Tabetha Wallace: Amtrak Accidents Are No Accident

Since the birth of our nation, America has struggled to overcome one major challenge. That is, how to move people and goods safely and efficiently across over three and a half million square miles.

And the original solution is gaining steam once again. Rail.

Our railroads have been in the midst of a major resurgence since the recession, providing an affordable and energy efficient alternative for commuters as well as cheap means of transporting goods like oil across the vast expanse of the American landscape.

But, in the first 2 months of 2015 Amtrak alone has had 18 accidents across the United States.And whether it was a commuter or freight, human error or a freak accident, one thing's for certain: something needs to be done.

Last year the American Society of Civil Engineers released their report card on America’s infrastructure.  And it wasn’t pretty.  Our rail system got a dismal C+.

Last year the American Society of Civil Engineers released their report card on America’s infrastructure.

And it wasn’t pretty. Our rail system got a dismal C+.

But it isn’t just engineers calling for funding and reform.

Just last month, Rod Gibbons, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Amtrak responded to a column in the Buffalo News regarding the failures of the federally funded for profit railroad saying…

“We strongly support the call for federal investment to fix our nation’s aging rail infrastructure. Amtrak ridership has increased year after year for more than a decade. In order to meet this growing demand, federal investment is needed to improve, expand and replace the century-old infrastructure upon which we rely.”

And he’s not alone. In fact, we are in the midst of our third annual Infrastructure Week. And as U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx travels the country to talk solutions and drum up support it is Capitol Hill that continues to be the problem. Foxx told NPR that there is"…so much uncertainty at the federal level that it is crippling our system."

So, with Capitol Hill once again kicking the infrastructure can down the crumbling road it’s time to start demanding that politicians follow through on their promises to get the American job market and businesses up and running again.

With the amount we have spent on “defense” it seems odd that investing in our infrastructure is such a hard sell. Senator Bernie Sanders made an apt comparison on government spending recently stating:

"It has been estimated that the costs of the Bush/Cheney Iraq War… will total $3 trillion by the time the last veteran receives needed care…A $1 trillion investment in infrastructure could support 13 million decent-paying jobs and make our country more efficient, productive and safer…"

With so many benefits to our safety and the long term health of our economy, politics instead took precedent over the needs of the people. A House panel vote to cut a fifth of Amtrak’s budgetthe very morning after the tragic crash in Philadelphia.

So, with Capitol Hill once again kicking the infrastructure can down the crumbling road it’s time to start demanding that politicians follow through on their promises to get the American job market and businesses up and running again.