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I'm not really sure I understand when people proclaim that rail and rail investments should be paid entirely with private funds and business when no other mode of transportation is done that way. Could you imagine how expensive traveling by car would be if the government didn't subsidize every aspect of it? From making the car, to the fuel that runs the car, to the highways and roads that the cars drive on... the government is involved in all of it.
Maybe because America can no longer afford any more wasteful government boondoggles.
You can't know anything about most Americans.
I obviously know more about this topic than you do.
Sure, people might be inclined to use them if there are clean, safe, convenient, reliable and cheap. Who says rail is not?
If my house is 5 miles from a station is it convenient? 5 miles isn't that far.
Are any of them cheap? Or are they all heavily subsidized and not meeting ridership projections? Yes, rail can be , and is cheap, compared to air, bus, and car.
Since most cities have crime rates significantly higher than suburbs and rural areas you can immediately discard the safe view. Poppycock!
If we had a trillion dollar surplus I could see experimenting with the idea. But, we don't. So cut all spending and move towards a sound financial future. That is the long term goal.
California and high speed rail: (current cost estimate - 10 BILLION). The government (our tax dollars) has given CA 3.8 BILLION dollars already.
The first leg of the project is slated for the middle of Central Valley — not between major cities, or congested freeway corridors like San Francisco and San Jose or Orange County and Los Angeles.
The Central Valley site is between Borden — a point on the map where no one lives — and Corcoran, a town where half the residents will never board a train because they’re in prison…
High speed rail in California: the bullet train to oblivion
.You can't know anything about most Americans.
I obviously know more about this topic than you do.
Sure, people might be inclined to use them if there are clean, safe, convenient, reliable and cheap. Who says rail is not?
If my house is 5 miles from a station is it convenient? 5 miles isn't that far.
Are any of them cheap? Or are they all heavily subsidized and not meeting ridership projections? Yes, rail can be , and is cheap, compared to air, bus, and car.
Since most cities have crime rates significantly higher than suburbs and rural areas you can immediately discard the safe view. Poppycock!
If we had a trillion dollar surplus I could see experimenting with the idea. But, we don't. So cut all spending and move towards a sound financial future. That is the long term goal...
Do you ever talk with people outside of your little bubble? Most people have no interest in it. They like cars, or they like someone else to take a train so they can use their car.
At 5 miles it isn't convenient. YOU might think it is, but most people don't. I won't park my car at a rail station so it can be broken into, and I won't walk 5 miles to get to the station. So, I would never use it.
Cities do have significantly higher crime. Only a complete fool would believe otherwise. Eco people are terrified to acknowledge that crime plays a role in many people's decision making. As long as you support high crime, you support policies that are anti-train and anti-green. Sorry you don't understand the connection.
BTW, here are the FACTS:
The average crime rate for all cities above 200k people in America is 5538/100k people. About 60% higher than average.
The average crime rate for all cities 100k-200k people in America is 4530/100k people. 31% higher than average
The average crime rate for all cities above 40k-100k people in America is 3838/100k people. 11% higher than average.
The US average crime rate is 3465/100k people.
As I said:
People might be inclined to use them if there are clean, safe, convenient, reliable and cheap.
That's why I want better roads rather than light rail, so bicyclists can have their own lane.
Better roads that are safer for bicyclists means fewer people driving as well...
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