Title: Debunking Common Myths about Amtrak
Headings: Debunking Common Myths about Amtrak

Content: While most of this is at the state and local levels, federal policy encourages this by offering states generous funding matches for highway investments but no match for intercity rail investments. These statistics are in "improving Efficiency and Equity in Transportation Finance," by Martin Wachs [The Brookings institution Series on Transportation Reform (April 2003)], which states: " Revenues from fuel taxes have for three decades been rising more slowly than program costs as legislators become ever more reluctant to raise them to meet inflation. As a result, the burden of raising the funds for transportation programs is gradually being shifted to local governments and voter-approved initiatives that are, in most instances, not based on user fees." 3. Myth: Amtrak carries only a half-percent of the US travel market; therefore it is insignificant. Fact: Where there is a strong Amtrak presence, as in the Northeast Corridor and New York-Albany, Amtrak dominates the airlines and offers a significant alternative to automobile travel. (