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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by donclark The economic competing Asian and European nations have high speed rail.....and its about time America does too..... We are running out of airspace near the major airports, thereby making it imperative that we invest in inter city rail..... A moratorium on federal highway and airport spending in two years could build an adequate starter high speed rail system in America of some 7,000 to 8,000 miles, enough to build high speed rail from the NEC to Chicago, to Texas, to Florida, and back to the NEC, along with a leg in California and a direct line from Chicago to Florida, all the way down to Miami, plus a few short lines to Montreal, Toronto, Detroit, and to Minneapolis, not to mention others.... Once this high speed network of tracks is built, we can easily spend less on new airports and highways, and we won't miss any of the construction during the next two years.... And I am talking about a true high speed rail network, the TGV/ICE capability of 186 mph..... making it possible to ride a train from New York City to Chicago in less than 5 hours, from Chicago to Dallas in less than 6 hours, from Houston to Atlanta in less than 6 hours, and from Atlanta to Washington DC in less than 5 hours....or from Chicago to Atlanta in less than 4 hours..... The ability to ride a train from LA to Oakland in less than 3 hours.....well 4 hours if they build it alongside Hwy 99 instead of I-5.... Use as much as possible rural interstate highway right of way, and either commuter or light rail right of way in the major cities.... Any scheduled passenger network whether air, sea, or land.....needs a subsidy.....They all do, everywhere...... The argument against funding Amtrak falls on this fact.... Just how long will the airllines last if they had to pay for airport terminals and parking garages......Not very long..... Who would fly at first class rates? Not many..... [/quote] If New England wants a high speed rail network, then let New England pay for it, so on and so on. Most of the South, Midwest and Intermountain West is totaly dependent on highways for economic survival, and what you are proposing (a two year moratorium on highway funding) would do more to destroy the U.S. economy than if Osama Bin Laden was elected president. Here's another thought: If there was a two year moratorium on highway funding, would that include a two year moratorium on gas taxes? Probably not. Highways are paid for by user fees in the form of fuel taxes and truckers fees. Airports are paid for via ticket taxes, as well as some of the highway trust fund. If you really want what you are suggesting, then we should start by slapping a 50 cent a gallon fuel tax on railroads to pay for it, and maybe a per container fee along with it. Highway users pay for highways, airline users pay for airports, it is only fair that railroad users pay for new infrastructure. The whole idea of forcing individuals onto mass transit went out with the 70's, because the basis of that ideal is totaly un-American. Individualism is the heart and soul of America, at least outside the NEC.
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