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There is nothing to be gained by nay-saying negativism. I think we all agree the present transportation system is not adequate and has many limitations, in addition to making it very difficult for cities across North America to link up. Instead of fussing, endlessly, about what can't be done (all of which is nothing more than narrow-minded inside-the-box assumptions anyway), I suggest we take a larger look at matters. As for the population density issues, the demographers tell us the center of the US has been slowly emptying toward the coasts the last century. Building a new national HSR network would be one way to reverse that trend, and move people back to the more-accessible heart of the country (more accessible because of the arrival of HSR). Great public-works projects (like the original railroad lines) stimulate thousands of spinoffs, and bring business and population to places where it did not exist before, or in our US case, has gradually gone away. As for solving the problem by adding two cents to the federal gas tax, this is absurd. The rule of thumb is that one cent of gas tax generates a billion dollars in new revenue. Two billion dollars is not enough to even get into trouble, let alone get out of it on HSR. It will take hundreds of billions in financing, both public and private, and concerted cooperation between federal and state governments (like the building of the original RRs in the 19th century, we might add). We (our group, including transport engineers) have looked at the speed issue, and we believe we can cross coast-to-coast using off-the-shelf HSR equipment in 16 hours. This, of course, involves substantially higher speeds where possible to compensate for the slower speeds in urban environments and in mountainous terrain. Note that the French TGV has done 322 mph in test runs, and the German ICE trains over 250 mph in tests. Conventional HSR is now very close to maglev in speed capability, and we believe it can be improved still further. The USA has been famous in history for a can-do attitude. That built the railroads, and completed the Panama Canal when the French backed off. Americans love great engineering projects, and, I believe, will pitch in wholeheartedly once it gets underway. God knows the Bush program of overseas imperialism isn't drawing much enthusiasm, and the bloom is off the bush (no pun intended) for the space program. What else is there to stimulate a national re-awakening? HSR is the answer. J. Snyder
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