What is the future for funding mass transportation?

[Dymanic]

Doubtful, lawmakers will phase out gas-powered cars once practical electric models are available. Zero emission vehicles will be law.

Oh yeah, I can just see those lawmakers scrambling over each other to be the first to get their signatures on that piece of legislation.

Have you ever actually been to the United States?

 

[tyr_13]

Oh yeah, I can just see those lawmakers scrambling over each other to be the first to get their signatures on that piece of legislation.

Have you ever actually been to the United States?

Check out the fight over efficiency standards for light bulbs.

 

[dudalb]

I think that standard Railroads for Commuters and short range travel (like from SF to LA) have a real future, but I am sketpical about HSR being viable in the US,and I don't think it can compete with Air Transportation unless we really do have total collapse in the Oil Supply.

 

[WildCat]

Oh yeah, I can just see those lawmakers scrambling over each other to be the first to get their signatures on that piece of legislation.

Have you ever actually been to the United States?

Lived here my entire life, what exactly do you see as the problem? The transition will take 20-30 years (it's already started), and by the end of that no one in their right mind would want an expensive to own gas powered automobile, any more than people want horse-drawn carriages now. Antique autos will be exempted.

I'd like to know if you've ever been to the US, and why you think HSR will be an attractive option for Americans? This isn't a densely populated country, like western Europe or China or Japan.

 

[Dymanic]

This isn't a densely populated country, like western Europe or China or Japan.

Memory not so good eh? Last time you tried that argument, it backfired on you rather spectacularly, I thought:

San Francisco is the second most densely populated large city in the US. At 17,243 people per square mile (by the 2010 census) it is slightly more densely populated than Hong Kong.

I suppose I might have asked whether you've ever been to the most populous state in the country: California.

 

[Dymanic]

Now here's an idea worth thinking about:

President Obama's proposed high-speed train system will be replaced with a fleet of buses that will rocket along highways at speeds up to 165 mph.

 

[3point14]

You never answered why taxpayers in other states should be forced to fund a California project Californians refuse to pay for?

Just out of interest, how far are you prepared to go with that philosophy?

Your'e clearly not happy for taxes from one state to be spent in another (with caveats, I note)

Are you happy for taxes from one county to be spent in another?

How about another town? District? Street?

 

[NYCEMT86]

<snip>
Cost overruns, completion delays and probably ridership that will be less than projected.

Well I do agree with the first two, you do need to account for how complex this project really is. As for ridership numbers, I think the 2nd ave line is needed to help with the over crowding. If you have ever been on the lexington line during morning rush hour, its pretty reminiscent of the scenes in Japan where people are packed into the train like cattle.