GoSkins561 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Depends on how you view the future of travel and infrastructure.Personally, I see it as a smart investment. With the rate of growth in this country, our highways are going to be like parking lots (even more so then they are today). Was it necessary at the time to build the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s under Eisenhower? No, but could we imagine life without it now? Yeah but how many people travel via the roads from lets say DC to Pittsburg every day? 1. If they do more than likely they fly 2. if they did travel on the roads they travel pretty much traffic free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Yeah but how many people travel via the roads from lets say DC to Pittsburg every day? 1. If they do more than likely they fly 2. if they did travel on the roads they travel pretty much traffic free. Isn't that the point for those type of commutes? There is no option other than flying.... where you wait in line to get on the plane longer than the actual trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I will say that we can't just keep building highways and air ports aren't going to be able to handle mass transit on the level that the country will need in the future. In general high speed rail just sounds like a great idea. If we can get trains that go 100+mph from Richmond to NOVA to DC then all the commuting traffic can ease the congestion in the highways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Ugh, another tax drain on everyone for something a minority will use. If this was a profitable venture a private company would already be doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Ugh, another tax drain on everyone for something a minority will use. If this was a profitable venture a private company would already be doing it. what about roads? Are they profitable? If so why didn't the private companies build them first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsHokieFan Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 what about roads? Are they profitable? If so why didn't the private companies build them first? Private companies are starting to See the 495 expansion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braxford Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 This is nothing new. Many political parties and organizations have been advocating this FOR YEARS!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 The economy is down and the administration is coming up with infrastructure projects? Who would have guessed this?! I'm sure there will be more to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Most new roads can't be built (or current ones expanded) due to AQ standards. The highway system, for the most part, if fully built out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Ugh, another tax drain on everyone for something a minority will use. If this was a profitable venture a private company would already be doing it. I missed the part where it said taxes were going to be raised to pay for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Private companies are starting to See the 495 expansion Wonder why they didn't have the foresight to build our highway system, they could have made a killing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Genius Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Wonder why they didn't have the foresight to build our highway system, they could have made a killing The Feds kept them from it. For good reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buenosdiaz Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 what about roads? Are they profitable? If so why didn't the private companies build them first? dude the government is our friend maybe obama just wants to give us a better quality of living through sustainable infrastructure we all win praise the messiah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosperity Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 dude the government is our friend maybe obama just wants to give us a better quality of living through sustainable infrastructurewe all win praise the messiah! the government is the enemy of mankind, we should overthrow the yokes of our oppressors and free ourselves from slavery :jerk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Judges Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I will say that we can't just keep building highways and air ports aren't going to be able to handle mass transit on the level that the country will need in the future. In general high speed rail just sounds like a great idea. If we can get trains that go 100+mph from Richmond to NOVA to DC then all the commuting traffic can ease the congestion in the highways. Particularly the airports in the NYC area are reaching capacity. The FAA is working on new technologies that will increase efficiency but that's only going to go so far. Rail is a good option for the NE corridor IMO. I don't think it makes any sense for the rural midwest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 I missed the part where it said taxes were going to be raised to pay for it. How did the government get the 13 billion? I'm confused. Did they find buried treasure? Hopefully they keep finding buried treasure to pay for the maintenance as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 How did the government get the 13 billion? I'm confused. Did they find buried treasure? Hopefully they keep finding buried treasure to pay for the maintenance as well. maybe they'll cut spending elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyBird Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 maybe they'll cut spending elsewhere. Well they have to cut an additional 13 billion just to break even if this passes. Going in the wrong direction if you ask me. Not to mention the maintenance costs which could dwarf 13 billion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 OTOH, I'd bet that the price of land in metro Houston is a bit higher than it is halfway between LA and Vegas. (But I agree with you. $13B won't pay for a tenth of this system.) Well, I assume that they will be using existing rail right of ways rather than buying any new ones. That will cut down the cost immensely (13 bil still ain't gonna cut it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Predicto Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 How did the government get the 13 billion? I'm confused. Did they find buried treasure? Hopefully they keep finding buried treasure to pay for the maintenance as well. Maybe we could spend less on more highways out to distant suburbs. :whoknows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulane Skins Fan Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Well they have to cut an additional 13 billion just to break even if this passes. Going in the wrong direction if you ask me. Not to mention the maintenance costs which could dwarf 13 billion. Sounds like no matter what direction they go in, its gonna be the wrong direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midnight Judges Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 We probably could have had high speed rail throughout the country for the price of the missile defense system we have that doesn't work (well over $100 billion). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrong001 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 The red parts of the map are the only "high speed corridors". The grey part is "other passenger rail routes" (ie, regular ol' rail lines). I'm not sure about exactly how many miles are anticipated, but assuming 3000 miles, and $10 million per mile (a lowball estimate, I've seen estimates upwards of $20 million per mile), you are looking at $30 billion just to lay the rail. This doesn't factor in inflation over the decade it would take to get this done, as well as cost overruns (this IS the Federal government we're talking about). California is looking to do high speed rail in just their own state, and it'll cost at least $10 billion (that's what was authorized during the last election). This isn't even considering the security you'll have to have on thousands of miles of rail. Any idea of how much easier it would be to sabotage a rail in the middle of nowhere rather than hijack a plane? I'm sorry, but when cities are spread so far apart, the costs are astronomical. Land going in to and out of cities will be very expensive. You'll have to build bridges over or under each roadway crossing (accidents are bad enough when a train is doing 65mph and hits a car. Can you imagine 150mph?), and you'll STILL have to go slow in metropolitan areas. The train won't be allowed to get up to speed until it is outside the cities. In the Northeast, how often are you outside of metro areas? This would be a collosal waste of money. The kicker is if it is implemented, and we get 1/4 of the way done and run out of money, guess what? We aren't going to just scrap the whole project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckus Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 How did the government get the 13 billion? I'm confused. Did they find buried treasure? Hopefully they keep finding buried treasure to pay for the maintenance as well. The stimulus bill included money for infrastructure projects, such as high-speed rail. The article says that the 13 billion will come from that money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy Burner Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 We probably could have had high speed rail throughout the country for the price of the missile defense system we have that doesn't work (well over $100 billion). The one that took out a 17,000 mph satellite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.