High speed rail maybe a reality in the near future? In the U.S.? Say it ain't so!

[texdav]

About teh only rail we will see is transit rail to serve the burbs so that the city center will not dieout.Otherweise nothing in our lifetime as far as countrywide mass transit.

[Morphous01]

Originally Posted by Blue Grass Fever

Here is the article - Obama plots huge railroad expansion - David Rogers - Politico.com

I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this, even in the media outlets. I'd figure both sides of the aisle would be abuzzed.

This article has a map that gives a general idea - Map Of Potential High-Speed Rail Built By The Stimulus

So what do my fellow Americans think?

Hopefully, in due time, the Midwest will be interconnected with the Northeast.

The "rail" system even if it's high speed is outdated technology. If we are going to do this it needs to be done right so we need to follow the Germans and the Chinese and get on board with the magnetic levitation trains.


YouTube - The Transrapid Story (Part 2)

[Huckleberry3911948]

problem is getting from the house to the train thru the mean streets, a problem.

[UpperPeninsulaRon]

Originally Posted by TigerLily24

How do the two things correlate exactly?

You seem to be saying that having high speed rail leads to high unemployment, or that high unemployment leads to high speed rail.

Just how does that work exactly?

Let me take a shot at a thought process that might promote discussion. I am not trying to make a profound link between high speed rail and unemployment, but think about this - public policy that is directed toward spending in projects that a very small segment of the proponents feel passionate about diverts money from projects that may actually promote increased employment in sustainable businesses that make real, profitable goods and services that increase GDP.

For example, take a look at this portion of a post earlier in this topic:

"The problem is they're all too far apart to feed off one another and harness resources to rebuild the Great Lakes from a manufacturing center to a thriving mecca of fresh water, culture, and sustainable recreation."

More lofty public policy - but to what end. How will a "thriving mecca of fresh water" do anything to help the numbers of Great Lakes people now unemployed? What will bringing culture to Flint do to help the middle class? How many minimum wage jobs as motel clerks will be created with "sustainable recreaction" as opposed to decent wage jobs in industry?

Can you see the connection? High unemployment may not be a direct correlation with high speed rail, but diverting funding to help mold a certain template for the future may in fact mean less sustainable employment for the middle class.

[tinman01]

Every other modern country uses a rail system for mass transit and effectively. There really is no reason why we don't or even shouldn't have a viable alternative to flying or taking a bus. When we deregulated the trucking industry we destroyed the rail industry. I for one would prefer taking a high speed train over a bus or driving the distance and having to stop at hotels along the way.

[jetgraphics]

High speed rail is fine, but we need a national initiative to rebuild electric rail mass transit.

Why?

232 million automobiles that rely upon imported oil for 70% of the time, means that in the event that oil imports are stopped, 70% of your mileage is gone - if you can still afford a car.

In 2007 consumption rates
1 million barrels of oil = one hour U.S. consumption
1 billion barrels of oil = one month U.S. consumption
1 trillion barrels of oil = one human lifetime ...

In one year, 12 billion barrels of oil are consumed. 70% of that is 8.4 billion.
At $50 / barrel, we export $420 Billion / year.
At $75 / barrel , we export $630 Billion / year.
At $100 / barrel, we export $840 Billion / year.
At $125 / barrel, we export $1050 Billion / year.

At what point does someone catch on that exporting billions and trillions per year is not wise. Is it not more cost effective spending the money, here, on electric rail based mass transit?

Estimated U.S. population: 305,604,913 (2009)
At $125 / barrel, it costs $3435.80 per capita to satisfy demand.
That's $286 per month per person...

If we could take that same sum of $1050 billion, and use it to build electric urban rail, we might recover from our oil addiction.
At $10 million / mile at-grade track, with half that exported money, we could build ...
(1050 T / 2) divided by $10 M
52,500 miles of urban streetcar track.

(in 1907, the U.S. had 34,404 miles of urban streetcar track and approx. 60,000 streetcars.)

In two years, we exported enough wealth to build and equip our major and minor cities with electric urban rail transportation.

Don't ever say we can't afford rail mass transit. We can't afford NOT to build it. We can't afford to subsidize oil consuming automobiles, nor bail out "Big Auto".

[nitokenshi]

The lack of public transportation in this country is the main reason why I want to high tail it out when I graduate. I hate dealing with a car too much cost too much headache and it would be nice to freely travel out of the 50 mile radius.