(Originally posted in 2013) North America has yet to fully realize the potential contribution of railroads to the economy, environment, and land use. Despite the good work of railroad developers, investors, and staff, as well as significant public sector support, railroads remain underutilized for transporting goods and people.

Our North American freight rail system is so robust that it is easy to overlook the potential for a continental surge in capacity and reach. But railroads are energy-, capital-, and space-efficient, and these benefits are key to our future. It is time to get to work on the rail system that a growing, modern society ultimately needs to be successful and sustainable.

We can rally all stakeholders, including citizens, around a public-private growth strategy for rail transportation. However, we must first make it safe to speak the truth about the matter.

A crucial aspect of this truth is that, for North America to succeed economically and environmentally, it must reverse the ongoing decline in direct rail service, the underappreciated consequence of the growing emphasis on intermodal freight and unit-train logistics.

This decline in direct rail service manifests in various ways. From our vantage point in rail finance, we have seen the wide-ranging manifestations of this trend. Millions of square feet of Amazon and Walmart warehouses are built truck-in and truck-out. Ethanol facilities in Iowa, built to ship by rail, instead ship product in trucks over rural roads to unit-train loading facilities.

From eastern Washington wheat to Nebraska corn, shippers are offered volume discounts for trucking products to distant mega-loading facilities. Ironically, the market for shifting freight movements from truck to intermodal declines as the total truck drayage relative to the rail portion increases to reach locations that do not have, or use, direct rail service.

The overarching drive toward larger shipments detracts from an efficient freight system that includes a robust network of branch rail lines. In a well-functioning, modern society, all regions, cities, and towns need rail lines to serve an increasing population and freight demand. Yet, just since 2005, we have lost 3500 miles of our rail system in the United States, with thousands more miles endangered. Over 80% of U.S. towns are now served by truck only. We are moving toward less transportation efficiency, not more.

Freight is transported on trucks over local roads and bridges that states and counties are struggling to maintain, rather than on privately owned and maintained rail lines. Since truck shipments use 2 to 5 times more fuel than rail, the impact on the environment and our economy is wasteful and unsustainable.

Yet 90% of the potatoes shipping from southern Colorado are shipped by truck rather than rail, despite a 1,000-mile length of haul. Inbound materials to all Ford factories are delivered 58% by truck and 22% by rail. ArcelorMittal ships 55% of its outbound steel from twenty plants by truck. The myth is that trucks only move lighter-weight, higher-value consumer goods. Meanwhile, only 6% of aggregates move by rail.

As our young Philadelphia Eagles quarterback, Nick Foles, says, “We can fix our mistakes.” There is little to be gained from blaming shippers, transportation providers, or policymakers. But the time has come to address the detrimental impact of otherwise earnest individuals aiming to succeed in a marketplace that externalizes the costs to the environment, safety, congestion, and quality of life. Building a sustainable economy and environment begins with a marketplace that prices transportation services accurately, including all relevant costs. Why delay?

As important as trucks are, we are relying on them much more than is healthy for the environment or the economy. The rail market share by tonnage in most states trails the truck market share by 50-90%. In Florida, for instance, freight rail tonnage in 2011 was 9% of the market share for trucking. Given the energy, capital, and space efficiencies of rail transportation, it is time to invest more in rail capacity.

Not that more money alone is the answer. Government rarely has enough capital to grow an industry, but it can help “seed” private-sector capitalization. Producing real results requires whole-system investment strategies, thinking beyond traditional public-private partnerships that, to date, have focused solely on individual projects, rather than systems.

We can develop our infrastructure effectively and economically by instituting a comprehensive public-private sector action planning approach, rather than simply expecting that government funding or the marketplace will provide the answers.

Intermodal transport can contribute to increased efficiency if the entire system is considered. The current flood of public policy dilemmas requires this higher level of coordination, collaboration, and imagination. Unleashing the full potential of railroads is not about assigning or accepting blame; it’s about embracing the opportunity to improve. As with many other challenges we face, the path to progress is built on our newfound capacity to work and think together.

Michael Sussman is President of Strategic Rail Finance and Founder of OnTrackNorthAmerica.