It’s about time we had better rail system

Re: “Why push trains when we have buses? Proponents push back on Amtrak hype” (July 27).

Whether by accident or design, this particular piece of second-rate reporting raises more questions than it answers. First, why did The Gazette let some Burlington Trailways guy rail against Amtrak on page one and stick real news - Gov. Culver and the Midwest High Speed Rail Summit - on page two?

Second, since when does this same station agent get to make decisions on transportation policy? Sell me a seat on the 1:40 a.m. bus to Chicago, yes. Try to convince me Greyhound is green, no. Talk about hype.

Lastly, I take issue with your graphic on fuel efficiency. Forget, for a moment, that the numbers are terribly misleading. “Motor coach?” “Heavy Rail?” What about “Horse and Buggy?” And there is the small matter of their source, M.J. Bradley & Associates, being owned by Climate Change Capital Group Ltd., a business “specializing in the investment opportunities created by the low carbon economy.” For all its validity and relevance to the tough transportation decisions we face this decade, you might as well have had Milton Bradley come up with your graph.

As for me, I think it's about time we had a rail system a little better, as they say, than Bulgaria.

Willis Harte

Iowa City