Hey folks, what if I told you I could reduce your daily commute and put an end to all your parking worries? What if I told you there was a way to bring your gasoline costs down to zero? What if there was a way to reinvigorate the local economy, create thousands of jobs, and benefit the environment?

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the American passenger rail system, the latest device to leave your local leaders’ radar screens and the first of many steps in ameliorating what most sane commentators are predicting will be an absolute doozy of an energy crisis.

The pinch at the pump has lessened recently, and many Americans—and their elected officials—seem to have forgotten that we face the prospect of the global oil production peak and its promise of massive supply shortages in the not-too-distant future.

So, young Americans are faced with a choice. We can sit around pricing hybrid cars and wait with bated breath for the scientific community to save our asses with a technological breakthrough. Or we can start to make policy decisions right now that reverse the wasteful trends of the past, invest in the future of our communities, and hopefully take the edge off of what looks to be one hell of a hangover when the gas bill comes due.

A good first step would be to reduce our nation’s dependence on gasoline and cars by rebuilding the American passenger rail system.

American rail service has been in inexorable decline since the advent of the automobile and, later, the airline industry. Decades of funding cuts and decreased ridership have left Amtrak, the public-private entity that manages the U.S. rail system, in financial ruins. Trains and equipment are outdated. Lines of track have fallen into disrepair.

If President Bush is really serious about his message of fuel conservation, he should aggressively pursue a policy that fully funds Amtrak—with grants, not loans—and extends rail service to communities that would benefit from it, but are located far from major inter-city networks like the popular Boston-New York-Washington, D.C. line.

This would give Bush an opportunity to boost employment in the manufacturing sector if coupled with a congressional mandate to use American parts and labor for the effort. Renewed emphasis on rail travel would reduce our dependence on foreign oil while simultaneously diminishing America’s output of harmful greenhouse gases.

Similarly, local and state governments should work together to extend the Metro rail throughout the greater Buffalo area.

The one-line Metro, as it now stands, is a laughingstock. It is currently convenient for a minority of people who both work and live within walking distance of Main Street. The city should ask for funding to create new lines that would take passengers to all of the area’s attractions: Allentown, the Albright Knox-Buff State area, the Science Museum, Delaware Park, and, most importantly, the University at Buffalo’s North Campus. The influx of thousands of parentally-funded college kids to the downtown area via extended commuter rail service would bring about an economic revival beyond the wildest dreams of advocates for casinos and bait shops.

Yeah, these efforts would cost money. Consider it an investment in the future that will pay back dividends in myriad economic and social benefits, not to mention the production of jobs in a manufacturing sector that has tanked in recent years and shows no signs of improving (ahem, Delphi, ahem).

Saving the American rail system from decay isn’t a silver bullet. It’s a first step that needs to be followed with sustained effort and further reforms. But more importantly, it would be a victory that can show America what is possible when we use our collective will for a positive goal.

Bioinformatics Rules Everything Around Me,

Jacob Drum

Associate Editor