CityLab, 2/26:
11 Historical Maps and Charts That Explain the Birth of Amtrak
One classic memo even scores various routes on "presidential risk of blame for killing RR passenger service."
As the story goes, told by David Luberoff in Governing magazine in 1996, when it started, no one thought Amtrak was long for this world. President Nixon's economic advisors believed the financials of a new national railroad system would never work. His political advisors, on the other hand, figured the railroad could score some points with the American public and "wouldn't die until after Nixon left office":
The president could claim credit for saving passenger rail service and leave the blame for killing it to an unlucky successor.
Time had the last laugh on that one: Nixon's political career soon came crashing to an end, and Amtrak is still chugging along in 2015. Today America's passenger rail provider does still receive help from the federal government, but it also now recovers 93 percent of its operating costs through fares, and lately the service has broken ridership records year after year.
But that initial political gamesmanship is on spectacular display in a series of historical documents highlighted this week by the (subscription-only) Eno Transportation Weekly. Initial maps show officials struggling to balance profitable routes with service broad enough to satisfy the public. White House memos show that political points were high on Nixon's mind: one even scores various plan options on "presidential risk of blame for killing RR passenger service."
SNIP
OMB gave Nixon five route options. At one end was a plan that maximized service along the lines of what DOT preferred:
Nixon Presidential Library via Eno Transportation Weekly
At the other was a plan that maximized profit, as OMB preferred. The difference in service is like night and day:
Nixon Presidential Library via Eno Transportation Weekly
Read more here.
