Funding the rail system

With increasing population arise the problem of having more and more congested roads and highways. In order to reduce amount of traffic congestion, we should develop more mass transit systems such as train and buses. That’s exactly what Virginia has decided to do. Recently, The Commonwealth Transportation Board decided to fund Amtrak to run two new passengers train from Richmond and Lynchburg to Washington D.C. The newly proposed funding allowed Virginia to pay Amtrak with $25.5 million in which $17.2 million of it will be used to cover operating cost of the new trips and $8 million to improve the cars. The decision was based on Rail Enhancement Fund, a legislation signed by Governor Mark R. Warner in 2005 to improve rail transportation systems and infrastructure.

The focus of this funding is to clean up traffic on interstate Highway I-95. I-95 runs parallel to the rail route from Washington D.C. to Richmond. Traffic on I-95 is heavily congested with cars, buses, and trucks. It normally takes about two hours to make a trip between Washington D.C. and Richmond. During rush hour, the trip is prolonged by heavy traffic. On top of that, population in the region is expected to reach 3.5 million in 2014 from 2.8 million which mean more cars on the road. The plan to reduce traffic on I-95 is to take away as many daily car drivers off the road and encourage them to use the train service, instead. To attract more riders, Virginia is planning to cut the trip time on train between those two cities to 90 minutes. The fund will able to provide improvements to the rail tracks so that trains will have the ability travel with their maximum speed of 90-110mph which will cut the duration of the trip. By doing so, Virginia is hoping to attract more riders which in turn will reduce traffic congestion on I-95 between Washington D.C. and Richmond.

I believe turning toward mass transist system is great way to meet our transportation need without putting too much strain on resoures and environment. The current plan of funding the addition of new trips operate on already existed railroad tracks. With little improvements in condition of railroad tracks, we can fullyt take advantage of train system to overcome our need for transportation. The best part of the plan is that the state will receive the profit made from tickets sale between the two new trips.