I dream of just riding one once in my life, they would never have such an accessible way for people to gather in one place so quickly in the US. We would be TOO connected.
HSR trains are cleaner and greener than cars and airplanes. Faster travel is good for economic growth. Regional rail networks allow people to access jobs in nearby cities. Fewer people interacting with TSA 😜
The majority of those of us voting against things like that never go overseas at all. They stay siloed away here, convinced that there could be nothing better than what we/they currently have.
Our asshat former governor Scott Walker. We had fast trains purchased and federal funding. Now the train goes around us. Did I mention he is an asshat?
Oh we want it. Problem is what the citizens want doesn't matter over here. Look at any popular issue. Does it ever get done? Not unless a billionaire or corporation wants it to. The only thing they need us for are votes and taxes. Other than that, we can go fuck ourselves.
It's not that Americans don't want bullet trains. We just realized we need to like through three mountain ranges across 50 states, almost all of which are larger than most European countries. We want them...the required cost is just massive though for our landscapes.
It could absolutely be done. America used to be an ambitious, dare I say audacious country. This country built a coast to coast rail line and the Hoover Dam is one of the most amazing infrastructure projects ever. That was bold, even though people in the East didn’t want it. America just gave up on
big ideas. Somewhere along the way greatness simply became about how much personal wealth one could obtain and not about big ambitious projects for the benefit of everyone. It sucks because those projects make people feel good and truly unite people. But now we obsess over the manufacture boogeymen
I want to but I’m poor, I want to move overseas because America is becoming too dangerous to live in and I want affordable healthcare and public transportation.
Some how, some way we just can't pull it off. California has spent 11 billion to build 56 miles of track and 44 buildings in 17 years. It services no one and the project is now on hold. It was supposed to cost 33 billion but estimates have it at 135 billion to finish.
While in Japan, I took the bullet train from northern Japan to Tokyo. It was about a 1 hour ride. Inside the car, it was limousine smooth, and you could carry on a conversation without raising your voice while traveling at 170mph. Very impressive.
Once Hollywood South, aka "California" joins Canada we might be able to get high speed rail from Hollywood to NYC with stops in Vancouver, Canmore, Calgary, Banff, and Montreal en route.
Amputate the flyover states and annex their national parks...
we don’t need bullet trains until it’s easier to get to the bullet train departure point. When everything else is ‘car centric’ it becomes an airplane substitute with an airport parking overhead
Last year we took trains to a few different cities in Japan. Factoring in the time it would have taken to do all the airport shuffle the trains were so much faster and more convenient.
most americans don’t leave the states bc of the propaganda we’re taught in school by the powers that control our systems… which most americans later end up voting for..
But comparing America to all of Europe doesn’t fly when referring to the train system. For one thing they don’t have Republicans over there fucking everything up.
But Republicans are literally the biggest difference. Geography is different, but not enough to matter. We built roads through the mountains, we can pretty easily put a train track next to it.
The real problem is getting people to agree to fund it.
One of my constant frustrations is how many Americans pay a ton to go visit places with better transit and/or walkable infrastructure, speak highly of it, and then vote against it at home.
Nope- i have ridden old trains in Europe in 96 that make me long for better trains in The US and every better train I have ridden after that was like weeee suuuuck!
Once you visit Vienna and how amazing and efficient the Public Transit works there it makes you wonder why you'd even need a car to do anything other than travel to a rural city, and even then, there's probably a train that gets you there too.
Think of all the places tourists love to go and spend money where no car is needed to get around, and then wonder why walkable neighborhoods are prohibited by zoning laws and parking minimums in the US.
Ostensibly to keep polluting industries out of residential areas in the 19th century but they got carried away and zoned out retail and public zones thus isolating homes so cars are required.
Parking minimums discourage high occupancy residences aka low cost housing.
gahhh the worst part is that it’s probably a significant economic opportunity! building a train system would provide employment and whichever company builds/manages it would receive the profit from tickets (god forbid we receive a high quality nationwide public transport system)
Do you remember when the US first built a rail sytem? The builders zigged and zagged the tracks to be as long as possible because they were paid by the mile. Not much has changed.
Nah, that was the trans continental. And it was private contractors scamming the government.
Meanwhile the rail system in the US at the same time worked so well during the civil war battles could be won or lost depending on rail delivering troops and supplies. Destroying rail crippled the south
When I moved here almost 8 years ago the thing I was most anxious about was not having a car- a thing I now think about maybe twice a year when I want to move furniture- and then I just hire a Mobeltaxi for the cost of like two days of car insurance in the US
Rode them in Japan, Germany, and France in *1987* and just can’t get over the fact that we stilll don’t have them. Has no one heard of Induced Demand? It could have happened by now!
Yeah I totally hated paying 6 dollars for a 45 minute train ride that cost me 200 dollars in Rental car and gas the year before when I was in a city that didn't have a direct route from where I was staying. Really keen on that.
A pretty large chunk of Americans can’t afford to travel, so have no opportunity to form any real opinions on other forms of travel especially if they are from a particularly car-dependent area. I’ve met people who have never taken a bus or train except maybe a school bus as a child. If that.
I read some of the comments and my takeaway is: people can’t envision a clean, safe, and efficient version of public transportation. Seoul public transportation system was clean, quiet, easy to follow and on-time. NYC subway felt dirty years ago and Chicago stations didn’t feel as safe as Seoul.
Went oversees and used the subway station in Seoul. It’s one of the things I miss most now that I’m back in the states. Reality is a lot of Americans don’t even have a passport
They mostly don’t go overseas! They are mostly in their bubbles! Many i. Southern states haven’t even flown in their lives!
If they knew what the quality food look like, what quality transportation looks like, … they wouldn’t settle for the shitty lies they are being told to!
I *desperately* want this. So much so I'm booking amtrak trains for domestic travel and drafting a letter to my city gov pleading for an investment in a new route. #bringbacktrains
My favorite thing is to leave London…cloickety clackety cloickety clackety cloickety clackety and then whirrr whirrr whirrr whirr whirrrrrrrr … then Paris!
I was depressed for a week or so after coming back from my first European trip. The architecture, the public transit, the cheap amazing food, the history… I miss it. Felt like real civilization
We can’t afford to travel and the poor don’t have any time off work. We just work all of our lives and it’s hard for people who don’t see the world to have perspective on it.
This is absolutely the ticket. My unpopular opinion is that America never stopped being a salve country, they just expanded it to everyone who wasn’t rich, and paid them a little bit.
The carve out of the 13th amendment was as punishment for a crime, so made up crimes to incarcerate vulnerable communities and keep using them as slave labor.
Conservatives tend to regard anything having to do with mass transportation as omg evil socialism. They want everyone here to drive a truck...no electric vehicles...the less MPG the better because 'Murica or something.
Firmly believe the reason the US is fucked up in the ways it’s fucked up is because a large portion of the population can’t afford to travel and see how other people live
Honestly, we should send kids to Japan and France JUST FOR THAT EXPERIENCE, then maybe there would eventually be the political will to get something built. Even a relatively passenger rail system would be an incredible resource for the US
I visited the Netherlands back in like 2008. While I didn't ride a bullet train just being able to go anywhere on a train and avoid the driving was awesome.
Riding the shinkansen was fun in Japan, but honestly it was slower and more expensive than taking a flight from LA to SF (about the same distance), even considering TSA, checking in and waiting for my checked luggage. I think it would be a hard sell once built.
You should check out this great video which lays out a bunch of routes in the U.S. where HSR would be better (shorter time, more convenient) than short-hop flights. There are multiple city pairs with higher density than similar—successful—routes in Europe and elsewhere. https://youtu.be/wE5G1kTndI4?si=yvT2pvc_75wZrxbP
What's crazy to me is that they'll do all of that and then say that people over seas are "jealous of America"... Jealous of what our wealth inequality?
Americans that *actually* travel realize how backwards we have it in many cases. Show me an American against anything smart that other countries have (healthcare, transpo, etc) and I’ll show you their empty passport.
I honestly haven't met an American who has been overseas other than cruises with guided tours in a long time. Even back when I knew people who had been other places it was when i was still in the AF and it was like pulling teeth to get half those dudes to leave base.
There are 333 million of us. 70 million are complete morons and now they are on charge. Please help. I'm just trying to survive as a lesbian, bullet trains are a pipe dream at this point.
Bullet trains are seriously the best. We all absolutely love them. Wish America would get on board with bullet trains and public transportation like so many other countries have. It is so much more pleasant than sitting in traffic forever.
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They're inexpensive, efficient, and way safer than cars. And I'm tired of pretending anything otherwise.
Europe is comparable in size and we already have highways through the mountains to build rail lines next to them.
We just have Republicans that won't spend a dollar to save thousands in the future, even if it hurts their own children.
- Americans who book the cheapest flight
But when I try to get from one side of Chicago to another on public transportation, I think: nah…we don’t need bullet trains.
We have much bigger - and more vital - public transportation needs than bullet trains.
First things first.
Amputate the flyover states and annex their national parks...
Then I come back to the states and remember: ✨lobbying✨
But Republicans are literally the biggest difference. Geography is different, but not enough to matter. We built roads through the mountains, we can pretty easily put a train track next to it.
The real problem is getting people to agree to fund it.
Good joke 😂
Parking minimums discourage high occupancy residences aka low cost housing.
https://youtu.be/0Flsg_mzG-M?si=gmAQz8YCOerJroo8
It's profitable for the public, but not for the small amount of people that we've convinced ourselves should keep all the money.
So comfortable. So fast.
Way better than a flight.
Held captive by the middle of the country. Most of this country is the shithole Trump tells you it is.
Those people don’t travel
Meanwhile the rail system in the US at the same time worked so well during the civil war battles could be won or lost depending on rail delivering troops and supplies. Destroying rail crippled the south
The resistance to change and force to be undeniably individual holds us back from progress I fear
I had one of the best sleeps on a bullet train in my life.
I bet the Venn diagram of people who never been on a bullet train and those who are against it are close to a circle.
I talked to one person who was against it who thought no country ever made one.
If they knew what the quality food look like, what quality transportation looks like, … they wouldn’t settle for the shitty lies they are being told to!
Bloody wild to say the least. Because, going overseas a few times and even traveling to other States is one hell of an eye opener.
I really wish there was high speed rail here in the States.
In practice they just want to pay for the infrastructure that makes it possible.
The carve out of the 13th amendment was as punishment for a crime, so made up crimes to incarcerate vulnerable communities and keep using them as slave labor.
I, for one, love train travel, even on slower trains.
literally why would i wanna do that
https://youtu.be/wE5G1kTndI4?si=yvT2pvc_75wZrxbP
Kinda like Codifying Roe
We would love it but our government DGAF about us and prefers to spend all the money in corruption and war