As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new transport system (2017)

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by skywhopper on Saturday December 22, 2018 @06:28PM (#18743102)

Who is suggesting building high speed rail from Chicago to LA? Why would you pick that particular example? It takes even longer to drive, and yet we have built multiple highway routes that connect LA and Chicago.

Instead of picking dumb examples to discredit the idea, how about looking at obviously good places: The entire East coast from Boston to Miami would be a good corridor to build in. Or start in Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and build links to cities between 200 and 500 miles away, where taking a high-speed train would be faster than either driving or flying, and extend from there. Eventually you will have a network that can take you from Chicago to LA, even if that's not the sweet spot for the type of transport. And honestly, a 10 hour train ride will take only 3-4 hours longer than the equivalent flight, once you factor in the huge overhead of time involved in flying.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by soheil on Saturday December 22, 2018 @06:49PM (#18743244)

It's actually a helpful example to support the conclusion. Why would the author provide a "better" example that supports his/her idea less? LA to Chicago may not be a commonly travelled route nor one that would lend itself to train travel best, but the author's point still stands, which is in the US on average distances between major cities are much longer than any individual country in Europe, hence the immense cost required to build infrastructure for trains. We might have bit the bullet and done it with highways back in the day for whatever reason, today the reasoning for doing the same thing may not apply and the cost unjustified.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by reindeerer on Saturday December 22, 2018 @07:12PM (#18743370)

> in the US on average distances between major cities are much longer than any individual country in Europe

Have you done the math ? Split US into west coast and east coast populuous regions, and nope, not the case.

Also, don't let yourself be fooled by the Mercator projection:

https://thetruesize.com

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by xg15 on Saturday December 22, 2018 @07:05PM (#18743333)

> We might have bit the bullet and done it with highways back in the day for whatever reason, today the reasoning for doing the same thing may not apply and the cost unjustified.

So the rational, cost-effective solution would have been not to have any connection at all?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by soheil on Saturday December 22, 2018 @07:39PM (#18743540)

I'm leaning towards a yes but then again I wasn't there at the time.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by xg15 on Sunday December 23, 2018 @07:30PM (#18749413)

(edit) How would people travel between those cities then?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by melling on Saturday December 22, 2018 @07:18PM (#18743414)

The author’s point does not stand.

No one is saying build high-speed rail between cities that are extremely far apart.

Find the handful of places where it does make sense then build there. If it only makes sense in 4 locations then build there. You can safely ignore the other 20 locations.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by soheil on Saturday December 22, 2018 @07:37PM (#18743528)

Then there is the argument why should the rest of the country pay for something that will only be used in the coasts or densely populated areas?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by melling on Saturday December 22, 2018 @08:23PM (#18743726)

1. Who said they would?

2. Also, it appears that many states already get a lot more than they contribute. That subsidy probably isn’t going in the direction you think it is.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/which-s...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by soheil on Saturday December 22, 2018 @08:36PM (#18743798)

> 1. Who said they would?

That's my question.

> 2. Also, it appears that many states already get a lot more than they contribute. That subsidy probably isn’t going in the direction you think it is.

Sure, I'm not arguing that the distribution of federal money is 100% fair.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by melling on Saturday December 22, 2018 @11:14PM (#18744384)

“Then there is the argument why should the rest of the country pay for something that will only be used in the coasts or densely populated areas?”

This isn’t a real question. You’re making up a reason that you haven’t proven exists.

There is no funded HSR outside of California.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by soheil on Sunday December 23, 2018 @02:07AM (#18744868)

What part of it is not a "real" question? Are you saying there are assumptions in the question? Of course, the entire argument is hypothetical since currently there isn't a train system as described above in the US. The point of the comment was to seek predictive reasons in favor and against a hypothetical scenario. This has nothing to do with existing funding inside or outside CA. You seem confused.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:As the U.S. fantasizes, the rest of the world builds new ... by xg15 on Sunday December 23, 2018 @07:30PM (#18749410)

You mean cost contribution should be calculated strictly by area, independent of how many people live in the area? How would that be fair?

[ Parent | on HN ]