50th Anniversary of the Energy Crisis

[Willbridge]

We're entering the 50th anniversary of the 1973-74 Energy Crisis (which actually began in 1972 and stretched into 1975). The attached essay was written for the 20th anniversary, and it's interesting to reflect on what has changed since. Some projects that were hurriedly moved forward have become familiar parts of the transport ecosystem, including the Cascades corridor service, daily service on the Coast Starlight, and the Tri-Met LRT. Other projects that had energy security relevance have faded away or stayed on hold for five decades of talk.

("Energy security" in regard to transportation means that there is some diversity of modes of transportation and energy sources, rather than having all our eggs in one basket.)

 

[BlackDiamond]

One of the things that saved Amtrak, its initial founding being an attempt to rid the freight railroads (especially Penn Central) of their passenger train burden then allow it (passenger service) to quietly fade away. Things turned out quite differently from what was intended.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Long read, but worth the time.