WASHINGTON — If America is dominated by car culture and the call of the open road, there is a big reason for that: Over the past 65 years, the United States has spent nearly $10 trillion in public funds on highways and roads and just one-quarter of that on subways, buses and passenger rail.
When Congress writes new multibillion-dollar transportation bills every few years, typically about four-fifths of the money goes to highways and roads, a pattern that has held since the early 1980s. To many, that disparity makes sense. After all, roughly 80% of trips Americans take are by car or light truck, with just 3% by mass transit.
But Biden, a longtime Amtrak rider and proponent, will face hurdles in trying to make the United States more train- and bus-friendly. Analysts cautioned that the White House still has not revealed key details of the plan. Its effectiveness may hinge on how the proposal gets integrated with transportation bills currently being worked on in Congress, which could adjust the balance of funding between highways and transit or impose conditions on how states can use federal funding.
Biden has also proposed spending $80 billion to upgrade and expand intercity rail service such as Amtrak. Right now the busiest Amtrak route is the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Boston, which Amtrak says needs $38 billion for upgrades and repairs.
Favored cars because public transport is almost non-existent in smaller towns. I had a cousin who traveled the world and said she hates coming to the US, because she has to rely on people to take her places.