Video of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood on European reconnaissance mission re High-Speed rail

[Pirate Smile]

http://monocle.com/sections/affairs/Web-Articles/Prime-Minister-Andrus-Ansip/

"Later this year, Barack Obama's transportation secretary Ray LaHood will begin allocating $8 billion to emerging American train systems, with another $5 billion to come over the next five years - the first time ever that the US government has made such an investment. Until this year, the idea that Americans could enjoy European or Japanese-style train service was dismissed as a boutique cause of cosmopolitan columnists and futurist dreamers. Now leaving the country a set of rails equal to its roads will be Obama's transport legacy. Monocle's Washington Correspondent Sasha Issenberg travelled with LaHood on European reconnaissance mission."


Very interesting - watch it. It also includes talk of "livable communities" (i.e. no car necessary).

[pleah]

1. K&R

I would settle for sidewalks in my area. Mississippi doesn't believe in sidewalks, apparently.:eyes:

[SemiCharmedQuark]

2. I am so excited abou this! I hope it happens!

[Pirate Smile]

3. I think this looks like a very worthwhile trip. It makes it seem much more doable if you've seen it,

in person, actually done already.

[zulchzulu]

4. Retooling auto factories for light rail would bring back lots of jobs

Let alone having a decent rail system...

[Kdillard]

8. That would be wonderful :) Let's hope that it becomes a reality.

[zulchzulu]

13. There are already some former auto plants turning into wind turbine factories

http://www.detnews.com/article/20090507/BIZ/905070406/Wind-turbines-generate-Michigan-job-hopes

We can do this.

[SuperTrouper]

5. There is no better rail system than the one in Europe. very convenient.

I enjoy the rail system, especially the Cisalpino going from Geneva to Milan. And the Scandinavian rail, top notch too. I am very happy that Obama is putting high priority to this.

[WI_DEM]

6. Who would have thought that Ray LaHood would be among my favorite cabinet members?

[Pirate Smile]

7. kick

[KJETS]

9. good puke

he is

[JimWis]

10. Yes, very interesting. This is exciting stuff. Can't wait until we get

going on it. Thanks for sharing the video.

[Kaleva]

11. Kicked and rec'd

A hats off to all you DUer's who take the trouble posting very informative info such as this!

[Pirate Smile]

12. You're welcome.

:hi:

[agentS]

14. Some personal experience (Asia)

I've tried out public transport, especially trains and high speed, while living in Japan and South Korea.
It makes a big difference, especially in Japan, when a system is logically planned and well funded.
While the SK system is not as extensive as the Japanese system (too many mountains and buses are more cost-effective) it's not a problem to get to one serviced area from another. Of course, the SK system is still expanding, which means less cars on the roads.

High speed is not a panacea out here, but boy does it help. even the simpler trains are more pleasant than 4 hour car rides.

One thing I noticed is that there are a lot of high-end shops or low-end mass markets near stations in both countries. It's more common than not for there to be points of interest near their train stations, especially in the larger cities (Fukouka has a major electronics market nearby their station, I think, as does Yongsan station in Seoul). Whereas in the states, the train stations are far out of town, or isolated from the rest of the community. If high speed wants to get popular, you've got to get stations at least within decent walking distance (under 1 mile) from the action, or have subway stations at the station itself.

[depakid]

15. This sort of deal is excellent on so many levels

Transportation policy- a big check plus for the Obama administration.

Sometimes things are too cool- too effective to say much else. Leaves even the most loquacious speechless.