This is the future of intercity transport, not “stupid” high-speed rail.
One thought on “Smart Highways”
Smart highway lanes look very promising for transport between cities, as well as between areas those highways pass through. Vastly better than trains, and vastly cheaper too.
As for trains, there is a use for them that’s worthy of looking into IMHO; car trains. We already have a car train system between the NYC and DC areas and Orlando, Florida. Likewise, there’s one for the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France (I’ve used the latter, and hope to try the former soon). Being able to take one’s car along solves a lot of the drawbacks of train travel, including the last mile issue. It also avoids the cost and hassle of flying and then renting a car.
For certain routes, such as Los Angles to San Francisco, or Los Angles to Las Vegas, a car train IMHO might make economic sense. It wouldn’t be costly, due to running on already-existing tracks, and using already-existing trains. I think it’d be worth looking into to see if it’s viable.
What does not make any sense is California’s not-really-high-speed boondoggle. If there’s a real demand for more high speed transit between LA and SF, why not simply add a couple of terminals at LAX and SFO? Or, if runway capacity is an issue, between nearby regional airports? Going by air is faster and cheaper. The only drawback to air travel is the security hassle, but seeing as how they are planning airport-style security for the “high speed” train, there’s no real difference there.
Smart highway lanes look very promising for transport between cities, as well as between areas those highways pass through. Vastly better than trains, and vastly cheaper too.
As for trains, there is a use for them that’s worthy of looking into IMHO; car trains. We already have a car train system between the NYC and DC areas and Orlando, Florida. Likewise, there’s one for the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France (I’ve used the latter, and hope to try the former soon). Being able to take one’s car along solves a lot of the drawbacks of train travel, including the last mile issue. It also avoids the cost and hassle of flying and then renting a car.
For certain routes, such as Los Angles to San Francisco, or Los Angles to Las Vegas, a car train IMHO might make economic sense. It wouldn’t be costly, due to running on already-existing tracks, and using already-existing trains. I think it’d be worth looking into to see if it’s viable.
What does not make any sense is California’s not-really-high-speed boondoggle. If there’s a real demand for more high speed transit between LA and SF, why not simply add a couple of terminals at LAX and SFO? Or, if runway capacity is an issue, between nearby regional airports? Going by air is faster and cheaper. The only drawback to air travel is the security hassle, but seeing as how they are planning airport-style security for the “high speed” train, there’s no real difference there.