Comments on: How High Speed Rail Can Spread Across the U.S. http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/ Connecting the Built & Natural Environments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:37:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Pieter http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-1392 Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:44:22 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-1392 This is a great step forward, the United States is way behind on rail travel, especially Back West. I have found that it is actually faster, in some cases to take a train than it is to fly.

]]> By: Mandy Sites on Oahu http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-1324 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:07:58 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-1324 Hi I found your article by chance, I was digging around the worldwide web for things to do on Oahu when I found your site, I must say your website is really intriguing I truely think the layout, its amazing!. I don’t have the time at the moment to fully absorb your site but I have saved the location of it and also subscribed for your RSS feeds. I will be back when I free up some time. Thank you for a excellent website.

]]> By: gerard koeppel http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-880 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:12:04 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-880 Governor Rendell properly cites the dramatic effect of the Erie Canal on the nation’s economy, but it is worth noting that the $7 million (not $9 billion) cost was entirely funded by risky and novel NY State bonds after President Madison shut the US Treasury (with a stunning veto on his final day in office). If New York had relied on a “dedicated federal government capital budget” for Erie, it would not have been built. (More on this: “Bond of Union: Building the Erie Canal and the American Empire” (DaCapo, 2009): http://www.amazon.com/Bond-Union-Building-American-Empire/dp/0306818272)

]]> By: stephen http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-878 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 14:43:33 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-878 I agree with AJ.
Plus, the capital requirements for repairs, upgrades, refurbishing have to be at least an order of magnitude less than those for new high-speed rail.

I love the idea of high-speed rail, and since I’ve experienced the European high-speed systems on several occasions I appreciate their value. But let’s fix and improve/upgrade what we have right now, before embarking on a very costly high-speed rail program.

]]> By: AJ http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-867 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:37:29 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-867 I completely agree with this approach. Every metro of at least 100,000 people should have passenger rail access before we start trying to outdo these other countries. We are insanely behind on this. People don’t need to be able to get from point A to point B faster than the car to want to switch over. The simple fact that people can get work done while traveling makes up for the added travel time. But people DO need to know exactly how long it will take and be able to trust the schedule so that they can allocate their time.

Start simple. Upgrade the tracks and rebuild the former corridors, so that we have solid regions. Then upgrade the lines between regions to high speed.

]]> By: Brice Maryman http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-825 Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:59:26 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-825 i don’t know who is editing/writing the dirt these days, but i am loving the content and really appreciate that you are stretching beyond the more recently-defined parameters of landscape architecture. smart growth, transportation, environmental degredation–these were olmsted’s concerns and we need to return to a holistic, 10,000 foot level discussion about these issues.

nice to see the dirt helping to take us there. would love to see more of this in LAM.

]]> By: how it grows http://dirt.asla.org/2009/10/22/how-high-speed-rail-can-spread-across-the-u-s/#comment-822 Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:43:19 +0000 http://dirt.asla.org/?p=3196#comment-822 James Kunstler seems to think money might be better spent on regular train service instead of high speed. Any thoughts?

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