CNBC rhetorical question: Why is there no high speed rail in the U.S.

[glenn1]

I guess someone needed a 16 minute video to answer an obvious question. We don't have high speed rail because:

1. The idea is popular in places where politicians wholeheartedly enable corruption and see it as a source of patronage and getting rich themselves.
2. We'd rather spend the money on lawyers to develop "impact studies" and have court fights about whether some random animal will be mildly inconvenienced.
3. The people who want it are the same ones who want to "end poverty" and want someone else besides them to pay for the objective instead of them.
4. It's a solution in search of a problem when the routes HSR will serve are already handled by airplanes with fares lower than what the HSR ticket is likely to cost.
5. People lie about caring about global warming and such when studies repeatedly show they won't pay even $10 more to "reduce carbon".

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/why-is-there-no-high-speed-rail-in-the-us.html

1, 2, 3, argue!

 

[KMFJD]

your not a nation of doers any longer, just complainers?

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

6. We spent billions on a country-wide highway system that fulfills 80% of our needs, and we've supplemented the remaining 20% with other stuff (light rail, aircraft, boats). The cost of making enough of a dent in that 80% to matter would cost more than it would be worth, as that money could be shunted to other things like carbon sequestration research, or just planting billions of trees.

 

[IronWing]

I guess someone needed a 16 minute video to answer an obvious question. We don't have high speed rail because:

1. The idea is popular in places where politicians wholeheartedly enable corruption and see it as a source of patronage and getting rich themselves.
2. We'd rather spend the money on lawyers to develop "impact studies" and have court fights about whether some random animal will be mildly inconvenienced.
3. The people who want it are the same ones who want to "end poverty" and want someone else besides them to pay for the objective instead of them.
4. It's a solution in search of a problem when the routes HSR will serve are already handled by airplanes with fares lower than what the HSR ticket is likely to cost.
5. People lie about caring about global warming and such when studies repeatedly show they won't pay even $10 more to "reduce carbon".

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/why-is-there-no-high-speed-rail-in-the-us.html

1, 2, 3, argue!

No straw was harmed in the making of this post.




Just kidding, welcome to Strawschwitz.

 

[dank69]

But the U.S. has no true high-speed trains, aside from sections of Amtrak's Acela line in the Northeast Corridor.

Derp

 

[zinfamous]

No straw was harmed in the making of this post.




Just kidding, welcome to Strawschwitz.

Holy crap, I am going to steal this and abuse it mercilessly from now on.

 

[Thebobo]

CNBC rhetorical question: Why is there no high speed rail in the U.S.

Republicans

 

[Moonbeam]

The answer to all of this is Boring.

 

[dingster1]

The Acela isn’t true high speed rail. It goes nowhere near as fast as Europe or Japan’s trains

 

[Greenman]

I guess someone needed a 16 minute video to answer an obvious question. We don't have high speed rail because:

1. The idea is popular in places where politicians wholeheartedly enable corruption and see it as a source of patronage and getting rich themselves.
2. We'd rather spend the money on lawyers to develop "impact studies" and have court fights about whether some random animal will be mildly inconvenienced.
3. The people who want it are the same ones who want to "end poverty" and want someone else besides them to pay for the objective instead of them.
4. It's a solution in search of a problem when the routes HSR will serve are already handled by airplanes with fares lower than what the HSR ticket is likely to cost.
5. People lie about caring about global warming and such when studies repeatedly show they won't pay even $10 more to "reduce carbon".

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/07/why-is-there-no-high-speed-rail-in-the-us.html

1, 2, 3, argue!

Just take a look at California's HSR for all of the reasons that it won't work. The bottom line is it becomes a vast money pit. It's been trimmed down from eight or nine hundred miles to under two hundred. It will end up being the most expensive two hundred miles of rail on the planet, and end up being a monument to government waste and stupidity.

My sincerest wish is that Trump will say it's the greatest thing to ever be built in this nation. That would kill it over night.

 

[UberNeuman]

No straw was harmed in the making of this post.




Just kidding, welcome to Strawschwitz.

I love it!

 

[dawp]

The Acela isn’t true high speed rail. It goes nowhere near as fast as Europe or Japan’s trains

Japan's high speed trains are going to get a bit faster
https://www.usatoday.com/story/trav...el-prototype-testing-begins-japan/1166149001/

 

[WelshBloke]

Just take a look at California's HSR for all of the reasons that it won't work. The bottom line is it becomes a vast money pit. It's been trimmed down from eight or nine hundred miles to under two hundred. It will end up being the most expensive two hundred miles of rail on the planet, and end up being a monument to government waste and stupidity.

My sincerest wish is that Trump will say it's the greatest thing to ever be built in this nation. That would kill it over night.

The cost isnt a problem with HSR, the cost is a problem with the way you do things in the US (and us as well unfortunately).

 

[sdifox]

When Taiwan and China can do it but US can't, there is something seriously fucked up.

 

[K1052]

The cost isnt a problem with HSR, the cost is a problem with the way you do things in the US (and us as well unfortunately).

Yes. We in America usually build infrastructure in seriously demented ways with an army of consultants and swampy contractors who only live to drive up the price. This isn't remotely limited to rail projects either.

 

[cytg111]

Something boring, something hyperloop, someone Elon.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

When Taiwan and China can do it but US can't, there is something seriously fucked up.

In those countries, especially China, the government can do anything it wants. China could level cities at a whim. China could build a New Great Wall through the middle of Beijing if it wish and if that applied here Trump could have his wall encircling the entire US mainland and opposition would be removed by force, arrested or shot.

Perhaps it's not such a fucked up thing it can't be done here.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Yes. We in America usually build infrastructure in seriously demented ways with an army of consultants and swampy contractors who only live to drive up the price. This isn't remotely limited to rail projects either.

And we haven't even gotten to health care yet <runs away>

 

[K1052]

In those countries, especially China, the government can do anything it wants. China could level cities at a whim. China could build a New Great Wall through the middle of Beijing if it wish and if that applied here Trump could have his wall encircling the entire US mainland and opposition would be removed by force, arrested or shot.

Perhaps it's not such a fucked up thing it can't be done here.

A better comparison is maybe the French who and do can build stuff at 40% (or less) of what we pay and they're not exactly a low regulation/non-union environment.

 

[K1052]

And we haven't even gotten to health care yet <runs away>

Since we already have government run healthcare what's the difference with putting more people on it. We're already paying for the bureaucracy. Private insurers do dick for us but raise costs.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Since we already have government run healthcare what's the difference with putting more people on it. We're already paying for the bureaucracy. Private insurers do dick for us but raise costs.

I'm not for the current system, but I'm not for the Big Dig either. What we really need is a 4th branch of government which is not Republican or Democrat, indeed accountable but not elected any more than the SCOTUS is.

The means by which independence is the most difficult aspect but in essence we would have a meritocracy based on competence and an established track record on high ethical standards.

No current branch is suited to deal with situations that the Founders could have dreamed of, like climate, social media, cybersecurity, energy and a host of things that matter.

So to prevent clusters that result from the Golden Rule which is "He who has the gold makes the rules", complicated technical issues are handled by those that know their elbow from their arse to create solutions and these are passed to the Branch which legislates with an up or down vote and allocates sufficient funds as dictated by the 4th Branch.

Problems that arise because of judicial concerns are returned to what I will refer to "4th" along with Congressional suggestions.

But be aware that neither public nor private plans do anything to facilitate improvements in a rational apoltical way or with costs of private insurers.

The people who can't figure out how social media works will fix things? Can't handle cost overruns but have a bureaucracy at large as the Pentagon without anything but Mitch vs Feinstein? No thanks.

Anyway this derails when gone into detail let's get back to the other cluster of high speed rail.

 

[sdifox]

In those countries, especially China, the government can do anything it wants. China could level cities at a whim. China could build a New Great Wall through the middle of Beijing if it wish and if that applied here Trump could have his wall encircling the entire US mainland and opposition would be removed by force, arrested or shot.

Perhaps it's not such a fucked up thing it can't be done here.

Tokaido Shinkanzen opened in 1964... Over half a century ago...

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Tokaido Shinkanzen opened in 1964... Over half a century ago...

That's true. Now what was the process Japan used to deal with private property, environmental concerns, and legal challenges? I think you'll find the answer is the Japanese government telling everyone this is going to happen and there were no objections as the Japanese have society still influenced by absolute authoritarian leadership.

We can do the same thing. Make laws that take away all rights including legal challenges and pack the SCOTUS to support it.


People get HSR and Trump gets his wall. Win/win.

 

[sdifox]

That's true. Now what was the process Japan used to deal with private property, environmental concerns, and legal challenges? I think you'll find the answer is the Japanese government telling everyone this is going to happen and there were no objections as the Japanese have society still influenced by absolute authoritarian leadership.

We can do the same thing. Make laws that take away all rights including legal challenges and pack the SCOTUS to support it.


People get HSR and Trump gets his wall. Win/win.

Learn from these guys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_High_Speed_Rail

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Learn from these guys

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_High_Speed_Rail

I'm glad to see they opted to take care of environmental issues in Taiwan.