Rarely does one make progress while looking over a shoulder. In the case of improving our transportation options, though, I think it might provide the greatest potential for success. Allow me to explain:
Throughout the history of transportation in America as one mode became anachronistic, a newer and speedier mode was ready to replace it. The stagecoach gave way to the railroad and the trains gave way to busses (at least for shorter distances), and they both gave way to the airplane. But there is no new whiz-bang alternative to the airlines, is there? No particle beam transport a la Star Trek. Even the SST has been mothballed. We’re pretty much screwed. Or are we?
California’s Governor Schwarzenegger recently request 4.7 billion dollars in stimulus funds to apply towards a high speed rail system within the state. A step backwards, some might say, if we return to the rails as an answer to our transportation woes. Well, let’s look at a typical trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento. To make this trip by air, plan on arriving at the airport two hours before your flight so as to allow enough time for the poking and prodding of the TSA after standing in a lengthy line leading up to the indignity. The travel time is roughly one hour and fifteen minutes unless weather or other traffic interferes with the schedule. And we all know that either (or both) is a regular occurrence. Now we’re up to at least three hours and fifteen minutes, not including travel to and from our airports. The high speed rail travel time? Two hours seventeen minutes. And the stations will more than likely be closer to our final destination than the airport so the time savings increase yet again.
Can there be any rational argument against investing in this technology? Maybe, from short haul airlines who stand to lose major business to this quick and economical alternative, but that’s economical...not rational. Much of the infrastructure is already in place. Right-of-way problems are now relatively easy to solve, what with the lower values in real estate. No more sky-high prices for the land required to lay out our rails. Give them what the property was worth a year ago and watch them take the offer without a second thought. Other hardware and software technology required for these projects will create the need for companies to provide the necessary materials. Jobs, in other words. The best thing of all is that we’ll be making something. You know: manufacturing. That’s what we did before we made money by selling paper.
Look at virtually any state and the opportunities for high speed rail service abound. (Better yet, Google “high speed rail maps” and take a look at what is being envisioned.) Eventually, these networks connect with other areas to form a national high speed rail system second to none. Driving even becomes a secondary option in certain cases.
Yes, folks, the answer to our transportation quandary lies in the past, albeit with improvements. Climb aboard, literally and figuratively: let’s all go back to the future!
