I think it’s a fallacy to think the US could ever be like Europe in terms of rail travel. Commuter/high-speed rail won’t change our habits to going to the grocery store or post office, nor driving cross town to visit friends/family. We’re not “wired” that way, and we’re too far along now in terms of automobiles to develop the needed infrastructure to support it. (Heck, building a commuter line from Denver to Golden met enough challenges, and that’s running largely along the highway and old railroad right-of-way! Can you imagine the dust-up over extending a spider-web of light-rail out to serve the suburbs?) Commuter/high-speed rail is also not going to change our habits for traveling across the country (distances more than a day’s drive). Flying–for all its inconveniences–is still the most efficient mode of travel there. Where it can make realistic and beneficial inroads is in the regional networks. We’ve already seen this in the NE corridor, where the trains provide a viable (often quicker) alternative for traveling from DC to Boston than flying. But here’s the thing… the NE Corridor is well-connected to the major airports in the region. You can take the train to any major city, and if the train doesn’t actually stop at the airport, it’s a short ride on another train (subway, etc.) to get to it. From there you can rent a car to get where you need to go if you need to if the local metro systems can’t get you there.
It’s those networks I think we should be concentrating on in the next few decades. Let’s look at the most-traveled airline hub routes (NY-Chicago, DC-Chicago, San Fran - San Diego, etc) and figure out ways to make travel on those major (and often crowded) routes more convenient for the traveler. You’re not going to alleviate that congestion by building more airports, there’s no place to put them. The roads are already jammed with traffic with little/no room for additional lanes. Let’s link these communities that already have halfway decent intra-city rail systems already in place to take the burden off of the air networks.
But here’s the other part of that equation… Let’s also support the communities that are beginning to build these intra-city rail systems, as they’re essential for the success of the larger high-speed rail networks. What good is getting to a train station quickly if you can go no further? Maybe they don’t pay dividends in the short term (i.e., first 20 years), but as other pieces fall into place, they become essential pieces of the puzzle.
Goodness knows the roads aren’t going to get any less congested than they already are, and the convenience of air travel has been on a steady decline for the past 30 years. It used to be that Southwest was the joke of the industry for treating passengers like cattle. Now they’re arguably the tops in terms of how they treat their customers. That’d be great if they had actually improved. Alas, it’s just that the rest of the industry has lowered the bar so low to where Southwest now sits high. If we had viable alternatives, that decline, and the TSA’s ever-increasing intrusiveness–would never have been allowed to happen. Customers would have taken the alternatives, and the airlines would have been forced to respond. With no alternatives, they’re going to treat us more and more like the baggage in the belly of the plane. (Though once–just once–I’d like them to re-route me to Hawaii by accident, then take a week to figure out the mistake.) If we collectively sit here and take the crap the airline industry puts on us, all the while killing any possible alternative that’s put in front of us, then we get what we deserve. For those who think we shouldn’t spend money on railroads or other alternative transportation, I’d like to say “Thanks a lot!” Now if you’ll excuse me, Nurse-turned-TSA-Agent Ratchet is now ready for me.
Later,
K
