Dagny Taggert is saddened...
From the comments section
If I take a train from Dublin to Galway, I have within 20 minutes' walk of either terminus hundreds of bars, restaurants, offices, and other attractions at my disposal. If I take a train from say, Orange County to Phoenix, I have within 20 minutes' walk about 5 freeway overpasses and lots of parking lots.and
Most of the US is a suburban hellscape, with anything worth doing at least 20 minutes' drive away. This is largely the result of ridiculous parking minimums (forcing business owners to subsidize private automobile storage) and NIMBYs fighting denser development because of parking concerns (forcing the government - i.e. all of us, to subsidize private automobile storage). The true irony of this is that it doesn't even ease traffic; people spend most of their time driving not through interesting things but.. automobile infrastructure (after all about 70% of LA's surface area is pavement or buildings dedicated to automobiles).
Most American cities are laid out differently than in Europe (other than older cities in the NE corridor). They are sprawling and spread out. Suburban areas have houses with huge lots. Stores are massive, like Walmart, and have huge parking lots. This makes mass transport within cities impractical. Mass transport only works in places with high population density. Therefore, people might we willing to take a train between nearby cities, like Dallas and Houston or LA and SF, but once they get to their destination, they'd have no way to get anywhere without a car. Alternatives could be taxi (expensive if you have more than a few limited destinations), shared ride van (slow), and car rental (again, rather expensive). Plus the train station itself may be far from your true destination within the city (driving across LA can take hours).
This is why trains are not practical in most US cities for most travelers.
The US currently moves 38% of freight by rail vs. 10% in Europe. Take over the freight railroads to move people and there could be a 4x increase of the number of Trucks on the road. I don’t think passenger rail would is the environmental panacea the commies seem to believe.
If it’s too far to drive (time constraints), we fly there and rent a car.
The article answers its own question. Why don’t Americans ride trains more? Because the freight trains control most of the track.
Because Americans don’t consider themselves freight?
Union Station in LA is a hub for local transit options. Plus it is a beautiful building. People don’t take the train because they don’t consider it. They’d be surprised to discover the advantages of train travel in the U.S.
we have cars and highways.
It costs more to drive and fly, but you can stay away from the smelly, noisy, rude underclass.
The other problem with trains in America is a lack of quick and economical transport once you reach the intercity.
When I lived in the UK about 30 miles West of London, I could get into London in about 30 minutes via train. Once in the central city from Paddington or Waterloo I could be anyplace in London in about 30 minutes via the underground, known in the United States as the subway.
I drove my car into London only once. It took me longer to find a parking place than the entire journey would have taken by train and subway.
I liked the trains and underground. However, this will only work if we have high speed trains into the central cities and good transport via subways to the various points in the city. The crux of the problem is how much will it cost and who should pay for it.
I really do not think the airlines are a political force in this. Even in England if the journey was more than 200 miles I would take a commercial airline and then a taxi to my destination. In the United States I use a figure of 350 miles. Our highway system is superior and fuel cheaper. Thus using my car is cheaper and takes about the same time from home to destination when one considers getting to the airport, clearing security, the flight, retrieving your luggage, and arranging transport to your destination in the central city or worse the suburbs.
New York is an exception to the rule in the United States. They have an excellent subway system and trains that bring the passengers into the central city.
ps
I am not bleeding heart liberal. I am a Libertarian and hard right economic conservative, strict constitutionalist. These are just my observations.
If you are going across country and have the time, train is a great way to go. And it is surprisingly economical. I had to go to a convention in LA and also had to burn at least half my 4 weeks accrued vacation around the same time. I booked AMTRAK [with the double sleeper room] and got a rail pass. 1st Class meals were included. Got good rest, lots of time to see the country. Also, no jet lag either way ...
Went from DC-CHI - overnight, then CHI-SEA - 3 days, then SEA-LA - 1 1/2 days. Spent 5 days in LA for the convention, then went LA-NO [New Orleans] - 3 days. Spent 5 days in NO. Then, went NO-DC - 2 1/2 days.
Total cost [including stays in LA and NO] was about $2800. My firm picked up $1600 as a business expense. So, it cost me only $1200, or $60/day [20 days]. If I had had to pick up the total coat, it was only $140.00/day.
What’s a train?
I walk 40 feet to my automobile. I can drive a 300 mile radius on a tank of gas that costs about $100 to another door when I want to go.
1. because trains represent technology that is at least a century older than the automobile
2. because for a variety of reasons trains are not a necessity for most Americans
3. because in most cases trains are not economically efficient means of transportation and can only operate if the cost of operation - not just infrastructure but operation - is subsidized
so Americans rightly say - why bother
Some years ago you could board the the Union Pacific’s City of Denver in Chicago in the evening after a days work, and arrive in Denver the next morning, fresh and ready for your business there. Convenience for the business traveler.
Most American cities are laid out differently than in Europe
Being able to rebuild from scratch after we've bombed them to recycled aggregate base does wonders for rail layouts.
because we are individualists.
we don’t take well to the sheep lifestyle.
europeans may be perfectly happy being shepherded where their leaders want them to go.
that’s not our style.
