Quote:
Originally Posted by green_man
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.
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That's actually underselling how difficult it is to build a new international airport in America, if you can imagine that. In the past 50 years there have only been two major airports built in the US, DFW in 1969 and Denver International in 1995. When nearly every moderately sized and above city already has jet capable airport within spitting distance of its downtown, it's always a better option to squeeze every last bit of capacity out of them rather than building a vast new mega-hub out in the hinderlands.
The difficult part is that although the overall cost per rider might be higher, for a local government an airport is far cheaper than an HSR system. The federal government grants airports over $3 billion dollars a year for capacity improvements and major renovations, in addition to the $2.5 billion dollars a year it spends maintaining navigation aids (which include systems serving singular airports like glide slopes and approach lighting) and control towers. Not to mention the $7.5 billion dollars a year for ATC services, and the untold billions the US military gives aircraft manufactures to develop new aviation technology (for example the development of the jet engine was a military project, the 707 and 747 both started life as military projects, and the military funded development of carbon fiber components used on the 787). And the feds have been funding aviation at this level or even higher for over 70 years, which means all this infrastructure is already in place and earning cash. Unlike mass transit or roads most commercial airports in the US are major profit centers, and that sets a high bar for a new HSR system which isn't going to receive any of these benefits.