 |
Re: California high speed rail will not die with a bang, but with a whimper
Author: Erik H.
Date: 07-23-2017 - 09:27
BOB2 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Cap and Trade" of carbon emissions is,
> theoretically, intended to reduce the level of
> greenhouse gas emissions, from human activities,
> which are changing atmospheric carbon levels,
> leading to increased atmospheric and ocean
> temperature, leading to climate change and sea
> level rise. Funds generated from "Cap and Trade"
> thus, should, theoretically be spent on ways to
> offset emissions, at the lowest cost per ton of
> emissions.
High Speed Rail, as implemented in Europe and Japan, is intended to reduce short-distance air travel, which is extremely polluting. Remember the days when Japan Air Lines had 747s running domestic flights in Japan with over 600 seats per plane? Gone. Lufthansa barely has any domestic service in Germany; same with Air France - those airlines are all about international (intercontinental) service, with a few domestic hops mostly for the benefit of travellers from other continents needing to go from the Frankfurt and Paris hubs to other cities, or to serve remote communities that aren't effectively served by rail.
California's HSR seems to have no connection at all with air travel, and that will be its failing. At least in Texas, the reason HSR is a no-go there is because of one certain very large airline headquartered in Dallas that started out with intra-Texas short-hop flying between the big cities. And you are also dealing with two major metropolitan areas that each have multiple airports serving them (SFO, SMF, SJC, and OAK to the north; LAX, LGB, SNA, ONT and BUR to the south). And CaHSR entirely forgets about SAN.
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Cap and Trade" of carbon emissions is,
> theoretically, intended to reduce the level of
> greenhouse gas emissions, from human activities,
> which are changing atmospheric carbon levels,
> leading to increased atmospheric and ocean
> temperature, leading to climate change and sea
> level rise. Funds generated from "Cap and Trade"
> thus, should, theoretically be spent on ways to
> offset emissions, at the lowest cost per ton of
> emissions.
High Speed Rail, as implemented in Europe and Japan, is intended to reduce short-distance air travel, which is extremely polluting. Remember the days when Japan Air Lines had 747s running domestic flights in Japan with over 600 seats per plane? Gone. Lufthansa barely has any domestic service in Germany; same with Air France - those airlines are all about international (intercontinental) service, with a few domestic hops mostly for the benefit of travellers from other continents needing to go from the Frankfurt and Paris hubs to other cities, or to serve remote communities that aren't effectively served by rail.
California's HSR seems to have no connection at all with air travel, and that will be its failing. At least in Texas, the reason HSR is a no-go there is because of one certain very large airline headquartered in Dallas that started out with intra-Texas short-hop flying between the big cities. And you are also dealing with two major metropolitan areas that each have multiple airports serving them (SFO, SMF, SJC, and OAK to the north; LAX, LGB, SNA, ONT and BUR to the south). And CaHSR entirely forgets about SAN.
