For that pesky rubber tire
True that on the "cell phones". My first cell phone I needed carry two batteries to make it through an 8 hour day. The industry recognized the problem and they improved the batteries. When they do similar with electric cars and motorcycles they'll catch on with urban/suburban commuters as did cell phones and smartphones.
...high speed rail while we're becoming a third world country when it comes to transportation thanks to Republicans who only open their wallets when it comes to spending on wars.
I do not recall seeing "High Speed Rail" in the constitution, let alone, horse trail.
Feel free to invest your own money in High Speed Rail in the USA.
BTW: Acela on the NE corridor has lengths up to 150 mph, and Amtrak has plans to upgrade the entire span to 150 mph.
The problem with HSR is the same problem of any public transit: The last mile problem. In an affluent society, such as the USA, factor that time in (along with trains run on a schedule), people would rather drive (their schedule) or fly (even faster). When you can fly between DC and Boston cheaper then the subsidized Acela fare and get there faster, how is HSR going to compete
I'm not sure what to make of your high speed rail and the constitution comment. It makes no sense to me. However to move on the your point that actually made sense, is the cost associated with train travel. In some markets, it's absolutely cheaper to fly, especially major routes. I think if HSR is to work, if would have to be regionally based and affordable to the public.
I have personally ridden HSR in Korea and found the difference between the old and new amazing;40 years a go, a train trip from Seoul to Taegu to 6 hours and it can be done in 2 and in complete comfort. It cost approx 60. It will be a challenge to implement an geographically disbursed nation as ours.
But regarding our own roads and bridges, it is a disgrace and an indicator of our misplaced priorities as a nations. The Stimulus package did not do enough to improve our infrastructure and the neo-cons would have us spend our treasures on just about any military action in the Middle East, despite the fact we produce enough natural gas and oil to be self sufficient.
Feel free to invest your own money in High Speed Rail in the USA.
BTW: Acela on the NE corridor has lengths up to 150 mph, and Amtrak has plans to upgrade the entire span to 150 mph.
The problem with HSR is the same problem of any public transit: The last mile problem. In an affluent society, such as the USA, factor that time in (along with trains run on a schedule), people would rather drive (their schedule) or fly (even faster). When you can fly between DC and Boston cheaper then the subsidized Acela fare and get there faster, how is HSR going to compete?
"""I'm not sure what to make of your high speed rail and the constitution comment. It makes no sense to me"""
The vast majority of our citizenry, particularly concentrated in the Democratic party haven't the foggiest notion what role of the fedral government is either.
Hence, we get women whining that they cant get abortive medication for free.
""" despite the fact we produce enough natural gas and oil to be self sufficient."""
Is that a fact? Should be a snap to prove.....
The original intent of the constitution was a LIMITED Federal Government. The States were afraid to cede power to the Federal Government. Hence, the 10th Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
I am not saying that the Federal Interstate Highway System is a bad thing. I am saying that the way it was built is bad. In some ways, there should be a parallel federal system where the current Federal Government performs its enumerated powers, and a separate Cooperative System where the States Individually Agree to levy a fuel tax and deposit it into a common pool to build the Interstate Highway System. Then you avoid things like the Federal Government saying if you don't have a mandatory seat belt law, you loose federal highway dollars. If the Cooperative System said that, then a State would have the option to withdraw and take its dollars.
Saying that the Federal Government should build HSR is typical special interest. Why should people in Montana pay taxes to build HSR between DC and Boston, and LA and Seattle? If it is such a great thing, then people between DC and Boston can figure out how to pay for it. There are a lot of rich people and companies in NY that you can tax
Want to build high speed trains?
Life would be pleasant and easier
Less talk about religion
No war on women
More compassion
Less wars
More nation building at home
Balanced budget (Republicans have not balanced the budget in pat 50 year)
More spending on infrastructure
Less taxes for the working middle class
Leases partisan ship
Shall I go on?
Of course, BSC Republicans will have brain dead, non factual, Fox/Cruz stupid talking points as responses. Please go ahead crazies
Along with the envirochondriacs have an obsession with trains. They hate private cars because the auto represents individual freedom. They want to build a train from Orlando to Miami now. So I would drive to the airport, pay for parking, schlep my bags to a train and wait for the train to leave. Then when I get to Miami I carry my bags off the train,go to the rental car counter or shuttle to the counter, wait in line, and drive a car to m destination.
Or I could get in my car and drive myself.
I live in LA. Would never take a bus, because they are too unreliable. Will take the train if it's connecting two points I'm traveling too, because they are reliable, but 99% of the time I drive. Took the bullet train in Japan. Loved it! Was glad I didn't have to drive or deal with the hassle of getting on a plane. Easy reservation. Easy boarding and departure and runs on time. Just made a trip to Vegas. Thought about flying but didn't want the hassle of getting to and from the airport and dealing with the security and boarding. Took me seven hours to drive back. I much rather had taken a bullet train if one were available. If one were available, I'd go to Vegas several times a year rather than once every four or five years.
Bottom line. Choice in transportation is about price and convenience, and preference based on personal needs or desires; not about one's political persuasion or ideology. I'm all for choice. What's wrong with that? 
Matt it is political.
Rachel Maddow does a commercial for MSNBC where she is in front of the Hoover Dam, saying American can do "big things" again.
The Obama admin is proof we cant. They have set liberalism back 20 years.
If there is a need for HS trains, the private sector will come in and build it. The reason they don't is b/c there isn't any profit in it. Its a financial loser. Big time.
Which is exactly the reason a government that is swimming in $18T debt should NOT get involved.
It's not Obama that can't. It's the obstructionist Republican Party that places their politics ahead of the needs of the nation. For the first time in several years, we've had a pragmatist in the white house, someone that was actually willing to work with republicans. What happened, the Republican Party made obstructionism central to their strategy to regain the senate hand the presidency.nth every Sam republicans that shutdown the government, the very same republicans that threatened to have our nation default on our debt by refusing to raise the debt ceiling, the very same republicans that would still have us in war in the Middle East.
You guys are jokes
Rachel Maddow does a commercial for MSNBC where she is in front of the Hoover Dam, saying American can do "big things" again.
The Obama admin is proof we cant. They have set liberalism back 20 years.
If there is a need for HS trains, the private sector will come in and build it. The reason they don't is b/c there isn't any profit in it. Its a financial loser. Big time.
Which is exactly the reason a government that is swimming in $18T debt should NOT get involved.
We are in the top 10 of the richest countries of the world. If the 1% wanted the Bullet Train, we'd have the bullet train, but they really don't cotton to the idea of rubbing elbows with the riff-raft!
"If there is a need for HS trains, the private sector will come in and build it. The reason they don't is b/c there isn't any profit in it."
Perhaps the government can lend them the money!
No, not the one on his head, I meant his point about leaving it to the private sector to decide whether to build high speed trains. From the DC metro system to the California train to nowhere, they make no economic sense at all.
But state governments share a huge part of the blame. California could not resist the billions in federal money offered to get its train started. They should have just enough money to complete the track from St. Croix’s house to the Beverly Hills Men’s hair salon and then they run out of money. This will be the next big scandal in a few years
Running on someone Else's schedule sucks; plain and simple. I'd sooner see a massive movement toward "clean diesel" cars which are 30% better in fuel mileage than gasoline, and/or battery electrics costing us approximately $5.00 for every 200+miles. (Hybrids are STUPID! Twice the complexity and maintenance costs)
I totally agree that the U.S. is behind the times and let our "infrastructure" go to seed; but Americans are a different lot than those in most other nations. We were raised on the premise of 'Freedom and independence'.
"See the USA in your Chevrolet" is what Dina Shore sang in the 1960's as spokeswoman. That ideal still holds true for the majority of Americans.
I get jeers and condemnation whenever I defend the efforts in 'Electric" motorcycle technology on a moto-sport blog site I frequent. But cost to operate, already available superior performance and lack of dirty, costly maintenance makes "battery electric" technology the obvious step in our passion for personal transportation needs and wants. The day the engineers come up with a platform giving 200+ miles of range in the time needed to fully charge a smartphone is going to prove a MAJOR game changer.
We were arguing about Harley's "Live wire"on the "moto-sport" blog site the other day. The Nay Sayers were grousing about its "limited range", I was commending the tradition steeped HD Company for stepping into a truly UN-traditional motorcycle platform with IMO a very sexy looking 'electric' Cruiser. "Mission Motorcycles" has a brilliant battery electric 'Superbike'. 163 horsepower with 133 foot/pounds of torque from 0 to 6400 RPM. No gear box or clutch. No messy oil changes, air filters, valve adjustments, spark plugs, mufflers etc etc. Its only negatives are its current principle price, and its limited 80 to 130 mile range. https://www.mission-motorcycles.com
Remember the battery issues with early cell phones.
I wish Harley Davidson every success with their new offering, and I fully support the effort. Even as an "evil oil man", For the record I think there is a huge market in many metropolitan areas for battery operated transportation, and as a matter of fact I have investigated getting into the business in areas that I believe scream for this technology, places like San Jose Costa Rica, Bogota, Medellin, and Cali Colombia which are all located in high mountain valleys where gasoline is so expensive it amounts to 10-20% of many household budgets, and where people rarely drive more that 10-20 miles at a time.
The problem of course is that batteries, and their manufacture and disposal create a whole new set of problems in themselves, but I believe if the technology is valid, the market will find a way.
I wish some of the motorheads on the moto-sport blog site I visit were as open to the technology. They moan about the absence of the 'roar' from an internal combustion engine under load. I welcome the absence of that "drone" as your motoring on the freeway, the unending cacophony of metal against metal moving parts at a stop light, and the sonic early warning of your approach to every revenue happy traffic cop.
True that on the "cell phones". My first cell phone I needed carry two batteries to make it through an 8 hour day. The industry recognized the problem and they improved the batteries. When they do similar with electric cars and motorcycles they'll catch on with urban/suburban commuters as did cell phones and smartphones.
The biggest improvement realized in cell phone life came from the change from the analog network to digital networks. In addition to requiring more power to transmit in FM, the Analog phones were quite "dumb". Newer digital phones use less power to transmit, reduce their transmit power dynamically to the minimum level needed to maintain a connection and are smarter about using less power during "idling". All of the electronics uses less power as well.
So while Lithium ION batteries are a little less than twice as energy dense by volume (even more so by weight) than Nickle Metal Hydride, you can thank the electrical engineers not the chemists for most of your improvements.
-- Modified on 7/3/2014 1:47:12 AM
I have to confess, growing up with bikes, I like the throaty roar of a Hog, but in a city of millions, the noise and stink of millions of them greatly diminishes the quality of life.
IMO, when the manufacturers make a product that the public likes, the market will take care of itself. I will continue to maintain however that batteries themselves will cause a brand new set of problems, I personally think that nat gas may be a better fix for this country, but electric has it's place, and as you may remember a few years back I was looking into getting distribution rights into a line of electric bikes made in China, that I was going to distribute in Latin America. I still think the idea has merit, I was just hooked up with the wrong manufacturer.
For that pesky rubber tire
True that on the "cell phones". My first cell phone I needed carry two batteries to make it through an 8 hour day. The industry recognized the problem and they improved the batteries. When they do similar with electric cars and motorcycles they'll catch on with urban/suburban commuters as did cell phones and smartphones.
Just start a war with the US. Look at Germany and Japan post WWII. If the Korean War had been allowed to end the way it should have ended, the North would look like the South now. Too bad Obama and Maliki fucked up Iraq's sweet deal.
The Mouse That Roared.
