The Durham leadership recently visited San Diego hoping to show that exemplary rail systems exist and should be duplicated. (Never mind the problems with Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Atlanta, Houston and a host of other cities.)

The latest numbers for San Diego have come out and, gasp, ridership is down 10% in the past four years. This correlates strongly with what is happening nationwide with all forms of rail, more congestion, more subsidies, loss of riders, and skyrocketing maintenance.