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Re: I Agree with Quentin ... Not at All-What Are Our Real Transportation Needs?
Author: mook
Date: 03-29-2013 - 21:25
Bob: The headline was a bit of a spoof - if you crawl through my whole rant you'll find my ideas are not far from yours.
But I do agree with Quentin in one way: the Prop is written in such a way that a useful HS transportation system (or even a blind stab at one, which CHSRA seems to have done moderately well) cannot meet the criteria written there. Unfortunately, the UHSR straight-through SF-LA SWA competitor won't meet them either; it might give you trains that make the run in 2:40 but it can't be done with the financing provided or even dreamed of, and would have such a small market (ignoring share) that it could never really meet the operating support (e.g. no subsidies) criteria. So assuming the judge(s) agree(s) with QK and stops the whole affair, what can be done next? The line (not a system, yet) that CHSRA finally came up with is a good kernel for something useful, and with enough tweaks might even come close to hosting a 2:40 express train 50 years from now (though I think 3-3 1/2 hours is more likely and realistic even with large chunks of 200mph running in the Valley). How do we fix up some of the remaining stupidities and build from there?
But I do agree with Quentin in one way: the Prop is written in such a way that a useful HS transportation system (or even a blind stab at one, which CHSRA seems to have done moderately well) cannot meet the criteria written there. Unfortunately, the UHSR straight-through SF-LA SWA competitor won't meet them either; it might give you trains that make the run in 2:40 but it can't be done with the financing provided or even dreamed of, and would have such a small market (ignoring share) that it could never really meet the operating support (e.g. no subsidies) criteria. So assuming the judge(s) agree(s) with QK and stops the whole affair, what can be done next? The line (not a system, yet) that CHSRA finally came up with is a good kernel for something useful, and with enough tweaks might even come close to hosting a 2:40 express train 50 years from now (though I think 3-3 1/2 hours is more likely and realistic even with large chunks of 200mph running in the Valley). How do we fix up some of the remaining stupidities and build from there?
