I was at breakfast today at a local diner when a friend of mine asked a good question.
Why trains? Hi-speed rail is all the rage again. First trains helped in the western expansion of the USA. Then they went bankrupt. Then they converted to freight. Then went bankrupt again. Then passenger trains became common, then they went bankrupt again. Lately we started to declare trains a constitutional right, then we try to strike them down as illegal because they are too expensive and unnecessary. Now they are on again - as public works projects. Hi speed rail. It will take billions of dollars to build. Looking back at history what do you think will become of hi-speed rail?
It seems to me and to my friend at breakfast, that here in the United States that rail might not the answer for intracity transportation. In Europe, with their limited road systems and complex social geographies trains are perfect. Trains act as accumulators from rural to metropolitan areas. But trains are a 150 year old technology.
Here in the USA we already have roads, we have lots of roads, and lots of cars. Don't we just love cars? Cars are an extension of our personalities. What I want is a smart car. Not one of those tiny little sneakers of a car, but a really smart car. One that can drive itself; circle the block and pick me up when I run in for Chinese food. Or go park itself in the far end of the lot after it drops me off under a canopy out of the rain. A car that can drive itself down the turnpike to Miami while I watch a movie or play cards with the kids.
I remember a book as a kid that showed a car that would make this possible. The front seat spun around with a table in the back, it was called a saloon car. So I'm not making this up by myself, someone has thought of it before. I want it, doesn't anyone else? As long as we are spending billions, why not spend it on something we want.
If we make smart cars and smart roads, and sell them to the rest of the world, we will be doing something to make the future. We here in the USA are individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit lets play to our strengths and not build more 150 year old tech that we know will need a bailout or face bankruptcy like it has done so many times before.
No comments:
Post a Comment