75 years ago, $1 out of every $20 earned by the poorest US households went to transportation. Today that burden has exploded to $1 out of every $3. What was once a minor cost has become a massive, mandatory tax on simply getting to work.
Cars are killing household finances. The solution: More high-quality options to driving. Legalize transportation freedom!
Good news. But, we hope @Amtrak will also announce a heavy re-build program for the Superliner fleet used on the western long-distance trains and the AutoTrain. It is unlikely the Superliners will last through the procurement period without it:
www.allaboardohio.org/posts/finall...
"One more lane" doesn't work. It's time to stop adding lane-miles. Instead we need to fix what we have and invest in high-quality options to driving.
www.strongtowns.org/journal/2026...
Figure is an Amtrak internal notice of the cancellation of today's Lake Shore Limited and a cancellation of the alternate bus service between Albany and Boston that had been set up.
Today's Lakeshore Limited was canceled due to a lack of equipment from a late arrival of yesterday's train. The "richest country in the world" cannot seem to get its act together enough to provide itself with reliable passenger rail service.
Another one for the reading list...
www.henriettalmoore.com/road-kill
Amtrak employee saw me dragging kids and luggage through the train hall and stopped mid convo to bring me to priority boarding and I am weeping with gratitude.
Shoutout to Amtrak's front line employees, They save Amtrak's reputation more than anything. @amtrak.com
It's interesting to note that this is a Siemens-made ICE train. Siemens makes Amtrak's Venture cars and soon-to-be-launched Airo trainsets.
Image shows a seat on a Siemens-made ICE train with an electronic display showing the city pair between which the seat is reserved.
When a country invests in its passenger rail system, there are lots of small benefits too. This info is updated at each station stop. Crews don't have to bother keeping track of seats like Amtrak crews have to. Passengers know the specific seat(s) they reserved will be available when they board.
The inefficiency of the American transportation system and land-use patterns cannot be understated. I just spent 1.5 hrs running errands to three stores. I put 10 miles on my car because there are no other efficient options and everything is so spread out.
Transportation freedom means more high-quality choices. If you drive, you do it because you want to, not because you have to.
...the unreliability of Siemens Mobility's Charger locomotives and the lack of robust, contractually mandated emergency response procedures between Midwest states (they pay for the equipment pool and operations) and Amtrak.
We agree with @railpassengers.org. This is another inexcusable failure at every level and every party involved. We should not dump all the blame on Amtrak. They are partly at fault, but there is also (continues 🡓)... www.railpassengers.org/happening-no...
I thought they said no one rides Amtrak's long-distance trains....Booked a short coach trip on Amtrak's Coast Starlight this wknd (San Jose-Paso Robles). Coach is sold out on 1/18 and 1/19 (Paso Robles to San Jose). Our choice for the way back is either an Amtrak Thruway bus or $273 for a roomette.
Ohio, an economy the size of Switzerland, sees just 48 trains a week and has no rail links between its major cities. yet the station found $600 million for a new Cleveland Browns statium, 136X more than it plans to spend on rail projects over the next two years
Cars are killing household finances. It's important to add that car debt in the U.S. surpassed student loan debt 2 1/2 years ago. LEGALIZE TRANSPORTATION FREEDOM usa.streetsblog.org/2026/01/07/t...
Concrete bridge structure against a blue sky with clouds, featuring text about successful transportation investment.
Close-up of steel beams extending from a bridge under construction against a blue sky with clouds.
“We keep adding lane-miles to networks we can’t afford to care for, while telling ourselves that the next project will finally deliver the returns the last one didn’t.” —Charles Marohn
Read more in “Transportation After the Age of Expansion” on our site. https://ow.ly/er9l50XUgvy
“The places that seem to be doing the best in terms of economic efficiency, traffic safety, social equity, and environmental sustainability are frequently the places with the fewest highways and major arterials per capita.”
islandpress.org/books/overbu...
The California High-Speed Rail Authority made an excellent decision hiring Ian Choudry as CEO. Private sector partners are now being brought in to help fund the project.
www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/califor...
thehumanecosystem.city has assembled data for 125 US cities on the negative economic impacts of urban highways. Reduced land value on adjacent property, land taken off tax roles, etc. Among other impacts, it's reducing tax revenue in Cleveland, Ohio by 26.5%:
18% of Americans want to go car-free. 40% are open to going car-free. This is in addition to the 10% of Americans who don't drive. Congress needs to match federal transportation policy and funding to this market shift:
humantransit.org/2025/12/many...
Join us on December 23 on a High Speed Rail Alliance webinar where we will discuss our proposal for a Detroit-NYC train and a bit on the need for federal reform of passenger rail policy.
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
Looks like the problem of car centrism and the need for more transportation freedom is finally starting to seep into the political discourse. Please Note: this is for informational purposes only. We treat transportation as a bipartisan issue and do not endorse political candidates.
You don't have to be bothered by red lights on a train
It's time for the federal government to stop paying for new highways. PIRG updated their US Highway Boondoggles list in October 2025. As for how to spend the federal gas tax going forward: repairing what we already have and allowing states full flexibility to spend on alternatives to driving.
Great @strongtowns.org Towns video on how designing everything around the car makes life more difficult, especially for those who don't want to or can't drive:
youtu.be/tZG-JNvYDPI
The NYT is wrong. The solution isn't self-driving cars. It's re-designing streets for people, investing in high-quality options to driving, land use patterns that aren't ruinously expensive for cities. The economic & social benefits of this approach will far exceed what self-driving cars can offer
Amtrak (@amtrak.com) has had 54 years to refine its emergency response procedures for incidents like this. That they haven't is beyond disappointing. It's inexcusable.
This is great. We hope it keeps growing, but to communicate a sense of urgency on the need for us to modernize and significantly expand US passenger rail, the Italian railway system moves twice as many people every MONTH.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
