Posted on 01/24/2017 7:52:55 PM PST by amorphous
The median of the existing Interstate could be used by elevating the railway. Something Elon Musk proposed with his high tech tube plan, or something that may even prove cost effective for an elevated maglev vs the purchase of new right-of-way.
Musk's technology might possibly cut the travel time from Dallas to Houston to less than 30 minutes.
I’m worried about the profit too. I’m living in Baltimore but working in DC for 10 years. MARC train is good enough and it’s only $8 with about an hour ride. It’s cheaper if you buy monthly ticket. However, just about two years ago, MARC added weekend services with the same price as weekday ticket which normally, the Amtrak charges about $20 for a trip to Washington and a lot more for weekend. I noticed a lot more people travel to Baltimore than before since MARC added the weekend service. For example, Baltimore’s annual Artscape drew a record breaking attendees comparing to the previous years. So train system indeed help local business a lot. It also promotes tourism.
Low cost flights are good and take shorter time but I really prefer train. It’s more relaxing. It doesn’t have too many restriction that Airlines have. Profit depends on how you manage it. I really think the reason that Amtrak is losing money because the service is not reliable so it’s not really save time for passengers to travel. The train ticket from Washington to NYC is $68 for 3-4 hours ride while Boltbus or Megabus will cost you only $15-20 for 4-5 hours. I would ride a bus unless I have no choice. But if you have a train which will take you from DC to NYC in less than an hour with a reasonable price, I am sure they will do very well. I will definitely pay more for 3 hours time saving. We can do like in Japan where train station is like a shopping mall. This way the government can keep the price down because they make much more money from local vendors. I have to say though, one thing about USA that make it difficult for the train system to succeed like in Japan or in Europe, is because our own problem (dangerous inner cities). However, good public transportation system can make up for it and eventually will help the cities and local businesses.
And once you arrive at the station, you hop into an electric self-driving vehicle which takes you to your final destination. Efficiency and great service are all hallmarks of free Enterprise when allowed to function as freely as possible, unhindered by special interests and their bureaucratic cronies.
“Was my understanding that the train from Houston-Dallas was going to be privately owned or at least not subsidized by taxpayers.”
The article states that the Houston to Dallas high speed train would be at least 50% funded by tax payers.
“I’m living in Baltimore but working in DC for 10 years. MARC train is good enough and it’s only $8 with about an hour ride. It’s cheaper if you buy monthly ticket. However, just about two years ago, MARC added weekend services with the same price as weekday ticket which normally, the Amtrak charges about $20 for a trip to Washington and a lot more for weekend.
Freemarket101-
It is not much of a free market when your $8.00 MARC ride is subsidized by the federal government.
Yes, I understand that it makes it almost free for you, but that is not what free market means.
If this is the same kind of infrastructure bill we have seen the last 30 yrs. pass. All those were union payoffs and pure pork. If it is going to really repair bridges, roads etc... maybe.
I frankly could care less about our airports, they are giant Gestapo holding pens. Walk in the door and surrender every last Right you have to fly. I don’t want to subsidize this NKVD like behavior at any level.
Exactly. Before the Tory campaign of molesting women, burning buildings, and torturing or killing boys and old men a lot of the Carolinians simply wanted to be left alone.
Every ugly act against the populace created Patriots eager to repay the Tories in spades. And considering that there were Tories mixed in among Patriots this made for a real civil war, not a war between the states. There’s probably a lesson there for our Leftist friends who are toying with political violence thinking it will give them what they want.
Mel Gibson’s ‘The Patriot’ gives an idea of the militia war in the Southern campaign.
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I’ve been told that Daniel Morgan was the model for The Patriot. Frankly, Morgan’s life was ever more interesting factually. He is my favorite Revolutionary figure.
My late husband’s family were tied to the Maryland and Virginia Carrolls. My oldest son is named Carroll.
Maryland was settled by the Catholic Calverts, but was declared a Religious Freedom colony. I grew up in Maryland and Catholic or Protestant, we always worked together and dated each other with no problems.
?????????????? Absolutely NO problem! Enjoyed the swap of history notes.
The population in Pre-Revolutionary Colonial America was pretty small (2+ million?).
I’ve read that most people who have ancestors in Colonial America are cousins. Even more likely among those of us whose ancestors share a last name, although I’m not sure that the prominent Catholic Carroll family of Maryland is connected to the South Carolina Carrolls with their apparent William of Orange Protestant roots. Much as I’d like to claim them. Likewise I’ve got Lee ancestors in Colonial North Carolina, even a Robert Lee, but if there’s any connection to the famous line up in Virginia’s Northern Neck I’ve never seen it.
Dan Morgan’s one of my favorites, too. And Nathanael Greene. The Revolutionary War gets neglected in American history, the Southern Campaign especially so, even though it is in the south where the war was won.
Wouldn’t it be fun if a bunch of us got Trump to bring back Colonial history to the schoolrooms of America? Wow!
I agree that FedGov shouldn’t pay for lead service pipes, under the Constitution. However, I think President Trump should go ahead and do it anyways (with Congressional approval). We are so far off track that laying new pipe is not a significant step in the wrong direction, and fixing this big problem with our cities would dramatically improve Trump’s chances of another four years to fix the big problems with our government.
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