Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.
Posted on 06/05/2010 12:27:40 PM PDT by Willie Green
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood wants to jump start Mag-Lev development in this country, and says and Atlanta to Chattanooga link makes sense.
LaHood tested a high speed rail system in Japan last month. He compares the Obama administration's push for high-speed rail to the creation of the the Interstate system.
Chattanooga Mayor Ron Littlefield say "I was amazed and surprised and very very pleased that he came out and talked about Atlanta, Chattanooga because I've always felt, even looking at it nationally that there is no project that holds more promise than this project."
The statement comes with a cost. Chattanooga, Atlanta, and North Georgia each need to come up with $1.3 million to cover several environmental studies.
That would make the region eligible for a $2-billion federal grant to begin construction.
City officials also met with representatives from the Japanese company that developed mag-lev this week.
It was about defense, though yes of course mail can be transported on the interstates as well.
Ben, Kevin just volunteered to explain the postal clause to you.
Waiting.
I like mass transit personally; I'd just as soon drive less if I could do so economically and in a timely manner. But these systems end up being yet another wealth transfer from one group of citizens to another. And unless you live somewhere like DC or New York or Chicago, they usually don't go *exactly* where you'd like to go.
control
$2 billion TO BEGIN building for Atlanta to Chattanooga.
$2 billion for 120 miles of track (x 2?), maybe a couple of station upgrades and trains.
$16.7 million per mile.
Let’s say and impossible number of people commuted on this train every business day. Say 10,000.
Let’s further say that a largish number of people had reason to go from Atlanta to Chattanooga every day. Say 2,000.
That’s 3,000,000 rides per year. An impressive number, and easily a better than best case scenario.
Say you keep up those numbers for six years solid. Very impressive.
Then, not even counting the costs of FINISHING ... the cost of running the train, fuel, personnel, etc., you are STILL subsidizing EACH ride to the tune of $111...A 120 mile trip that can be performed for about $18 in gasoline, even without car-pooling.
I am willing to consider the utility of trains between points with LOTS of traffic in BOTH directions throughout the day. Frankly, Vegas to SoCal might make sense. The Northeast corridor (Boston to DC) can make sense if the infratructure can be done at a reasonable price. There is no such dynamic connection between Atlanta and Chattanooga. I’m sure Atlanta has some nasty traffic, but I am also sure that much of the business in Atlanta won’t be a short jaunt from the MagLev station.
Well, that explains the 33% property tax increase that Littlefield wants to impose on Chattanooga residents.
This rail project draws a huge negative. It's only purpose would be to turn Chattanooga and North Georgia into suburban Atlanta. We DON'T need it. What we need is a true I-75 bypass around the traffic jam known as Atlanta so that I can easily get to Florida and back without dealing with all the crazy locals and their Obambi bumper stickers.
IMHO, it's a herding thing, like gummint run healthcare or living in congested cities in apartment buildings. They can control you better. And the libs are all about control...
Promise of what, wasting even more money we can't afford. What is it with these people?
BTW, Littlefield is extremely RINO, borderline liberal. He started on an annexing frenzy last year and is trying to push the “regional” government concept on the other communities within the county. He’s as power-hungry as a democrat. Apparently, he won’t be running again due to term limits. That has caused him to pull out all the stops on grabbing as much power as possible before he leaves office.
He needs to be booted out of the Republican party for starters.
Like we have money to burn..
Yes, why not Chattanooga to Detroit? This could bring new people out of Detroit who’ve never traveled in their life. It’d create a chance for Chattanoogians to get out and visit folks of a vastly different social standing. Property values in Detroit would edge up...from $92k per house to probably $98k per house. I think this is a swell idea.
The new Chattanooga choo choo! Chewing thru our taxes that is!
Don't give them ANY ideas! For the love of Jove, please avoid importing Detroiters at all costs!
There’s hardly enough rail traffic between those two cities to justify a low-speed train. It’s a case of the government trying to find a boondoggle to spend money on.
In all seriousness, I think we as a nation made a big mistake getting away from rail freight and travel. Had we made a steady gain on improvement of rail services through the years it would also not have such a financial impact.
I feel that if we had a high speed mass freight rail system and removed long haul freight trucks from our Interstate Systems we would all be much safer and have ample room on our highways for the future.
Local feight excluded, segregating the freight transport from personal transportation and using the piggyback or container shipping by rail is the way we should be shipping our goods today instead of a truck with one load going from NY to CA.
I am more inclined to invest in a new freight rail system than personal transit at this time.
Let’s further say that a largish number of people had reason to go from Atlanta to Chattanooga every day. Say 2,000.
That’s 3,000,000 rides per year. An impressive number, and easily a better than best case scenario.
No, no, no, no, no.... that's way too low.
This isn't a plane where everybody gets on at one end and gets off at the other. There are people traveling in the other direction as well. PLUS you have to add-in all the people getting on-off at all the stops in between.
Are all rail projects these days funded by the federal government?
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