Should Amtrak be subsidized?
Questions:
Read Ross B. Capon's
statement before the House Subcommittee on Transportation.
- Are the survey responses to the "OmniTel" poll an example of "contingent valuation"? Why or why not?
- According to this statement, how does the federal government display an "air/highway bias?"
- Are highways an example of a public good (even though there may be some congestion costs)? Explain.
- Is a gasoline tax an example of a "user fee" designed to cover the cost of governmental provision of highways?
- If trains are more energy-efficient and produce less pollution than other forms of transportation, does this justify a subsidy for Amtrak? What other solutions might be used?
