Obama Lays Out Plans for High-Speed Train Travel

[Vic]

Is now the wrong time to bring up how much the airlines get in govt subsidies?

 

[charrison]

Yup.

I didn't (and still don't) understand the fixation with the passenger aspect of HSR in this thread. 'Commerce' is by far the big winner with HSR in efficiency and productive use.

Let them whine, complain and be left behind when commercial freight moves up and down the eastern seaboard in less than a day; from 'port-to-market,' or 'manufacturer-to-manufacturer' or 'manufacturer-to-port'.

One would think the protesters in this thread could grasp the 'just-in-time' aspect of the free market these days.

That's alright, though, we'll take all the jobs that come with the HSR infrastructure.





--

I dont understand the fixation with passenger rail either. However, if we are going to throw money at rail, lets first upgrade our tracks so bridges and tunnels can take doublestack car and run as fast as current locomotives can. Once we do that, we can start talking about going faster.


Also I think passenger rail could compliment air travel. It might work out if passenger rail fed the larger airline hubs.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Is now the wrong time to bring up how much the airlines get in govt subsidies?

Yes. Because for billions of dollars of govt subsidies, a plane can travel more places than just Tampa to Orlando.

 

[Toastedlightly]

Bullshit. People who live and work between downtown on the MoA on Hiawatha love it. What the hell good does it do for the other couple million people who don't use it but are paying the bills for a handful to enjoy it?

I am rather afraid of the proposed (was it approved yet?) Central Corridor. Where the public mass transit goes crime is soon to follow.

 

[Vic]

Yes. Because for billions of dollars of govt subsidies, a plane can travel more places than just Tampa to Orlando.

Are you seriously this blindly partisan? For realz?

 

[werepossum]

I am rather afraid of the proposed (was it approved yet?) Central Corridor. Where the public mass transit goes crime is soon to follow.

LOL Good observation.

 

[evident]

man, it wouldbe great to have a super fast line that goes from DC -> Philly ->NYC -> Boston!

 

[Craig234]

Where's the discussion of high speed rail and terrorism vulnerability?

 

[ebaycj]

And how much are you willing to pay for it to be built per citizen? 50,000 dollars? 250,000?

$13B / 300M = $43 per person.

Quit spewing shit.

 

[Fear No Evil]

Are you seriously this blindly partisan? For realz?

Saying planes give us better bang for the buck and more flexibility is partisan?

 

[Fear No Evil]

What you and the other naysayers are missing is that travel over the vast stretches of rural America are only a small part of potential train travel. High speed rail is perfectly suited for suburb-urban commuting, which is exactly what most people do.

In their cars. And a choo-choo is unlikely to change that for the majority of people. I could see some VERY SPECIFIC areas where this may be useful. But Tampa - Orlando is not one of them. Milwaukee - Madison is not one of them. OHIO is not one of them. The problem is BHO is spraying money all over the country that is simply a WASTE.

 

[bigi]

Europe benefits from their train system because their road system sucks

Really?

Fan of the Autobahn?

 

[hal2kilo]

Is now the wrong time to bring up how much the airlines get in govt subsidies?

Yea, like the nuclear power industry! Oops not only is it the wrong time, but it's the wrong thread.

 

[2dt Drifter]

would you sell your car(s) and use a train or bus all the time?

I wouldn't. Hell no!

I like trains personally but as a culture we like the freedom of our cars a lot.

short term government jobs are the next "bubble."

Trains? really? C'mon...

You know you can have both ways... I have my car parked all week taking the bus and train. I get lucky that the bus uses HOV lanes and I make it to work faster than if I drove. Plus it doesn't help with urban sprawl, white flight etc back in the 60'-80's that we have these cookie cutter communities where you do in fact have to drive to get anything done. If you notice any new developments in cities they are trying for an urban renewal, walking cities, multimodal hubs where you don't need to drive your car to get your groceries. HSR will be the bigger arterial connecting these types of communities.
All good on paper right? It'll work but we just don't want to take those beginning steps.

I am rather afraid of the proposed (was it approved yet?) Central Corridor. Where the public mass transit goes crime is soon to follow.

The only way I can agree with this statement is in reference to the Greyhound system (haha). I've been on NYC Transit, the Boston T, and I currently take Denver's RTD system everyday and it's been good (so far).

edit: fixed quotes

 

[Zargon]

$13B / 300M = $43 per person.

Quit spewing shit.

too bad studies say 13B will barely be enough to get started

and there are not 300M taxpayers in the US