Mayor Reed Wants High Speed Rail to Savannah (Atlanta, Macon: construction, tax)

[RoslynHolcomb]

To the mayor's credit, I listened to him on npr today, he also talked about trying to get federal funds for the Beltline, and other infrastructure projects. Unfortunately I was in the car and yelling at the youngun so I didn't hear it all.

[Newsboy]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

back on topic, the panama canal and the port of savannah are being modified to accept large cargo ships from china. if savannah becomes a major US port ..

Savannah already IS a major U.S. port ...

[gtcorndog]

Read this thread. Topic has been discussed in great depth and proven to be pointless.

The discussion gets good around post 100.

//www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...nger-rail.html

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

This popped up in my Twitter feed this afternoon. Frankly Reed was such a good surrogate for the president I assumed he was angling for a cabinet position. Apparently he's looking for transportation help. Good on you Mr. Mayor. Presumably those of you with more savvy about trains than myself can explain the up side of a bullet train to Savannah.

Reed Not Joining Obama Administration; Wants Rail To Savannah

Not going to happen. It will NEVER happen. Not in Georgia.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by bryantm3

back on topic, the panama canal and the port of savannah are being modified to accept large cargo ships from china. if savannah becomes a major US port, having passenger rail to savannah would be an excellent idea to further connect atlanta to more jobs. it's a shame— 70 years ago it was nothing to get a train to macon, savannah, athens, or chattanooga. we've allowed our infrastructure to collapse. we do need regional rail, and badly. you do have a point about priorities, i'm not sure if savannah needs to be #1 on our list of transit projects, for example commuter rail to griffin, macon, athens, rome, gainesville, etc. probably needs to come first. but the reason i put the video above is that i haven't seen you come out in support of a single rail line the entire time you've been on this forum. you have a severe aversion to spending money on any passenger rail at all, yet you keep writing your posts as if you're trying to appear pragmatic and open to some rail projects. i'm not buying it. name a single rail project you would support. just one!

Ok...so container traffic increases in Savannah. Why do we need a HSR link between Atlanta and Savannah? It would cost tens of billions of dollars to build.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

To the mayor's credit, I listened to him on npr today, he also talked about trying to get federal funds for the Beltline, and other infrastructure projects. Unfortunately I was in the car and yelling at the youngun so I didn't hear it all.

But really, if the Beltline is the sh*t, spurring massive development around its path, fulfilling Atlanta's transportation needs, and presumably will fill up the LRTs...why does it need federal funds? We should be selling bonds for both the Beltline and this HSR to Savannah. We were fortunate to get the money for the 2 mile route between MLK and Centennial Park, but the Beltline covers 22 miles.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by MathmanMathman

But really, if the Beltline is the sh*t, spurring massive development around its path, fulfilling Atlanta's transportation needs, and presumably will fill up the LRTs...why does it need federal funds? We should be selling bonds for both the Beltline and this HSR to Savannah. We were fortunate to get the money for the 2 mile route between MLK and Centennial Park, but the Beltline covers 22 miles.

selling bonds is a good idea, i like that, but we also need federal funding because the state, which is usually in charge of things like this, has completely defunded rail. you usually have support from the state in addition to bonds, etc. when the state won't do its job, there's not much choice except to appeal to the federal government. ideally, we could handle things like this in-state, but when your state is run by ideologues it becomes apparent that what would be ideal is not what we have in reality.

when it comes to regional rail, i kind of view it as something that needs to be done as a regional project— we need rail between regional cities where flying is too great of an expense and can be done more efficiently, safely, and quickly with rail. for example, flying to chattanooga, macon, greenville, athens, is incredibly impractical, but driving there isn't all that convenient either. these cities are an ideal distance for rail. when it comes to connecting to farther away cities such as savannah, charlotte, knoxville, columbia... in a lot of these cases it's just like... damn, are you serious? there's no train? this kind of stuff should just be there, it's just something you expect. i'm not talking about high speed rail, i'm just talking about your basic amtrak service. what the hell has happened that our entire rail system in the us has collapsed? it's just ridiculous. the government needs to be on top of this stuff. why wasn't expanding rail a priority in the stimulus package?

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by MattCW

The idea isn't crap, Georgia doesn't have good links between its and its neighboring population center. While I agree that the infrastructure is in a bad state of repair, some of the effects can be mitigated by giving people an alternative transportation system. Additionally, there aren't many programs at the federal level for securing funding for ongoing maintenance, like the FTA's New Starts Program.

I think the roads still work. The money needed for rail can be better spent on roads. Using rail to get trucks off the roads will do more good in mitigating road wear and tear.

Atlanta to Savannah counts. You're repeating the same thing that every rail detractor says and only pointing out the endpoints. A rail line serving Atlanta to Savannah would get at least Macon and probably Dublin, Metter and Statesboro (Georgia Southern University) depending on the route. In fact, the I-16 median is plenty wide enough to just lay the track down the middle abrogating the need for acquiring new right of way, or buying access on freight railroads.

Aside from the fact that Megabus doesn't even serve Savannah, Greyhound takes 4:35 to go Atlanta-Atlanta Airport-Macon-Savannah. A high speed rail route, only going 125mph south of Macon, would take less than three hours. Running 220mph south of Macon drops the trip to 2:20 and these are WITH stopping at Dublin, Metter, and Statesboro.

Ok, so apparently Megabus doesn't see Savannah as a hot market. And yeah, we can't pass up the important Macon, Dublin, Metter, and Statesboro markets . And Georgia Southern is not an important enough university. But the talk was of a bullet train so you don't want stops. At most, one stop at Macon and then continue to Savannah. Again, can we justify the cost?

[Jimrob1]

I've noticed states that have a large percentage of Republicans, are generally not very advanced on transit options. I doubt Georgia would see an HSR between Atlanta and anywhere for many decades if at all. It would be nice though.

[RoslynHolcomb]

I dunno anout the cost, but I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. Faster access to the ocean could be a major selling point for Atlanta. With a bullet train people could live in one city and work in the other, especially if they only have to go to the office occasionally. Georgia is the biggest state east of the Mississippi, I think greater connectivity could be a good thing. Companies that need access to shipping in Savannah can more easily house their executives and such in Atlanta. Savannah could become almost a bedroom community. I assume that the tracks are already there, and with climate change we will need better means to get our people from the shore quickly. So I can think of several angles for the pitch.

Will it happen? Probably not, but Reed was a very good surogate for the president. It may well be that he's throwing his most grandiose plans out there so that when he asks for what he really wants it will sound almost cheap in comparison. I wish I could remember the other projects he mentioned.