This animated map shows how radically a high-speed train system would improve travel

Michael Dell operates in the private sector where bankruptcy is the consequence bad economics.

 

The political issues: 1. NIMBY 2. COST

While I agree that those are large issues, the largest is the engineering required to surmount those political issues. It is a massive undertaking to engineer a safe, reliable, economical rapid transit system in a network the size of the U.S. It's not as if we can flip a political switch and suddenly all the issues associated with high speed rail are suddenly flipped off with it. There are infrastructure concerns. You can't run a high speed train on freight rail. Some networks don't have the space to duplicate railway. There are safety concerns. You can't run a high speed train through a pathway that kids require to walk to school. There are environmental concerns. You can't run a high speed train through a cow, a moose, or a bear.

To say the only problem is political is a naive myopic view.

 

Nobody gets a free pass - unless you're talking about the trillions per year in super wealthy tax cheats that the IRS isn't able to pursue.

America is stronger when we can all take part. Giving all the transportation focus on larger cities is not how one goes about doing that.

It's like fast internet, where we still have segments of America who don't have access to this incredibly important support for business, information and other communication.

When this kind of infrastructure is not available, business investment can not go there.

 

I agree here.

Well, I don't agree with the separation problem. We have rail lines, freeways and airport perimeter fencing that keep separation between vehicles, kids and large animals.

I think fast rail is an augmentation of specific legs of our transportation network rather than building a new network. For example, we're building a fast passenger rail line between Houston and Dallas - a leg that already exists, but has been judged to be inadequate. There is also some fast rail in the northeast with the same idea.

That may be what you are saying.

 

Yeah and those things we already have take up space. A route for new things that also need separation requires available space. Do you think, for example, that there's an available corridor through Boston that isn't already filled with existing stuff? Fat chance. Do you think it's easy to shift things around in a system that was constructed over multiple centuries? Hell, most of the major highways in the NE were originally a bunch of unrelated oxcart paths strung together. I can show you elevated highways in CT and MA that look like theme park attractions the way they loop and twist. Barely safe for a car at 55, let alone a train at 300.

 

America is stronger when we don’t waste taxpayer’s money.

 

Yes, I've spent time in Boston and am well aware of the challenge of finding road routes in the city. In fact, my daughter worked in city planning there while she was getting a post grad degree from Tufts.

I'm sure you are aware that there is an Amtrak train that is advertised as reaching 150mph that runs from Boston to providence to NYC to Philly to Washington, DC.

So, it's hard to retrofit. But, it isn't impossible.

One question I don't know well is what the growth plans are for air travel in that region.

 

I absolutely agree. We should not waste taxpayer dollars.

Also, we shouldn't push the tax load toward the middle class, which is what happens when we allow a trillion dollars of tax cheating from the super wealthy and corporations.

We can't reach the America dream when carrying the load for the wealthy.

 

Amtrak loses a billion dollars a year.

Have you ridden the Acela?

I'd rather walk.

Not to mention 300 miles in 5 hours is closer to 60mph than 150...

 

https://www.expedia.com/lp/flights/...06_MfcmGbhQx9nHnbyylknZSiIWv69csaApLmEALw_wcB

 

I don't believe you can average 60mph by car over that stretch.

I prefer the Acela between Seattle and Portland, because it is as fast or faster than air travel, clean, business class seats like in air travel for an extras $10 or so, dining car, viewing car, full wifi, city center to city center, no TSA. Also, it is just as clean and comfortable as air, even if you discount the ability to walk around to various features not offered on air travel.

I'm very sure one can screw up Amtrak. I don't believe that is an argument against fast rail.

 

A bos to Phl flight is just a couple of hours and cheaper. Even if it takes an hour to get past TSA you're still 2 hours ahead of the game...

That's literally the difference between sleeping in your own bed before an 9am meeting and sleeping in a hotel room.

 

Plus, you have to count the time to get out to Logan and to PhI from the airport there, but I'm not arguing with your analysis. I'm sure you know the situation better than do I.

The question is whether transportation capacity is enough for a timeframe that is far enough out to allow for adequate infrastructure growth along that timeline. Of course any planning must include costs and an understanding of the growth potential of cities like Boston and Philly. If there isn't much likelihood of significant growth, maybe the existing transportation is all you need.

In Seattle, evaluations of growth in the region mean that the search is on for where the next major airport will be sited. We can't put that off with rail, because of the reality of geology as well as west coast distances.

 

Not that much difference taking the T to Logan or North station.

As for growth, business travel is way down... Less of a need for moving people.

The northeast still has lots of infrastructure for moving freight. Used to be a manufacturing hub once upon a time. Should be once again. People need jobs, not ways to get to jobs that don't exist.

 

I'm a "right winger" and I want high speed rail.

 

The cost of flight is outrageous. I just bought 4 RT tickets from ABQ to MCO for just shy of 2 f**king thousand dollars. I'd love another high (although not as high as air) speed option.

 

OK, it sounds like Boston doesn't need transportation improvements.

 

So the solution is that the government needs to spend billions of dollars. Thousands of taxpayers need to lose their properties to eminent domain to produce a 1700+ mile 9+ hour train ride for you to bring the kids to Disney a few times before they grow up? I took the auto train from VA to FL once with the kids. Was about 10 hours overnight. Not pleasant.

I doubt you'd take the train on such a trip even if it was built.

 

What are the top three examples of tax cheating by the super wealthy? What are the top three examples of tax cheating by corporations?

 

You can thank the politically motivated Covid lockdown for that.

 

Have you informed the IRS about this trillion dollar tax cheating?

 

They are the ones reporting it.

 

Just to be clear, I'm not specifically saying that. The current systems are certainly rife with inefficiency. That said, they are also not sunk costs that need to be tossed in the trash and an entirely new system established.

 

You can’t answer my questions. That is telling.

If the IRS reports it then why are they not doing anything about it?

 

They don't have the staff and tools for going after the quantity of cheats that they know exist.

Remember that going after these guys is a lot like going after Trump on issues of taxes. It requires lawyers, analysts, prosecution, etc. It requires time. It can involve politics, as the major corporations and wealthy individuals have armies of lawyers and influence in state and federal congress. Also, the wealthy and corporations can appeal to the people, making it hard for elected officials to support prosecuting this kind of crime.

The IRS budget is the same as it was 20 years or more in the past. Thirty years ago, the IRS had 114K employees and is now down to 78k.

One result is that they are behind in technology, a significant advantage for wealth individuals and corporations, as it slows investigation, etc.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/04/09/how-big-is-the-problem-of-tax-evasion/

Note that Brookings shows that taxes on wages, salaries and tips is pretty much all paid. That is NOT where the crime is. New IRS dollars are not going toward enforcement in this category. In fact, the direction has been toward making taxes in this category easier and more automatic.

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/the-tax-gap#:~:text=After late payments and IRS,tax gap was $428 billion.

https://taxfoundation.org/irs-budget-increase-technology/