Quote:
Originally Posted by mt_climber13
Driving is cheaper than flying when carpooling (again, you're not from California so you don't know about airline commuter sales and prices where you can fly from Norcal to Socal for $100 or so). But when you factor in the actual costs of driving: maintenance on your car and the tax dollars, bonds, and compounded interests and costs paid to build and maintain said freeways- is it really cheaper?
And airports are very expensive to maintain but people use airplanes all the time. Amtrak is also popular (and doesn't turn a profit). HSR would be another form of transportation alongside all of these highly subsidized and expensive modes of transportation- with freeways being the most expensive, hands down.
And hopefully hyperloop as well
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Not only are airports are expensive to maintain, but even in an era when major infrastructure projects are a tough sell in the US (blame it partly on lack of political will), airport expansion/construction is especially problematic. Case in point: DIA, the last major airport to be constructed in this country, is almost 25 miles from downtown Denver. Another case in point: One proposal for a brand-new San Diego airport would put it about 50 miles from SD.
Owing to both increasingly constricted airport facilities and the desire to reduce CO2 emissions, I could see HSR (if implemented correctly) taking over many short/medium-haul trips while airlines focus more on longer-haul and transcontinental trips.