If heard stories of Brazil, where I've heard there are significant disparities in wealth, where the wealthy (or their hired minions) commute by personal helicopter over the "undesirable" parts of the cities to get to and from work.

Originally Posted by matclone

No kidding. I mean, I agree. Arguably a prime example of the capitalist tail wagging the dog. Instead of industry responding to consumer demand, it's often typically the other way around: industry shaping consumer demand (dismantling the rails; promoting car culture, ideological opposition to public transportation etc. etc.)

You know acadia, I rode a train once not too long ago. I won 4 tickets at a raffel. It was about 400 miles roundtrip.

It was one of the WORST travel experiances of my LIFE! There werent more than a handful of people on board (most likely they got free tickets too!) That thing stopped in 4 or 5 podunk towns where most of the time no one got on or off. On the way back everytime I tried to nod off to sleep..... BWWWWWAAAAA..... BWWWWWWAAAAAA...BWWWWWAAAAA..
.. ding ding ding.. BWWWWAAAAA.... BWWWWAAAA.... BWWWWAAAAA
(thats the sound the train makes going over those FREE roads)

As Im sitting there being terribly annoyed, it occured to me that this was just another Pork Barrell boondoggle that America drowing under. The people DONT want it but by golly the dogooders in our country are going to give it to us anyway...... NO MATTER HOW MUCH MONEY THEY WASTE!

Originally Posted by matclone

If heard stories of Brazil, where I've heard there are significant disparities in wealth, where the wealthy (or their hired minions) commute by personal helicopter over the "undesirable" parts of the cities to get to and from work.

Brazil is also where they mandated and are now running almost entirely on cane sugar ethanol. They are proving to us that "grassoline" is not economically viable. Remember, though, that there can be no capitalist "tail wagging the dog." People will only buy what they want. Many products have come and gone because people didn't want them. No product has been totally unwanted and survived just becaue of the power of suggestion. Industry can't shape consumer demand because there is too much risk of failure. Industry reponds to innovation and consumer demand.

If the ideas you are referring to are to come to fruition, they will when the consumer wants them. People very readily will tell you what they want -- with their wallets.

Originally Posted by FloggingSully

TW, roads aren't free. Rail works all over the world, I don't see why it can't work here.

They can work in the States. It's simple: Too many Americans are a) obsessed with their cars; and b) a railroad system smells like socialism *gasp* to TW and his ilk.

A decent train system would do wonders for the US. However, people who've likely never been on one (paging TW) would complain that building a decent system (or upgrading the current one) costs too much cash. (Funnily, endlessly throwing money down the pit of larger and larger highways doesn't seem to bother these same people. Of course, they need more room to drive their sweet-as* Hummers and Expeditions to Wal-Mart!)

They're the same arguments against much public transportation--myopic, selfish, short-sighted, and misguided.

The price of jet fuel is off the scale. Well, airfares don't indicate it.
I just booked 3 flights
Ft Lauderdale - $169 roundtrip (auto gas alone would more one way.)
Pittsburgh - $239 round trip and
Burlington VT $519 roundtrip which is better than the $800+ I've paid in the past.

Big your same trip to Ft Lauderdale by rail would cost $400 roundtrip and take 24 hours with no sleeper. I'll be on my balcony sippin a Chi Chi in under 4 hours.

Ryou,

The price of rail doesn't reflect reality. In Soviet Union train tickets were much cheaper than airplane tickets. It simply reflects the fact that airplane system is much more developed.