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US infrastructure is far behind Europe. Many highways/roads/bridges have not been maintained at all. A lot of interstates haven't been repaved or even touched for more than 50 years. Modern public transportation is almost non-existent. New technologies have been implemented 20 years after Europe. If you want to see real highways and trains, go to Western Europe (Spain, France, Germany). They repave their roads every couple years. Gas tax in the US is only 18.4 cents per gallon which is ridiculously low. But Americans don't want to pay taxes. They have proved that they don't like changes. That's why they still use the 15th-century imperial system. But today is 21st century.
Well, this is a perfect example of how people in the US want everything but they dont want to pay for it. We have devolved from a culture of we into the culture of me. Many people throw a fit at the mere mention of taxes for the sake of improving infrastructure-well except when it comes to widening freeways because in most of America nowadays, they think their cities are grown up based on how wide their freeways are-and that is really sad.
In America big and wide road (quantity) means good, while in Europe good-looking, smooth road (quality) means good.
Quote:
Air travel still relies on a ground-based tracking system from the 1950s, which forces planes to use inefficient routes in order to stay in contact with controllers. The system’s imprecision obliges controllers to keep more distance between air traffic, reducing the number of planes that can fly in the available space. And this is not the system’s only bottleneck. Overbooked airports frequently lead to runway congestion, forcing travellers to spend long hours stranded on the tarmac while they wait to take off or disembark. Meanwhile, security and immigration procedures in American airports drive travellers to the brink of rebellion.
Of course it is NOT comparing apples to apples when comparing the roads in the US and European Countries. It all boils down to different wants, needs, and expectations. When we in the US want most of our paychecks to go to the Gov't and let them decide how to spend most of what we earn individually, then the roads/services here will match the roads/services there. As it is right now though, few here want the taxes our counterparts in Europe have to pay.
Our highways are still used everyday by millions, we still build new highways, bridges, rail lines, and believe it or not I still think our interstate system is superior to any other highway system in the world!
I'd rather spend more money on national security and education than trying to doll up our transportation system Moderator cut: see comment
Last edited by Bo; 05-08-2011 at 11:21 AM..
Reason: off topic for the forum - see my post below
When we in the US want most of our paychecks to go to the Gov't and let them decide how to spend most of what we earn individually, then the roads/services here will match the roads/services there.
What exactly are we getting back for our 25%-30% loss of revenue? Free healthcare, free/quality education and non-crumbling infrastructure? I think not.
Do the math, we're paying for it one way or another.
The quality of the Interstate look very bad compared with the German Autobahn, french Autoroute, Italian Autostrada, Spanish Autopista etc...
This is what is considered as the worst motorway in France (A47).
Absolutely NOTHING seems to be more sacred than the continuation of tax cuts for the richest Americans. We are about to see our infrastructure and competitiveness fall off a cliff so that the very wealthiest Americans can keep more money.
US infrastructure is far behind Europe. Many highways/roads/bridges have not been maintained at all. A lot of interstates haven't been repaved or even touched for more than 50 years. Modern public transportation is almost non-existent. New technologies have been implemented 20 years after Europe. If you want to see real highways and trains, go to Western Europe (Spain, France, Germany). They repave their roads every couple years. Gas tax in the US is only 18.4 cents per gallon which is ridiculously low. But Americans don't want to pay taxes. They have proved that they don't like changes. That's why they still use the 15th-century imperial system. But today is 21st century.
Of course it is NOT comparing apples to apples when comparing the roads in the US and European Countries. It all boils down to different wants, needs, and expectations. When we in the US want most of our paychecks to go to the Gov't and let them decide how to spend most of what we earn individually, then the roads/services here will match the roads/services there. As it is right now though, few here want the taxes our counterparts in Europe have to pay
Don't know about the OP, but I don't think that is really necessary. It is actually possible that the US can rise to Europe's standards. It's just a matter of investment for the common good.
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