Those of us who frequented this site at the time will likely recall the special move that carried President-Elect Obama from New York to his inauguration in 2009; the hoopla was accompanied by a Master Plan of expansion that would have vastly increased the amount of Amtrak service -- some of it on lines that had already been tried and curtailed, and some of which hadn't seen a passenger train in decades.
Almost needless to say, Obama never traveled by rail in the remainder of his two terms served.
The YouTube link below serves to illustrate, in the academic language of simple economics, (and without the usual justification in terms of the gap between personal freedoms with regard to both consumer spending and individual mobility), why the resounding success of HSR in China can't be replicated here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFVHJ-6FEY
This post is not intended as an attack on the most fervent HSR advocates at this site, but it is presented as a demonstration that the failure (or success) of HSR projects depend mostly on geographic and societal factors, such as the size of centers of population and the distance between them, which are not subject to change, save in the extreme long run.
There is a potential market for HSR in the United States, but it is limited in scope and, as amply demonstrated by the boondoggle into which Califorina's HSR project has devolved, would be much more likely to adapt to the realities if the politicians and their dreamer clientele were restrained by economic and societal facts.
Almost needless to say, Obama never traveled by rail in the remainder of his two terms served.
The YouTube link below serves to illustrate, in the academic language of simple economics, (and without the usual justification in terms of the gap between personal freedoms with regard to both consumer spending and individual mobility), why the resounding success of HSR in China can't be replicated here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAFVHJ-6FEY
This post is not intended as an attack on the most fervent HSR advocates at this site, but it is presented as a demonstration that the failure (or success) of HSR projects depend mostly on geographic and societal factors, such as the size of centers of population and the distance between them, which are not subject to change, save in the extreme long run.
There is a potential market for HSR in the United States, but it is limited in scope and, as amply demonstrated by the boondoggle into which Califorina's HSR project has devolved, would be much more likely to adapt to the realities if the politicians and their dreamer clientele were restrained by economic and societal facts.
What a revoltin' development this is! (William Bendix)
