Maglev comes to Pittsburgh... finally

Pittsburgh Conservative Examiner ^ | June 23, 2009 | Josh Geldrich

[Willie Green]

Thanks!

It's hard to believe I finally have something to smile about.
But as long as we're going trillions more in debt, at least this time we'll get something tangible to show for it.

[Blackacre]

Will pretty much kill local air service. You can be in Philly in an hour, take a short trip to PHL and have better prices and not have to worry about parking your car.

That's exactly what they've seen in France- their super-fast train service has eliminated the need for a lot of short-range flights.

I ride the Acela on a somewhat regular basis between DC and NY. It's incredibly convenient to be able to take the subway (in both cities) to and from the train station and not have to deal with the hassle of going through security, checking luggage etc. If we could get a train in the NE corridor that approached the speed of what they have in Europe or Japan, you'd see a massive shift in how people travelled in the region.

[Buckeye McFrog]

...so ACORN thugs from Philly can show up in my Pittsburgh neighborhood in an hour?

[Blackacre]

Who would ever get on public transportation except a welfare case or an illegal alien?

In cities like NY, DC, Boston, Chicago, Toronto, London, Tokyo and dozens of others, pretty much everyone takes the subway. Here in DC, the Pentagon stop is the busiest station on the system.

No public money should ever be spent on public transportation, they do nothing but cost money to support their losing operations.

How about money for road construction? I don't see the difference between subsidizing road construction and subsidizing public transit. Public transit isn't meant to be profitable- it's meant to reduce other infrastructure costs to taxpayers. Some cities couldn't function without public transit (NY and London, for example).

[dalereed]

“How about money for road construction? “

If they didn’t steal the gas taxes for your damn public transportation there wouldn’t be any public money spent on roads!

[ReneeLynn]

Have they actually looked into the number of people who travel from Pittsburgh to Philly? Who in heck wants to go to Philly?

[Willie Green]

Pittsburgh has it's own ACORN thugs.
They won't let Philly Acorn thugs into Stiller territory 'nat.

[KevinDavis]

Maybe during hockey, baseball and football seasons.. That is about it.. I don’t think that Pittsburgh has an NBA team..

[Willie Green]

Who would ever get on public transportation except a welfare case or an illegal alien?

Probably the same folks who travel on airlines because they can't afford their own private Lear jet.

[ReneeLynn]

Forget baseball. I wouldn’t cross the street to see the Pirates. :)

[Willie Green]

I don’t think that Pittsburgh has an NBA team..

No NBA in the 'Burgh,
but the Pittburgh Pipers won the championship of the fabled ABA's first season!

[martin_fierro]

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[Vinnie]

I thought I heard that the maglev or similar trains were to be built in McKeesport.
Using some of the vacant steel mills along the riverfront.

[PA Engineer]

The original plans were ok. Greensburg as the main terminal and maintenance facility, followed by a loop running to Monroeville, Pittsburgh North Shore and Airport. I just do not see the traffic to Philly. There are only a handful of flights since USAIR moved the hub. We travel international a great deal and find that most of our connections are in Chicago or Charlotte.

On the rare occasion we fly to Philly we use our Kevlar luggage because of the theft issues. Stolen items three times in seven years.

[Willie Green]

I thought I heard that the maglev or similar trains were to be built in McKeesport.
Using some of the vacant steel mills along the riverfront.

Yes, part of the reason that Pittsburgh was selected was, not only is Pittsburgh's hilly terrain and seasonal climate particularly suitable to demonstrating Maglev's capabilities in difficult conditions, but also to take advantage of the industrial infrastructure that still remains in the region that's required to construct such a system. I would expect this location to perform much of the manufacturing for Maglevs constructed in other regions of our nation as well.

History of MAGLEV, Inc.

Timeline

• 1987 - Creation of the High Speed Ground Transportation Center by Carnegie Mellon University
• 1988 - Creation of High speed Maglev Working Group
• 1990 - Intermodal surface transportation efficiency act (ISTEA)
• 1991 - Completion of maglev Demonstration/Design/Development
• 1995 - Preliminary study on suitability of high-speed maglev in Pennsylvania
• 1997 - Technology Transfer agreement (MAGLEV, Inc. and Transrapid International)
• Early 1999 - Selection of 11 maglev projects in the U.S.
• Late 1999 - Downselect to 7 maglev projects - Pennsylvania, Baltimore-Washington, Nevada, California, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana
• 2001 - Downselect to 2 maglev projects: (Baltimore - Washington and Pennsylvania)
• 2005 - Provided technical support and engineering for the completion of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Pennsylvania High Speed Maglev Project.

The Company Today:

• Has a sixteen year history in Pittsburgh.
• Has shareholders and board members who represent industry, academia, labor, and government perspective.
• Has exclusive license to use proven, revenue ready technology from Transrapid International GmbH of Germany in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
• Is a candidate for FRA funding for a 54-mile maglev installation.
• Is funded by public support from the Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Naval Research, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and also by private industry investors.
• Occupies newly renovated "brownfield" space at the RIDC Riverplace Park in McKeesport, PA.

[PA Engineer]

You left out a great deal from this article.

Pittsburgh should be wary of this proposal insofar as that the language of the bill opens the door to limit personal freedom dramatically. The act decrees metropolitan transportation plans are to be devised using “smart growth” principles, while targeting reductions in use of “single occupant vehicles” It also imposes what amounts to federal land restrictions to protect “valuable farmlands” in urban regions, and increasing “livable communities”, so if you know anyone who has had their family farm or homestead designated a wetland, ask them how they dealt with it, because you’re next.

This deal is with the devil and outlines Pittsburgh requirements to use California's smart growth regulations. Everyone please read the entire article. This is green fascism at it's worst.

[Clock King]

MagLev: What the carbon footprint on that? The electrical requirements ain’t cheap!

[Clock King]

If it provide good service and is on time, at a price point just below air travel; then yes people will ride it. I took the bullet train in Japan, and it was excellent. Clean, great service, on time, at half the cost of a plane ticket.

[jimt]

... a conservative citizenry understanding that mass transit, while sustainable, does not hold mass appeal.

No, what the conservative citizenry understands is that it's "sustainable" by a constant infusion of tax dollars to subsidize its nonsensical existence.

This is just a fancy way of picking the taxpayers' pockets to fund a socialist wet dream.

[patton]

Given your enthusiasm for this, I assume you have a business case in hand, that illustrates that it will turn a profit?