This piece was a little bit weird & kind of off-putting. It's important to remember that Musk & Trump mouth off about things they really have no interest in. They talk just to talk. Also, Trump will never do anything correctly. His entire life has been a facade of success covering up massive failures. Sure, we can push the federal government to fund HSR, but none of his advisors should be in charge of it.
This is a nice idea and has some logic to it. But mode of transportation has become such a ridiculously partisan idea that I don't see it happening. Even being a pedestrian is now viewed as somewhat un-American by the MAGA crowd (which mostly lives in the exurbs). Maybe Trump could pull it off, but I'm guessing he'll say trains are for the Chinese and highways are American.
(1) When HSR was introduced in the vicinity of Madrid, Spain, some of the towns in the area became new commuter bases for the Big City - the economic benefit.
(2) Less seriously: if The Trump Train pictured above has a horn to announce its arrival, will it be (a) effective and (b) a Trumpet?
I think Texas would be a great place to get this started - even one section such as Dallas to Houston. Businesses come to Texas because of it's development friendly policies. Put this plan into action in a lower regulation state so that users can see the benefit, then expand it out.
This was a great read, Andy! It's a good reminder too that we often focus on what we see as the benefit of a project (HSR fights climate change, for example), but if we take another perspective (HSR is good for the economy, HSR creates jobs, etc) and market it that way, we can get the same end result with cooperation from a bigger coalition.
This piece was a little bit weird & kind of off-putting. It's important to remember that Musk & Trump mouth off about things they really have no interest in. They talk just to talk. Also, Trump will never do anything correctly. His entire life has been a facade of success covering up massive failures. Sure, we can push the federal government to fund HSR, but none of his advisors should be in charge of it.
This is a nice idea and has some logic to it. But mode of transportation has become such a ridiculously partisan idea that I don't see it happening. Even being a pedestrian is now viewed as somewhat un-American by the MAGA crowd (which mostly lives in the exurbs). Maybe Trump could pull it off, but I'm guessing he'll say trains are for the Chinese and highways are American.
A couple of thoughts:
(1) When HSR was introduced in the vicinity of Madrid, Spain, some of the towns in the area became new commuter bases for the Big City - the economic benefit.
(2) Less seriously: if The Trump Train pictured above has a horn to announce its arrival, will it be (a) effective and (b) a Trumpet?
I think Texas would be a great place to get this started - even one section such as Dallas to Houston. Businesses come to Texas because of it's development friendly policies. Put this plan into action in a lower regulation state so that users can see the benefit, then expand it out.
This was a great read, Andy! It's a good reminder too that we often focus on what we see as the benefit of a project (HSR fights climate change, for example), but if we take another perspective (HSR is good for the economy, HSR creates jobs, etc) and market it that way, we can get the same end result with cooperation from a bigger coalition.
It's not easy to put aside our own pride and let another obviously proud person "win" something. But history is full of success stories!