"A doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." James 1:25
"Now the practical part is called for. For people must not be always talking and hearing, but they must come into obedience to the great God of heaven and earth." George Fox, From Mind the Heavenly Treasure
9 comments:
What a great quote! Words to live by.
That George. He could get to the heart of things.
Hello Diane: Here is why it's not
very practical any more to set up
much intercity public transportation in the U.S.A.
other than air transport.
There was excellent rail service almost everywhere until the
1960's. Passenger trains were not expensive, and frequent, on most railroad main lines. Richmond,
Indiana, was a major junction, with Pennsylvania R.R. service in 4
directions, twice or thrice daily.
Intercity bus service was excellent too, on both Greyhound and Trailways in most places, and
even cheaper than rail Only
problem; very few people used
these services. Americans traveled by car or air. In l971 the federal government allowed the railraods to abandon most of their intercity passenger trains, and set up Amtrak to run the remainder. Amtrak has always been
starved for funds. Now intercity
bus service is also rapidly dis-
appearing, with no replacement.
I will continue later. Jeremy Mott
Hello Diane again:
Now things are worse than in 1971Many railroad main lines have been torn up or downgraded, including
all four PRR lines through Richmond. The other railroad lines are often congested with
freight trains. And the interstate highways, now often
40 years old, have been pounded
so much by trucks that they must be rebuilt.
In the so-called Northeast Corridor, Amtrak still runs a great many trains, as it has ever since 1971, and ridership there
is high. Also, out of a different bureaucratic pot, the federal
government spends a great deal of
money on commuter rail services and
suburban trolley lines, many of
them brand new, as in the Los
Angeles and Miami areas. A few
of these are very wasteful.
There is one very practical
thing that can be done. Where the
railroad lines still exist, and
where they're not too congested
with freight, states may pay Amtrak to run additional trains,
and pay bus companies to run
connecting buses. California,
Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin,
Michigan, Washington, Oregon, and North Carolina are all doing this, as well as several northeastern
states; yet Indiana and Ohio have
refused. There is a
pressure group, the Natl. Assn.
of Railroad Passengers, in Wash-
ington; its executive director,
Ross Capon, is (I'm told) a Friend.
The way is open, but a lot of effort by many people is required.
Peace, Jeremy Mott
Tricky for everyone. Easy to enter self-deception, as James tells us. But perhaps even more tricky for us who have a bent toward teaching- toward words.
Jeremy,
Yes, I wish we had these public transportation options you talk about, especially with all that non-renewable oil gushing into the sea. Of course, as long as cars are cheap and easy, it will be an uphill battle, but that may not be the case too much longer! Jeremy, how do I know you? Do you live in Richmond?
Ted,
Yes, I agree that it can be hard for us "wordsmiths" to act sometimes!
Jeremy,
Yes, I wish we had these public transportation options you talk about, especially with all that non-renewable oil gushing into the sea. Of course, as long as cars are cheap and easy, it will be an uphill battle, but that may not be the case too much longer! Jeremy, how do I know you? Do you live in Richmond?
Ted,
Yes, I agree that it can be hard for us "wordsmiths" to act sometimes!
Hello Diane,
I don't think you know me. My wife
and I lived in Chicago during the early seventies. Otherwise I've almost always lived in northern New Jersey. I've been a Friend all
my life, but never attended a Friends college. And I've been in
Richmond only once, during the time when I lived in Chicago.
Until I was disabled, I had a
career as a train dispatcher. Here's a true story. About 1980,
Friends General Conference gathering was held in Richmond.
I had to work, but my wife and
daughter attended. They took the Amtrak train The Cardinal. It
couldn't use the Pennsylvania RR
through Richmond, the tracks were already gone; but it could and did use CSX from Cincinnati to Chicago, stopping in Richmond. It
was a fine, convenient, but slow, train. And no other Quaker passengers rode it in either direction; even though the train served Phila., Washington, and
other Quaker places. Friends are
as addicted to the automobile as
others. Now the CSX tracks are
torn up too, and the train operates via Indianpolis, only 3
times a week; it is useless for
Richmond.
All this is not likely to
change any time soon. If our nation doesn't get oil in one place, we'll get it in another.
If we wanted to change things, we could easily do so----as the
Europeans and Japanese do, by
taxing gasoline very heavily. They
stay prepared for the possibility
that they might have to change their ways, and meanwhile they
provide transportation to the sub-
stantial minority of citizens who
cannot or do not drive.
It's a pleasure getting to
know some Friends in the blogosphere. Mostly I surf the
web worldwide, because the Quaker
world overseas is so exciting these days. Peace, Jeremy Mott
Jeremy,
Do you recommend any particular overseas blogs?
Thanks,
Diane
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