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Old 03-27-2015, 05:51 PM
 
33 posts, read 29,237 times
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We spend $91 billion on our highways every year. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that out will take $3.6 trillion by 2020, or $170 billion per year, to fix our highways. Amtrak is a drop in the bucket in comparison.
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Old 03-27-2015, 05:54 PM
 
Location: Mason, OH
9,259 posts, read 16,702,627 times
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Originally Posted by C0de_M0nkey View Post
We spend $91 billion on our highways every year. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that out will take $3.6 trillion by 2020, or $170 billion per year, to fix our highways. Amtrak is a drop in the bucket in comparison.
And that is why Amtrak is going nowhere. They have no visionaries, just people with their hands out.
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Old 03-27-2015, 06:08 PM
 
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Originally Posted by kjbrill View Post
And that is why Amtrak is going nowhere. They have no visionaries, just people with their hands out.
$3.6 trillion to repair our strained highway system isn't a handout? Why not toll the roads?
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Old 03-27-2015, 06:12 PM
 
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Originally Posted by C0de_M0nkey View Post
$3.6 trillion to repair our strained highway system isn't a handout? Why not toll the roads?
This is what really should be done. Every interstate should be a toll road.

Gas taxes should only be used to pay for neighborhood and surface streets. Then it could actually break even and pay for all of the necessary infrastructure repair.
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Old 03-27-2015, 06:29 PM
 
Location: Mason, OH
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Originally Posted by C0de_M0nkey View Post
$3.6 trillion to repair our strained highway system isn't a handout? Why not toll the roads?
Where is your $3.6 trillion figure coming from? I have not seen anything to substantiate that other then scare tactics. But that is what people who are not getting what they deem important resort to - scare tactics. The last damn thing we need in this country are toll roads, bridges, etc. Can't think of a faster way to shut down our economy.
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Old 03-27-2015, 07:20 PM
 
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You people can discuss or argue all these points ad nauseam. It does not change a single thing on the subject. Nobody in their right mind is going to fund these HSR projects if there ain't no money.

Pssst. Guess what? Property values are rising steadily in most areas of the country right now including most inner cities. I've been tracking them in Cincy for the better part of two years and cheaper homes even in the worst neighborhoods are getting difficult to find. They hit the market and are sold quickly. And this is true in virtually every city I've been looking at properties in for the last two years.

You can distort and twist the facts all you wish but it won't change a thing.
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Old 03-27-2015, 07:25 PM
 
33 posts, read 29,237 times
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Originally Posted by kjbrill View Post
Where is your $3.6 trillion figure coming from? I have not seen anything to substantiate that other then scare tactics. But that is what people who are not getting what they deem important resort to - scare tactics. The last damn thing we need in this country are toll roads, bridges, etc. Can't think of a faster way to shut down our economy.
Sorry, it's actually $1 trillion. The American Society of Civil Engineers estimates that $3.6 trillion in infrastructure development is needed. This includes $170 billion per year for the highways. It's closer to $1 trillion than the $3.6 i posted before when you do the math.

Kentucky politicians are already debating on using tolls to pay for the $2 billion Brent Spence Bridge. I don't want tolls either, but I also don't want suburbanites to receive a handout from inner city residents in the form of gas taxes and more expensive urban land required to build and widen highways.

Quote:
Forty-two percent of America’s major urban highways remain congested, costing the economy an estimated $101 billion in wasted time and fuel annually. While the conditions have improved in the near term, and Federal, state, and local capital investments increased to $91 billion annually, that level of investment is insufficient and still projected to result in a decline in conditions and performance in the long term. Currently, the Federal Highway Administration estimates that $170 billion in capital investment would be needed on an annual basis to significantly improve conditions and performance.
ASCE | 2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure
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Old 03-27-2015, 07:38 PM
 
3,513 posts, read 5,125,612 times
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Originally Posted by WILWRadio View Post

Pssst. Guess what? Property values are rising steadily in most areas of the country right now including most inner cities. I've been tracking them in Cincy for the better part of two years and cheaper homes even in the worst neighborhoods are getting difficult to find. They hit the market and are sold quickly. And this is true in virtually every city I've been looking at properties in for the last two years..
That's excellent news! Exactly what is needed. Homes should have value. Otherwise people abuse them and treat them like garbage.

Home prices shouldn't be this affordable. And if takes government imposing development barriers, less infrastructure construction, etc. to make that happen, then that's what should happen.

Nowhere else in the world is a house considered disposable like it is in the USA. We live in one of the wealthiest nations in the world, but yet we abuse that wealth by throwing it away. At least our cars last longer now and for whatever reason people seem to be spending less of their disposable income on goods (and more on services). We are starting to realize how deplorable the excess really is...


Anyways, this again is veering way off topic. If you want my simple answer, heck yes I would utilize a train from Cincy to Chicago and I know a number of MU students who would as well if it were HSR. The previous train between the two cities left Union Terminal in Cincy right around 2am and didn't get to Chicago until noon... a pointless route.

But if I could shave an hour off the (what is supposed to be 5 hour) trip up to Chicago and avoid the perpetual 2 hour long rush hour traffic jam from downtown to Crown Point Indiana that puts the journey at 7 hours, then I would be thrilled. I would also be very happy if I didn't have to pay $25 to park my car in a garage downtown. Because honestly, who needs a car in Chicago?
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Old 03-27-2015, 07:48 PM
 
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^^^ As previously stated. I like trains. Will ride them again if given the chance. But I am also pragmatic and realize the money to build HSR will not exist in our lifetime in most areas of the country unless that 17 trillion dollars of debt is reduced dramatically.

Gave thought to moving to Pittsburgh because they have light rail. I am sick of driving and would like nothing better than to find a job that would not require the use of a car. Could park it and use it for personal errands only. But again, being pragmatic, I realize that bus is the most utilized form of mass transit in the country and have settled for a home on 3 bus lines for now. Just hope I can move into it and enjoy it at some point.
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Old 03-27-2015, 08:00 PM
 
16,345 posts, read 17,950,202 times
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Originally Posted by WILWRadio View Post
^^^ As previously stated. I like trains. Will ride them again if given the chance. But I am also pragmatic and realize the money to build HSR will not exist in our lifetime in most areas of the country unless that 17 trillion dollars of debt is reduced dramatically.

Gave thought to moving to Pittsburgh because they have light rail. I am sick of driving and would like nothing better than to find a job that would not require the use of a car. Could park it and use it for personal errands only. But again, being pragmatic, I realize that bus is the most utilized form of mass transit in the country and have settled for a home on 3 bus lines for now. Just hope I can move into it and enjoy it at some point.
Pragmatism is not completely ignoring the astronomical cost of the road system and refusing to do anything different as bridges collapse. Transit isn't causing that to happen.
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