Lee wrote:
>
[snip]
> >
> > Years ago, I suggested to the Senate Transportation Committee in a
> > letter to them (they either didn't read it or cracked up laughing) that
> > what we needed was a true, non-nonsense mode of transportation. To wit:
> >
> > a system of overhead rails where speed would not endanger lives on the
> > ground (I envision 60 mph + in the city, up to 500 mph between cities)
> >
> > individual cars (4-6 place vehicles) that could be privately owned if
> > you so desired, or not (why bother except for the socially arrogant)
> >
> > totally computer controlled for maximum efficiency and safety (and no
> > need for humans to interfere and cause accidents)
> >
> > What would this buy you?
> > 1. almost 100% safety -- put your kids in one and they will arrive at
> > school (and only at school, no intermediate stops)
> > 2. no more pedestrians run over
> > 3. you could work (read, watch tv) on the way to home or work
> > 4. the speed (up to 500 mph) would preclude use of airplanes except for
> > trans-oceanic or trans-continental travel
> > 5. access for all
> > 6. no more car insurance payments (I paid $300/year full coverage in
> > the states and thought I was being abused, here I pay more than double
> > that).
> > 7. no more excuses for being late (OK, that's a disadvantage), because
> > it would always take exactly 12.5 minutes to get to work regardless of
> > traffic and route taken (computers would see to that)
> > 8. cargo could get shuttled off to holding areas during "rush hour" (I
> > hate fighting semis).
> >
> > We've had the technology to do this for over 10 years. But inertia and
> > interests (insurance companies, gas companies -- wouldn't use gas, would
> > use solar energy -- etc, would kill it before it could save lives and
> > fuel; no, better to guzzle gas and kill a 747 load of people a day in
> > the US than improve the transportation system).
> >
> > Now, I own a Ford Ranger Pickup with crew cab (not the new double
> > cabin). I often have it loaded up up with 1200-1500 lbs of fertilizer
> > or herbicides, 300 ears of sweet corn or 1500 lbs of dried corn, etc
> > (not something I want inside with me). Otherwise, I'd just get a Saturn
> > Wagon (had one, loved it). SUVs just seem silly to me. But then, I
> > have nothing to prove (already done that, got the T-shirt and the
> > left-over explosives).
> >
> > Ciao,
> >
> > David A. Bandel
>
> Problem with that is cost. Cities who have subway/elevated mass transit systems,
>i.e. Chicago,
> Boston, New York et al, inherited them from the end of the 19th century. Today most
>of those
> cities couldn't afford to build those systems from scratch. The fed would have to do
>it and
> right now they're too busy giving tax rebates of $300 - $600 so the suckers will
>have money to
> lose in the stock market.
>
> Here in Florida, the state pushed the concept of a high speed rail link though out
>the state.
> The first step was to link Miami and Orlando. The state spent 10s of millions of
>dollars doing
> environmental/transportation/ technology studies. They got to the point where they
>had almost
> decided on the type of technology to employ, but were stopped dead when they
>realized that
> there wasn't enough money in the whole state to buy the right-of-way between Miami
>and Orlando.
> Congress wasn't inclined to offer much help. Too hard to convince Kansas farmers to
>help pick
> up the tab so that tourists could frolic on Miami beaches in the morning and then
>shoot off to
> Orlando for an afternoon with Mickey Mouse at Disney World.
>
> Then there's the politics. Discounting the $5 billion renovation of Boston's MTA,
>the last
> major city in the US to build a subway system was Pittsburgh. Instead of linking the
>parts of
> the city where most of the potential riders were to be found, they built it to link
>the
> Squirrel Hill part of town (that's where most of the millionaires live) to the
>downtown area. I
trains are obsolete. Don't you think it's kind of stupid to make 999
people on a train stop when one wants to get off? I was talking a
personal transportation vehicle, not a mass transit vehicle. Same
obsolescence applies to busses.
Ciao,
David A. Bandel
--
Focus on the dream, not the competition.
-- Nemesis Racing Team motto
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