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[quote user="blue streak 1"]  SAM:   First no one has stated but HSR will be a social program. Those people who cannot for whatever reason own or are unable to drive a car will have the benefit of alternate transportation. ie NYC  area residents, lower income persons, disabled person, those who live in non air served areas. (SAN JOAQUIN valley for example).  The second is the view expoused by you that I consider is a Balkanization idea for our various US states. President Eisenhour stated that one reason to build the interstates was the need to allow people the ability to travel this great country unimpeaded and be able to communicate. He felt that part of Europe's problems was their Balkanization.  Ganted he could not have forseen Jet aircraft, Satellite comunications, fiber optics, and the resultant explosion of communication world wide. I want to be able to conduct business through out the US without having to drive. I can get billable hours that way buy not driving or taking a short haul barbie jet. The medium distances that will allow both business and pleasure travelers to not drive is also an important metric. Is it going to be cheap? NO! Will it bind this whole country closer together? I BELIEVE YES!  After having some 30 - 40 % of shuttle flights take 3 hours from block out to block in and the same times LAX - SFO an alternate is needed. We need to let the airlines do what they do best. LONG DISTANCE 2HR + FLIGHTS (1000 + STATUE MILES). [/quote] If a government commercial activity does not cover its costs, it is a defacto social program. None of the proposed high speed rail projects are national.  Unlike the federal highways and airways, they are regional solutions. The block to block time for flights from LAX to SFO is approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes.  I made the trip three times last year and once this year.  I am a former pilot, flight instructor, and ground instructor.  I know a bit about aviation. People who live in communities without reasonable commercial air service, or too far from a major center with commercial air service, usually have access to a bus.  Or they can hire a driver to drive them.  This may sound cold, but it is nothing compared to dumping billions on our children and grand children to pay for a transport system that will be used by a small minority of the people in the communities that it serves.   I favor passenger rail in corridors where the expansion of the highways and airways is cost prohibitive. I also favor a cheap as it can be approach.  Thus, instead of building high speed rail, which is very costly, a better solution is to improve the current system, bringing it up to an average speed of say 75 mph.  This would be more than adequate in most places.
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