Our opinion: Amtrak resolution makes sense
Saturday, August 15, 2009 9:40 PM PDT
Monday night the Ontario City Council should discuss a resolution in support of restoring the Amtrak Pioneer Route and then quickly approve it.
Many cities along the proposed Pioneer Route — through much of Eastern Oregon — are already in support of the concept. Ontario should get on board as well.
When the Pioneer Route was canceled more than 10 years ago, it left a gap in the Intermountain West’s transportation paradigm.
Since then, key lawmakers — such as Idaho’s Sen. Mike Crapo and Oregon’s Sen. Ron Wyden — push aside political differences and acted in a bipartisan manner to get the service back on the rails.
That kind of political cooperation is admirable.
Still, at the end of the day, the service needs support at the local level as well.
That’s why the Ontario City Council should support the restoration of the Pioneer Route through a resolution.
Some key questions remain, however.
For one, just how much small towns such as Ontario will be asked to fork over in terms of dollars for the service needs an answer.
Clearly, most small towns, including Ontario, are not going to be able to provide much, if any, cash for the service.
But a resolution in support of the concept is just that: a resolution.
There will be no funding mechanism tied to the resolution.
However, the resolution will send a clear message to federal officials that Ontario is in support of the basic idea of the Pioneer Route.
Perhaps that modest signal, now, is more important than questions of who pays and when.
Later on, perhaps, Ontario may be forced, because of financial constraints, to pull away from the concept. But for now it just makes good sense to pass a resolution in support of the Pioneer Route.
The council should OK this measure.
