Reply #78: That's just a backwards way to do it.

[Xithras]

Build the local and regional networks first, because that will have the biggest impact on pollution, the economy, and per-capita fuel consumption. Build me a train that goes from San Francisco to New York, and I'll ride it once a year on vacation. Build me a train that goes from where I live to where I work and I'll ride it every single day.

Regional rail systems will have an infinitely larger impact on American lives than national thru-rail systems.

According to the FAA, 2 million Americans take trips far enough to fly every day.

According to the DOT, somewhere around 180 million Americans drive their cars every day.

Which is more important to address? A high speed rail system, at best, will take somewhere around 1/4 of those people off those planes (a percentage of those flyers are on connectors, another percentage want the shorter travel time, etc). I just don't get the logic behind spending hundreds of billions of dollars building a high speed rail system across America when it will do NOTHING to alleviate our traffic problems, which stem from the 180 million daily drivers. Those hundreds of billions are better spent building local rail networks to get Jane Commuter off the road.