
7. Manhattan, NY Yes Yes
8. Philadelphia, PA Yes Yes
9. Phoenix, AZ No No
10. San Antonio, TX Yes No
11. Bronx, NY No No
12. San Diego, CA Yes Yes
13. Dallas, TX Yes No
14. San Jose, CA Yes Yes
15. East San Gabriel Valley, CA No No
16. Austin, TX Yes No
17. Jacksonville, FL Yes No
18. San Francisco, CA No No
19. Indianapolis, IN Yes No
20. Columbus, OH No No
21. Fort Worth, TX Yes Yes
22. Charlotte, NC Yes Yes
23. Detroit, MI Yes Yes
24. El Paso, TX Yes No
25. Seattle, WA Yes Yes
26. Denver, CO Yes No
27. Washington, DC Yes Yes
28. Memphis, TN Yes No
29. Boston, MA Yes Yes
30. Nashville-Davidson, TN No No
31. Baltimore, MD Yes Yes
32. Metropolitan Government, TN No No
33. Oklahoma City, OK Yes Yes
34. Portland, OR Yes Yes
35. Las Vegas, NV No No
36. Milwaukee, WI Yes Yes
37. Albuquerque, NM Yes No
38. Tucson, AZ Yes No
39. Fresno, CA Yes Yes
40. East Seattle, WA No No
41. Central Contra Costa, CA Yes Yes
42. Sacramento, CA Yes Yes
43. Staten Island, NY No No
44. Long Beach, CA Yes Yes
45. Northeast Tarrant, TX No No
46. Kansas City, MO Yes Yes
47. Mesa, AZ No No
48. Northwest Harris, TX No No
49. Atlanta, GA Yes No
50. Northeast Jefferson, CO No No
51. Virginia Beach, VA Yes Yes
52. Omaha, NE Yes No
53. Colorado Springs, CO No No
54. Raleigh, NC Yes Yes
55. Miami, FL Yes No
56. Oakland, CA Yes Yes
57. Minneapolis, MN No No
58. Tulsa, OK No No
59. Cleveland, OH Yes No
60. Wichita, KS No No
61. New Orleans, LA Yes No
62. Arlington, TX No No
63. North Coast, CA No No
64. Honolulu, HI No No
65. Bakersfield, CA Yes Yes
66. Tampa, FL Yes No
67. Aurora, CO No No
68. Urban Honolulu, HI No No
69. Anaheim, CA Yes Yes
70. Kendale Lakes-Lindgren Acres, FL No No
71. Santa Ana, CA Yes Yes
72. South Aurora, CO No No
73. Upper San Gabriel Valley, CA No No
74. Southwest San Gabriel Valley, CA No No
75. Corpus Christi, TX No No
76. Riverside, CA Yes No
77. St. Louis, MO Yes Yes
78. Lexington-Fayette, KY No No
79. West Adams, CO No No
80. Pittsburgh, PA Yes Yes
81. Stockton, CA Yes Yes
82. Anchorage, AK No No
83. South Coast, CA Yes Yes
84. Cincinnati, OH Yes No
85. St. Paul, MN Yes No
86. Southeast Montgomery, TX No No
87. Fayette, KY No No
88. Greensboro, NC Yes Yes
89. Toledo, OH Yes No
90. Newark, NJ Yes Yes
91. Ewa, HI No No
92. Plano, TX No No
93. Henderson, NV No No
94. Lincoln, NE Yes No
95. Louisville, KY No No
96. Orlando, FL Yes No
97. Jersey City, NJ No No
98. Chula Vista, CA No No
99. Buffalo, NY Yes Yes
100. Fort Wayne, IN No No
First row "any" Amtrak train service, yes 58 and no 42
Second row "daily" Amtrak service after long distance cutbacks, yes 35 and no 65
All 100 have highways, and just one -Ewa- does not have an Interstate Highway or its equivalent.

How supportive will Congress be after the cuts for a national passenger railroad?

I would like to point out that #4. Brooklyn, NY , #5. Queens, NY, #7 Manhattan, NY, #11. Bronx, NY and #43. Staten Island are boroughs of NEW YORK CITY, in fact they are separate COUNTIES, New York (Manhattan), Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Bronx and Richmond (Staten Island).
The sign, “Welcome to Brooklyn, the fourth largest city in America,” was seen in the opening credits of the hit 1970’s sitcom, Welcome back, Kotter.

#91 Ewa is also not a city, it is a "census designated place" within the city of Honolulu.
#68. Urban Honolulu, HI, #63 North Coast, CA, #72 South Aurora, CO, #73. Upper San Gabriel Valley, CA, #74. Southwest San Gabriel Valley, CA, #86. Southeast Montgomery, TX and others are also not incorporated cities but seem to be population "areas".

Of course none of this more precise geography detracts from your basic thesis.

BTW, I think you mean columns, nor rows. (and might want to edit to put that note at the top. I was confused until I found the note).