AReCO in the News
Source: THE DAILY HERALD

Date: 6/14/2008 12:12 AM

Copyright 2008, THE DAILY HERALD

BY Jack Saporito, President

High-speed rail is answer to air woes

AReCO was surprised to read the Daily Herald editorial board calling on Washington to fix the airline mess (Congress must fix this airline mess, March 28), concerned the FAA was basically on-the-take for the industry.

What was most surprising is AReCO, for about 20 years has been supplying the Daily Herald evidence this is standard operating procedure.

The FAA was actually formed to promote aviation.

That mandate held until AReCO was able to help convince the Clinton Administration that an agency that mandated safety and promotion was at best unsafe.

While the mandate has changed to just safety, the nature of the beast remains.

The editorial claimed, "we've all recognized since at least Sept. 11, 2001 that our airline industry is critical to our lives, our economy and our infrastructure."

While that may be true to some extent, the only reason is because the media, including the Daily Herald, promoted more of the same when it backed O'Hare expansion.

They bought into the downtown controlled Chicago Chamber of Commerce glossy marketing scheme. O'Hare expansion was the kingpin to the FAA's plan.

The General Accountability Office has stated thousands of U.S. airport expansions are required to handle the artificial four-phased growth of flights.

That historically massive increase, including now the 2008 economic globalization treaties (Open Skies), will kill any chance of viable transportation competition, a reduction of the problems and a real choice for travelers.

A national world-class high-speed rail system would reduce flights (regional) by more than 50 percent and force true competition and change in the air transport industry.

The media and the American traveling public are unfortunately ignorant, resulting from industry's control of much of the news.

According to independent U.S. government reports and common logic, we need a world-class high-speed rail system, not more expansion of unreliable air trans.

And the Herald's trumpeting of true western access benefit raison d'état will, as AReCO has repeatedly warned, doubtfully ever happen.

Competition, reliability, security, no dependence on foreign oil and a back-up system are what high-speed rail would bring at about a third the cost of airport expansions, bringing 400,000 jobs to northern Illinois.

That is what we really need.

Jack Saporito
Executive Director
The Alliance of Residents Concerning O'Hare
Arlington Heights