I like the independence of driving my own car on my own time and dime, stopping wherever and whenever I please. Baggage in tow, body unscanned, toiletries over 2oz in abundance.
Such a rail system would necessarily become as much a hassle as the airlines. And not as fast.
Any article that starts by a recession is a good time to start spending billions of (taxpayer) dollars was written by a moron.
So I guess it makes sense to spend untold amounts of money so that unemployed citizens can get to the unemployment centers quicker throughout America. Then too, maybe we should spend the money building mosques in every historic site or symbolic place in America. For instance, Valley Forge, Yorktown, Philly city center and so forth. All praise the nobama!
Such a rail system would necessarily become as much a hassle as the airlines. And not as fast.
Ground transportation will never be faster than air travel in the long distance transcontinental market. But for shorter, regional trips of less than 600 miles, it can be much more efficient than short-hop air service. Especially if we eliminate the bottlenecks and delays due to freight traffic.
You are absolutely correct. I see it every morning when I commute into Penn Station. People waiting on ridiculously long check-in lines to ride Amtrak into Canada.
When you take your own vehicle you can take as many other people with you as you can seat, at no extra charge. Or you can make your passengers pay for your gas. Everyone on a train has to have their own ticket, it gets expensive.