Re: Declining oil traffic

[David Langley <del@ancc.com.au>]

Ben Staples wrote:

> And I wonder who will pay the increased cost of road maintenance and
> construction to meet the standards required of these new vehicles?? The
> trucking companies must love Australian governments that seem so determined
> to make sure taxpayers money is used to help the road industry at every
> turn.
>
> It always suprises me that the ARA doesn't produce a set of commercials for
> TV that educates the public to the money they are paying to subsidise the
> road industry (sorry for the preaching).

Keep on preaching but unfortunately you are preaching to the converted. It's the
govts which must shoulder the blame for the loss of fuel to road because of
their continued supporting of the road system. And now that they do not own the
railways (or effectively do not) they can't be accused in subsidising that
industry at the expense of the rail. Their argument will be if rail is to
survive then it must do it by itself. Meanwhile millions of public money is
being poured into the road system without any real hope of a proper return. With
the rails push for reduced manning all over, it goes against the argument about
reducing unemployment. The govts idea is that with the dozens and dozens of
trucks on the road with a driver in each, unemployment is kept down. Of course,
kickbacks wouldn't have anything to do with it, would it?

Now lets hope that Uncle Ed. gets into rail on the main land in a serious way
soon or even he will not be able to turn it around. And if anyone can, he can.

David Langley. (Ed. Burkhardt's No 1 fan)