Rail transit vital to Iowa’s past, future

Certain areas of society are the responsibility of government. One of them, surely, is public transit. We don't expect private enterprise to develop our highways, sewers, water. These are public needs. Rail should be, too.

Conservatives should be about conserving the best aspects of the past, and rail has been front and center of Iowa's history. Our towns and cities were built by rail, and prospered by rail. Forty years ago the “liberal” Republicans built the interstate highway system and unintentionally threw rail transit on the trash heap. Yet from then until now, joint Republican and Democratic support has helped keep Amtrak on a growth curve.

Now our highway system is overloaded, our population base is increasing, and reviving passenger rail is actually the cheapest way to ease the pressure. It's logical that 40 years of neglect will mean higher restart costs, but the presence of alternative transportation will save us money down the road.

The new Iowa Legislature is welcome to make some necessary temporary cuts, but public transit is vital to our future competitiveness.

James Conger

Iowa City