Posted on 03/01/2006 10:14:13 AM PST by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
Researchers at Purdue University are mapping a plan for the future of the nation's interstate highways. They provided details Tuesday of a vision of what a road trip might look like 40 years from now.
Researchers say the plan would take drivers off the roads and put them onto the rails. High-speed passenger trains would whisk people along the interstate quicker than the cars and trucks rolling alongside. A trip from Indianapolis to Chicago could take less than an hour.
"If you chose to travel by high-speed rail rather than by highway, that four-hour trip would take you approximately 50 minutes," said Dr. Bonnie Savage, Purdue University.
Savage spent three years researching congestion on interstate highways. She says within ten years, more than half of an average motorist's time will be spent sitting still in traffic jams. Dr. Savage says traffic congestion costs the country about $78 billion a year in lost productivity, wasted fuel and other expenses.
The idea for a new national transportation network is based on an old one. Planners invented the current interstate highway system exactly 50 years ago. The new proposal upgrades the original and would serve the region's needs for the next 40 years.
The new plan calls for putting cars and trucks in separate lanes on rural highways like parts of I-65. Truckers would use their own, exclusive lanes, side-by-side in the country and on elevated highways in the city.
"Of major concern to us in the state of Indiana is increased freight movements. We are in the center of the United States. We're 24 hours away by truck from 80 percent of the US population that consumes goods and services," said Tom Sharp, INDOT commissioner.
Planners say the system would pay for itself by getting rid of a pattern of transportation waste. They suggest corporate travelers, as well as ordinary drivers, can save fuel, time and resources. Drivers would utilize wider lanes, and find less congested traffic.
State officials expect the plan will be attractive enough to draw federal dollars to refurbish the interstate system.
"This isn't something where we say, 'This would be nice if it was a shorter trip.' This impacts us. This impacts our lifestyle. This impacts our economics. We are truly set on the verge of needing this. We are lucky to have the opportunity to develop something like this in the time frame where it's needed," Savage said.
If plan is going to succeed, drivers will have to use it. No one knows how enthusiastic people will be about giving up their wheels and letting someone else do the driving for them. But according to a WISHTV.COM epoll Tuesday, some 71 percent of respondents say they´d absolutely use it.
No such thing as "idiot proof". The best you can do is "idiot resistant".
Could you rephrase your words in plain English so I can understand what you are saying, please?
No smoking jackets are allowed at Purdue. Carharts are the clothing of choice.
No smoking jackets are allowed at Purdue. Carharts are the clothing of choice.
* And I don't mean just putting a stupid ricer wing on the back, I mean designing the whole car to provide downforce, at least on the front wheels that you steer with.
*giggle* those things amuse me. i didn't realise there was that much difference in road construction- i didn't see your post regarding the differences, thanks for clarification.
I don't hate trains--I just like my own automobile of choice: FORD!!!
I see...but what exactly is Purdue? A university? And why are smoking jackets forbidden?
Is Canal's still right over the Ben?
It's actually back a bit, probably 2/3rds the way to the Cherry Hill Mall. They did open a new Canals, somewhere on the way down the shore (New Jersey is a frightening and mystical land of Wawas and traffic circles that one can get caught in forever with no escape, best only looked at from the banks of the Delaware to me), and this place is as big as a friggin' Home Depot. Thing of beauty to those who are off the wagon.
Tell you what, though, in the run up to the RNC Convention here, in 2000, they completely... well, I don't want to say renovated, renewed, they essentially hit Admiral Wilson Blvd with a MOAB. All the BYOB Strip joints with parking and showers for truckers, the ladies "plying their wares", and other unseemly activites have been scrubbed out and are merely a bad memory. There's still some liquor stores that make you consider the ramifications of ending your life there as an unwilling participant of a hostage situation, and I'm not saying it's a delight to the eyes, but it sure ain't what it was.
(If what I just wrote makes you sad or angry,
Fine, so long as the costs for the road are exclusively pulled from tractor trailer registrations and road tax stamps on their vehicles.
But then if we're going to do this, why not go back to just shipping on rails?
A LOT of things are possible. That doesn't make them desirable, practical, or even economically feasable.
My wife rarely ever screamed during the whole trip.
Stick to your forest education. LOL
Go NOLES!
And I am very happy to "Stick with my Forestry Education".
"Why would it be any different than planes?"
Because putting a train through a building requires a lot more pre-planning that putting a plane in one. Swarthy middle-eastern looking guys laying tracks to the Hancock Building is a give-away, every time.
Well, that wasn't my point, but if you want to blow up a train station, it could be done.
My point was that the actual moving travel time between A and B is a small part of the trip using planes, and it seems the same is true here.
We have a winner!!!!
I read the story as a kid and have been waiting my entire life to become a reality. I'm still hoping.
The solution is to use small-size vehicles (3 person cpacity means that no group has to be split up in such a way as to force someone to ride alone who does not want to) with "off-line" stations so that people stopping will not hold up the rest of the traffic. The specific solution linked is a monorail-based system, but there's no real reason not to apply the same principles to ground-based rail as well.
Isn't Thorazine wonderful?
From the article:Researchers at Purdue University .....
Indiana fans do not like PU very much. Big Basketball game at PU tonight. IU vs PU
PU has a very large Ag dept. thus "Hog Caller U". Hardly the "smoking jacket" types.
Speaking of the sunshine state. I use to love to go, to the forest up 441, north of Lake City and shot at the brown 4 legged creatures.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.