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0 pointsjcranmer5y ago0 comments

The Midwest region (centered on Chicago) is very much within viable HSR range--as I point out in a nearby comment, it actually contains larger cities within the same general distance as the French TGV network.

Texas triangle would also be a viable region.

As my sibling comment points out, southeast US is marginally viable.

The Pacific Northwest (Portland-Vancouver) is also on the margin of viability.

The other parts of the northeast--Boston-Toronto and NYC-Montreal--are very definitely viable HSR routes. You might find some more strap-on routes to the main Northeast Corridor that I haven't included (Scranton, maybe?), simply because the NEC is such a phenomenally powerful generator of traffic.

Connecting the Midwest to the Northeast and the Southeast may also be viable, but again it's somewhat more marginal because the big city in the Midwest is on the wrong side of the region.

0 pointsjcranmer5y ago0 comments

Texas triangle would also be a viable region.

As my sibling comment points out, southeast US is marginally viable.

The Pacific Northwest (Portland-Vancouver) is also on the margin of viability.

Connecting the Midwest to the Northeast and the Southeast may also be viable, but again it's somewhat more marginal because the big city in the Midwest is on the wrong side of the region.

0 comments

4 comments · 1 top-level

ativzzz5y ago· 3 in thread

Having done a lot of driving through the Texas triangle, I can tell you that the biggest detriment to HSR would be the fact that you still need a car after you get off your train.

I've taken the greyhound/megabus between cities, and it's pretty decent, but then I either need someone to drive 30 mins one way to pick me up or shell out $30+ for an Uber to get to where I need to go, and then more Ubers if I need to get around afterwards.

To make the intercity transport really compelling, the cities themselves need good public transport coverage, and the triangle cities are too damn big for that to happen in the foreseeable future. They have some, but it takes forever and the reach isn't that high.

I'd rather have a mostly self driving car that can take me 80% of the way on the interstate highway between the cities.

Ericson23145y ago

Right, it's important that cities getting HSR stations are compelled to do some sort of metropolitan public transit and upzoning.

We should be very cleareyed that the sunbelt cities are built all wrong, but also underestanding that they can be fixed.

galangalalgol5y ago

How do you fix them? That seems really hard!

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rizzom50005y ago

A mostly self-driving car could work and I can't speak for the Texas Triangle, but most of the south has horrible public transit.

An interesting example, perhaps, is Raleigh, NC to DC. Raleigh has awful public transit options. The public transit in DC is pretty great actually. Driving (in the best case) is six hours, and Amtrak is about 7.5 hours.

Still, who in their right mind would ever willingly want to drive in DC traffic? If you are going to DC for the weekend, the Amtrak wins every single time in my opinion; even with a mostly self-driving car.

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