at one point I was indifferent to this thought process / but our world is becoming over populated and so the this is a good idea.
Otherwise we would have more cars and more planes and our air pollution would become even a bigger problem'
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at one point I was indifferent to this thought process / but our world is becoming over populated and so the this is a good idea.
Otherwise we would have more cars and more planes and our air pollution would become even a bigger problem'
[QUOTE=FultzNationRISE;14309411]Well the public did vote on it. A state full of “eliteballers” are not hard to con.
They have only themselves to blame.[/QUOTE]
But the result was produced by the system we have. If the system didn't exist, it would have never happened.
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[QUOTE=Norcaliblunt;14309466]If built on a nation wide scale connecting the whole country[B] I think it could bring us all together and stop some of the divisiveness that’s been going on[/B]. It would have more people out there traveling getting to know the country again. Some cool new towns with attractions would pop up along it. Too bad the politics, money, and the fact no one gives a shit about any of this stops it from happening. We can dream though. But yeah shit ain’t happening anytime in any good level.[/QUOTE]
Yes, I think it could bring us all together, but only if it requires 2-year-olds to wear masks and everyone to have a vaccine passport.
[QUOTE=Cleverness;14310101]But the result was produced by the system we have. If the system didn't exist, it would have never happened.
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Yeah but there is no system where political conmen dont sell wolf tickets to the public.
It’s... the human system.
[QUOTE=eliteballer;14309614]You dopes are confusing the United States inability to build infrastructure because of red tape, bureaucracy, and lobbying by special interests with the actual good infrastructure projects like high-speed rail would do once built.[/QUOTE]
The public sector is too incompetent to do it and the private sector is not willing to risk the up front costs. That's really all there is to it. China got it done but their govt structure allows them to undertake large projects if someone at the top believes it can work and they can tell competing interests to stfu.
[QUOTE=FKAri;14310269]The public sector is too incompetent to do it and the private sector is not willing to risk the up front costs. That's really all there is to it. China got it done but their govt structure allows them to undertake large projects if someone at the top believes it can work and they can tell competing interests to stfu.[/QUOTE]
Not to mention China has 3x the population in a roughly equal landmass, so in that sense mass transit has three times the value.
There are simply not that many people in the US with a need to travel from San Antonio to Atlanta on a regular basis.
In fact what’s funny is, I‘ve used a fair amount of public transit myself in various American cities, and you see hardly ANY middle/upper middle class ‘progressives’ riding the bus to help save the planet. It’s almost exclusively poor/working class people riding that shit. Those people arent galavanting from city to city. And all the progressive posers who champion fancy electric railways simply bc they think it fits their image, are still gonna fly when it’s convenient to save 1,2,3 hours off their trip.
Relative to cost, “electric railways around America” just arent necessary. They sound great bc people assume everyone will use them whenever they go anywhere. Actually most people will still find it more convenient to either bring their car, or save time by flying. Trains are the worst of both worlds from a convenience standpoint. The demand will not be what partisan simpletons like OP think it will.
^ And with that said, it will likely EVENTUALLY happen. Technology is going to massively makeover our world and eventually huge numbers of people probably will have the time and luxury to travel around any time they please.
But we might as well wait until smart computers/robots can simply build the necessary tracks - in nonstop 24 hour cycles at a fraction of the cost. There is not so much demand currently that we cant wait 5, 10, 15 years or however long it will be til that day comes.
Where the fck are our tax dollars going? A wall that mfers can climb over or dig under?
Knowing us we'd have a high speed rail that'll have multiple incidents of coming off track.
The fcking subways in NYC are trash and nyc has the best subways and trains.
High Speed Rail takes a level of infrstructure that needs to be built up and takes a while. This stuff didn't just pop up overnight in Europe. They invested decades of time and research while constantly improving the trains and the rails themselves. In the US, they just haven't really developed the train but instead focused on automobiles. The rails and the rail beds have to be totally rebuilt. The tolerances have to be super tight if you want a huge train to be rolling down at track at 120mph. The distance between the rails has to be absolutely perfect all along the way. There can be no unwelded joints between rails. The transitions at the welds have to be perfect and invisible. There has to be fencing to keep animals and people completely of the track. The tracks have to even be X-rayed periodically to check for cracks and fractures.....There's a lot that goes into it.
At some point is it going to happen. I can tell you that riding the ICE trains here in Germany is quite nice. You get to where you want to go fast and you are fresh when you arrive. It isn't cheap though.
[QUOTE=FultzNationRISE;14310300]Not to mention China has 3x the population in a roughly equal landmass, so in that sense mass transit has three times the value.
There are simply not that many people in the US with a need to travel from San Antonio to Atlanta on a regular basis.
In fact what’s funny is, I‘ve used a fair amount of public transit myself in various American cities, and you see hardly ANY middle/upper middle class ‘progressives’ riding the bus to help save the planet. It’s almost exclusively poor/working class people riding that shit. Those people arent galavanting from city to city. And all the progressive posers who champion fancy electric railways simply bc they think it fits their image, are still gonna fly when it’s convenient to save 1,2,3 hours off their trip.
Relative to cost, “electric railways around America” just arent necessary. They sound great bc people assume everyone will use them whenever they go anywhere. Actually most people will still find it more convenient to either bring their car, or save time by flying. Trains are the worst of both worlds from a convenience standpoint. The demand will not be what partisan simpletons like OP think it will.[/QUOTE]
Lol...some child who spends his life worshipping LeBron on ish and playing video games is telling us about the civic welfare of the country. If you build it..they will come. If you can integrate regions better with rail and make it easier to travel it will promote more movement of people, and thus the expansion of commerce, goods, services etc. you are literally arguing against improving infrastructure and economic integration. Even expanding high speed rail within huge metros like New York Atlanta or LA would do a ton to alleviate traffic congestion.
[QUOTE=eliteballer;14310593]Lol...some child who spends his life worshipping LeBron on ish and playing video games is telling us about the civic welfare of the country. If you build it..they will come. If you can integrate regions better with rail and make it easier to travel it will promote more movement of people, and thus the expansion of commerce, goods, services etc. you are literally arguing against improving infrastructure and economic integration. Even expanding high speed rail within huge metros like New York Atlanta or LA would do a ton to alleviate traffic congestion.[/QUOTE]
First of all, LEAVE LEBRON OUT OF THIS.
Secondly, there's an infinite number of things you "could do" in any area, that would provide some kind of theoretical benefit. That doesn't mean the cost-benefit ratio of every pie-in-the-sky is favorable.
The US isn't Europe. Our population is 50% less, and we dont have a continent-wide string of large cities along a roughly similar latitude. There's nothing between Dallas and San Diego. There's nothing between Dallas and Atlanta. If there are sensible improvements to be made to the NYC/Philly/DC etc rail pipeline, sure. High population density, relatively close together. That's a good spot to have high speed rail, and I'm pretty sure we already do.
A rail line across ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI AND LOUISIANA... not quite as necessary.
But look. If you think this project, which will further enrich a handful of billionaires, tangibly improves YOUR life... then go for it. Sign off. Give em your support.
I don't personally think randomly connecting Dallas and San Diego by railway notably improves quality of life for the "99%". It's pretty unimportant in the big picture, when we already have cars and planes, and the demand for a southwest trip-by-train of that distance would be quite limited.
But.. whatever. If this is a big deal to you, I guess that's your prerogative.
Also, to be clear, I don't have a blanket opposition to high speed rail ideas that make SENSE.
I'm opposed to the mindless cheerleading of the concept from guys like eliteballer and bladefd who aren't really thinking about the specifics, and just wanna force the idea regardless because "it's progressive!"
There may be some practical routes worth adding at some point. Perhaps a curved S.E. route that goes Houston - Austin - Dallas - Little Rock - Memphis - Nashville - Atlanta.
But again, just because that train would be convenient versus the simple idea of "not having the train" doesn't mean it's the best way for America to spend its labor capital right now. Specific proposals would have to be debated on merit, and an honest assessment of demand would have to be considered.
Not simply "Yo, we gotta do a bunch of electric rail SOMEWHERE, bc progress yall!"
It’s difficult to pull this off in US where you have to worry about high labour & capital costs, not to mention the land issue where China could basically just expropriate.
The Los Angeles to Vegas should be the first section. It’ll pay for everything else.
Build a Vegas to maybe Chicago next. Then NY to Chicago, and/or SF to LA.
Then get a Southern route to Vegas built.
#wilecoyotesupergenius
[QUOTE=Chick Stern;14310723]The Los Angeles to Vegas should be the first section. It’ll pay for everything else.
Build a Vegas to maybe Chicago next. Then NY to Chicago, and/or SF to LA.
Then get a Southern route to Vegas built.
#wilecoyotesupergenius[/QUOTE]
Hmm, I suppose Vegas wouldn't mind a federally-funded train that connects all major cities directly to... Vegas.
How long would it take for a train to travel to Chicago from Vegas? How long until the train is built? :lol
A very interesting topic but complex. The main problem in transportation is economical in nature. We are broke. Go look at any government agency in charge of transportation and you will find that their budget is massively funding road repaving and street resurfacing compared to everything else. We are having issues just maintaining what we already built, which is something that should be considered before any new infrastructure goes in.
There once was a time when the US was railroad-dominated (anyone remember reading about the transcontinental railroad?). But politics, red-tape, the economy, and other factors of our time has far removed us from being able to produce infrastructure like that anymore.