Pennywise and Pound-Foolish

U.S. domestic politics gets curiouser and curiouser when it comes to travel and transport - and everything else.

Last Friday, it was announced with great fanfare that Democrats and Republicans struck a deal at literally the 11th hour to slash federal spending by $38 billion. Believing he had done something wonderful, President Barack Obama dropped by the Lincoln Memorial to high-five startled tourists. On the third full day after the deal, political reporters, who till then had obsessed about details of the negotiations, finally reported some detail about what is to be cut; surely, this is one of the most serious failures of reporting on a major story in recent memory.

In the 11 April Washington Post, reporter Philip Rucker previews the cuts. Among them, Rucker writes, are "a roughly $1.5 billion reduction in high-speed rail grants, a signature Obama administration program.'' If true, this puts the U.S. on a fast-track to Third World status when it comes to our outdated, deterioriating travel infrastructure. It also adds weight to the derisive remarks Republican politicians made about high-speed rail after the annual State of the Union message, when rail became a conservative punch-line.

As for the notionally liberal President Obama, it's hard to know what to think of him. Elected in 2008 on a message of hope, vision and "change we can believe in,'' Obama seems ready to abandon his cherished programs, policies and principals at any hint of serious resistence. What does Obama stand for? What does he believe in? The only certainty is that he likes power very much and will do what he needs to do to cling to power in the election of 2012. Writing as one who didn't drink the Kool-Aid on Obama, I can't say I'm surprised.

So, badly needed rail is delayed at best, and perhaps derailed. As Rucker points out in the Post (www.washingtonpost.com), though, there is one kind of transport that is getting plenty of bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. Writes Rucker:

"Meanwhile, funding for an alternative engine for the Joint Strike Fighter program is not expected to be included in the spending bill, according to a source with knowledge of the decision. The Ohio district of House Speaker John A. Boehner (R.) stands to gain from the costly and controversial defense project, and General Electric Co. (which paid no federal taxes last year on billions in profits - D.A.) was reportedly lobbying over the weekend to keep money for the project in the budget.''

Lessons from the Washington Metro Crash

Many lessons can be learned in the coming days from the horrific collision on the Washington, D.C. Metro commuter line today that killed at least 9 people. Lessons about training, technology, human error and equipment failure will be among them.

The Washington Metro is strictly a local line, but all of these factors come into play wherever and whenever travelers step onto a long-distance train, a ferry or a cruise ship, an airplane or a tour bus. There are early indications that the moving train that slammed into a stationary train was operating with outdated brakes and warning systems. This information must be taken as a belated wake-up call, especially in the United States, where travel infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate to an alarming degree over a period of decades.

Simply put, the U.S. is part of the Third World when it comes to travel and transportation infrastructure. Our bridges are shaky, our highways cracked and pitted. Our rail lines are slow and substandard. Our gloomy airports are overcrowded, in disrepair and antiquated; the airline industry has been calling for several years now for a new generation of satellite-based air traffic control - tabbed Next Generation, or Nextgen, for short - to replace the U.S.'s outmoded radar-based system. All for naught. Yet, until we get badly needed upgrades, in the air, on the water and on the ground, more accidents and more deaths are certain to follow.

As an American, I am often shamed by the non-stop "greatest country in the world'' rhetoric from my fellow U.S. citizens. As a world traveler, I am amazed by just how unworldly many of my fellow Americans are. They seem to assume that because we once led the world in so many things, that we lead it still. Not so. When it comes to travel and transportation, the U.S. trails many other lands, including some developing countries, in efficiency, safety and amenities.

I recently returned to California from Malaysia, where I used the sparkling Kuala Lumpur International Airport, built early this decade. Its state of the art main passenger terminal and the dedicated rail line between the airport and downtown KL are world-class in every sense. Ditto when it comes to Korea's Incheon (Seoul) International Airport, which always scores high in approval ratings from international travelers, right up there with Hong Kong's spectacular airport and Singapore's justly celebrated international airport.

When I was a small boy, my parents admonished me to clean my plate at mealtime. "There are starving children in China.'' There are still some starving children there, thanks to the dramatically uneven development between China's prosperous coast and its impoverished interior. But in its showcase cities, China is building transportation infrastructure that matches any in the world for quality. In Shanghai last year, I rode the world's first magnetic propelled train (''the maglev'') from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to the city center; the ride couldn't have been any smoother or faster (top speed approaches 300 miles per hour). In Beijing last year, I used the vast and brand-new passenger terminal - the world's largest - at Beijing Capital International Airport. Again, the experience was awe-inspiring. America's airports haven't inspired that kind of feeling since the 1960s, at the beginning of the jet age.

These kinds of facilities don't just pop up. They get built because political leaders decide to give them priority, cut through red tape and spend the money to build them. In the Western world, where environmental safeguards and workers' rights are taken more seriously than in most places, it is not easy to build big showcase facilities, especially during a financial crisis. But simple upkeep and timely upgrades are crucial for traveler safety and comfort.

Today, as the U.S., the U.K. and other countries rebuild their economies with massive government-funded programs, political leaders must give serious thought to the job-creation and safety improvements that come from upgrading existing travel infrastructure and putting shovels in the ground for new projects. Putting things off will only make the situation worse - and cost more money later, when badly needed projects are finally built.

Now is the time to get started.