Michael G. | Red Phoenix correspondent | New Jersey–

For countless American workers, the daily grind not only involves work with horrible conditions and low pay, but also a constant struggle with unreliable and unsafe public transportation. New Jersey Transit and Amtrak, two of the primary transit systems in the American Northeast, have become plagued with a fit of delays and suspensions. On the week of June 24 alone, there were 3 total stoppages of all service for hours on end. Besides this, many trains were outright canceled or delayed throughout the week due to electrical issues from high temperatures caused by the worsening climate crisis. 

These delays keep thousands of workers stranded in the city, where they either have to wait for an unknown amount of time, usually hours, until the problem is fixed, or pay exorbitant fees for a taxi just to get home. One commuter reported to the Red Phoenix that they end their workday at 5:30 PM and arrive home at nearly 9:00. After long and difficult working days, workers face yet more degradation navigating the crumbling public transit system. 

Crumbling here is used in a both a metaphorical and literal sense. The infrastructure critical to the operation of both Amtrak and NJ Transit is in dire straits. The Portal Bridge, a key cause of delays, is the busiest railroad bridge in the Western Hemisphere. Built in 1910, it handles around 450 commuter trains daily as they cross the Hackensack River. Similarly, the North River Tunnels, the only rail tunnels from New Jersey into Manhattan, were also opened in 1910 and are long overdue for replacement. The overhead wires in the North River tunnels, which often cause delays, date back to the FDR administration. This infrastructure is older than most people alive today.

While the U.S. Department of Transportation promised in 2021 to replace these aging infrastructures by 2035, skepticism remains about whether these lofty promises will be fulfilled. US news outlets serving the ruling class praise these plans but it is clear that this is the bare minimum. In stark contrast, China’s Zhengzhou-Wanzhou high-speed railway, an 815-kilometer (506 mi) project, was completed in less than five years. China’s success in rapidly building and updating its railways highlights the realistic potential of a nationalized, planned approach to infrastructure—something the U.S., with its privately owned railroads focused on profit, will not adopt. The Moscow Metro, built in the Soviet Union starting in 1935, is still considered the best metro in the world. This is precisely because it was built along planned lines. 

The USA was once the international leader of railroads. It had the most efficient, fastest, and most technologically advanced trains in the world, and it was partially thanks to this that the USA had its rise as an industrial world superpower. The first big rail projects like the transcontinental railroad were heavily subsidized by the government, and during World War I the US temporarily nationalized the railroads which led to increased development. The rapid decline of railroads since has been directly caused by privatization and the rise of the automobile industry which was far more profitable, even if it is worse for the public good. 

The quality of transit service continues to decline, with delays and suspensions worsening, affecting those who rely on public transportation the most. On July 1, 2024, NJ Transit increased fares by 15 percent and introduced a policy where tickets expire within 30 days of purchase, increasing the chance of tickets expiring before they can be used.

This all spells increasing fares for worsening service. In one particularly egregious example, the CEO of NJT, Kevin Corbett, paid only $19.42 for his five-acre property in property taxes by classifying it as a goat farm. 

Even New Jersey is an exception in the U.S., where public transportation is almost non-existent. Nationwide, 45 percent of Americans have no access to public transportation. Six percent of U.S. adults have missed medical appointments, work, and other critical activities due to a lack of transportation options. Disabled people are in even worse circumstances. Native populations and Black communities are particularly affected, with 17.1 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively, lacking reliable transportation.

The 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and last year’s collapse of the Baltimore Key Bridge in Maryland continue to remind us to what extent the bourgeoisie is willing to go with their underfunding of infrastructure. Ultimately, it costs money to perform maintenance checks and to regularly update infrastructure. This short-sighted focus on near term profits means that problems are only addressed after it is too late to mitigate the effects suffered by the working class.

We must understand that the problem lies not with a few bad apples running the system, but in the very way the system is organized: with profit motive. Putting a new person in charge will not lesson the need for a search of profit at the expense of workers.

The central question is this: is this an effective and rational way to organize society, production, and transport? We know the answer to be a resounding “no.” A planned economy and nationalization of industries are essential to solving the problems that we face today, which must ultimately culminate in the abolition of private property and profit-driven market economics.

The ongoing struggles with Amtrak and NJ Transit serve as a glaring example of how capitalism fails to meet the basic needs of society. The daily hardships faced by workers, coupled with the crumbling infrastructure and rising costs, highlight the urgent need for change and organization. At a time when American workers are woefully unorganized, the bourgeoisie intensifies exploitation and degradation more and more in all facets of daily life to line their pockets at the expense of the masses. 

The only way the American people can effectively combat the continuous advances in the interest of capital at the expense of the working class is through mass organization. Only when workers of all industries can work and organize together to demand better, will we be able to start clawing back the concessions previous generations had worked so hard for and ensure a better quality of life. 

Categories: Economy, U.S. News