High Speed Rail (insert some devisive political phrase to attract attention)

Discussion in 'Blazers OT Forum' started by bluefrog, Mar 6, 2011.

  1. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    repped for your eloquent understatement.
     
  2. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Electric cars may indeed be a solution. Then again, they may not... As for light-rail, light-rail supplemented by a good streetcar network would be a cost-effective solution even with the density we have now.

    Those are all good things - but not all universally applicable. Some jobs don't lend themselves to staggered shifts or telecommuting.



    If you have an idea for a space-saving freeway, I'm sure everyone would be excited about that.

    barfo
     
  3. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

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    Many jobs do, though. At least those that can use video-conferencing. Pounding rivets or teaching kids are in your "some jobs" scenario. The problem is that those pounding rivets aren't finding it necessary to commute, anyhow, because their jobs are leaving Portland.
     
  4. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    I guess the stress part depends on which line you ride and when you ride it.

    The first and most noticeable impact from Tri-Met's Max lines was the immediate and prolific saturation of Portland's outer reaches by the Bloods and the Crips and the Aryans and the Asian and Hispanic gangs. As in New York and California it became their personal highway and they expanded their operations from the isolated neighborhoods they were previously stranded in and spread like a bad case of herpes.

    A deafening roar that shakes your home every time it passes while bringing graffiti and a gang of home-invaders to your door isn't my idea of improving real estate values, but then I'm only a Realtor.

    I absolutely hate Tri-Met. One of their dumb bimbo articulated-bus drivers got off her route in a silver thaw and slid her 90' long POS into my mint condition car which I had only 2 more payments to make on. It was totalled and completely knocked off it's axles. I got about 1/3 of it's value after having to hire an attorney since Tri-Met carries no insurance and has a guy on retainer whose job is solely to be an dick and stall and obstruct and lowball and threaten. I'm sure the tactic makes a lot of people just walk away. Tri-Met is the best example I can think of where the inmates run the asylum. It's the most bloated, overpaid agency in the state, serving perhaps the smallest number of taxpayers.

    If you think teachers are overpaid for educating your children, check out what a bus driver makes just driving back and forth on a predetermined route all day.

    http://blog.oregonlive.com/commuting/2010/11/trimet_salary_database_shows_h.html
     
  5. andalusian

    andalusian Season - Restarted

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    We already have roads that are wide enough to be freeways but are littered with constant stop-lights for no good reason - as the businesses around them are not exactly thriving. Rt. 10 is a prime example on the west side. Columbia Blvd. is a good example on the east side. It really is rather silly that a Metro area of 2.5 million people has a network of one freeway going East/West (26 on the west side of town, 84 on the east) and 2 and a half going north/south (I5, 205 and 217 for the South/West side of town.
     
  6. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    I'm all for greater density in big cities, but only because it lessens the density here in Beautiful Central Oregon.

    Density invokes what I call the lemming syndrome, and it's why I left Portland with no regrets 9 years ago. People simply can't behave like human beings when cramped together into tight spaces. Crime explodes, manners become extinct, and viruses, bacteria and sickness spread like wildfire. Public transportation increases these ills and annoyances tenfold.

    The only transportation that really matters to me is a vehicle of my own, with drive to all wheels, that can tow 5000lbs uphill at up to 65mph and handle off-road terrain.
     
  7. STOMP

    STOMP mere fan

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    easy? You're supposed to arrive an hour and a half early to get through all the security check BS. Unless you're getting dropped off, arranging to get to and from an airport is an extra expense in both time and money especially if you're going to do long term parking. I'd love to have a HSR option going up and down the West Coast... hell I'd ride my bike to it if it goes to SF. I really enjoyed Europe's rail system when I was there for a year... very easy and much more comfortable then air travel. You're not trapped in an assigned seat next to a screaming baby or somebody with an obvious cold. Bring it!

    STOMP
     
  8. PapaG

    PapaG Banned User BANNED

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    Huh? I'm not sure how much you travel, but I can still show up 45 minutes before my flight boards, with my ticket printed, and be at my gate with a good 15 minutes to spare. Also, I got a stomach virus from a Euro train, or so I think. That said, for my tourism need, and my treating the train as a "toy", I can't complain.
     
  9. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    What percentage of jobs in the metro area do you think involve (or could involve) video-conferencing? Sounds like you've been a "Consultant" a bit too long.

    barfo
     
  10. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    I live 5 minutes from lax. Never check anything in. planes are a cake walk. At the gate from my place in 15 minutes. Security is never a problem.

    You have to wait for trains too. I'm not going to take a 3 hour train when i can take a 30 minute flight.

    X
     
  11. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    Especially when the plane is cheaper

    X
     
  12. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    Probably more than involve having to actually travel to another city.

    X
     
  13. barfo

    barfo triggered obsessive commie pinko Staff Member Global Moderator

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    Yes, certainly. But we were discussing it as an alternative to commuting by car to work within the Portland metro area.

    barfo
     
  14. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    All but the real ones.
     
  15. STOMP

    STOMP mere fan

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    your relayed experience is not that of the masses at all with no check in/security delay, plus 99% of the world doesn't know the joy of living right next to an international airport. On top of that you are ridiculously exaggerating the difference in time of travel between the two. It's HSR not Am-Trak

    STOMP
     
  16. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    I've "commuted" from Portland and Seattle (and Vegas) to LA many times before. Take the Monday 6am flight to LAX and I'm at work in LA by 9 or 930. Can't do that on HSR..not even within california.

    HSR makes no sense for commuter travel, it takes much longer, its more expensive. The USA is not like Europe or Asia. Its a different dynamic of people. It'll be primarily leisure travelers. Even then, airplane travel would be more reasonable.
     
  17. EL PRESIDENTE

    EL PRESIDENTE Username Retired in Honor of Lanny.

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    I believe high speed rail would be good in close proximity large cities that are within 2 or 3 hours driving distance from one another. For example, from Portland to Seattle. The Amtrack isn't too bad (although there are delays) or from San Diego to LA.

    any further and taking a plane makes much more sense.
     
  18. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    Trains for actual travel across our great country, such as the great network Amtrak once ran before Bush gutted it, make a ton of sense and I'd be happy for my tax dollars to be directed to restoring and improving Amtrak.

    Exorbitantly costly high speed trains which will only serve a select few citizens in a select few cities and mostly just to get them to work and back which they do just fine already without the train is nothing I would support.

    High-speed trains for actual cross-country travel makes more sense and would unite this great country by making it easier for citizens to visit other areas.

    If there was a high speed train to Florida or Maine I'd be certain to ride it.
     
  19. STOMP

    STOMP mere fan

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    there is currently no HSR in California so what are you talking about? If there were a connection between SF and LA (thats what you and I were talking about) it's estimated the travel time would take about 2.5 hours and thats with stops in multiple outlying communities. It's also estimated to cost significantly less then a plane ticket.

    http://sftravel.com/blog/2010/03/25/californias-high-speed-train-arriving-soon.html

    More stuff from your ass. Again, between LA to SF it's significantly cheaper and plenty fast. Besides the travelers who live in the bookend major cities, people who live in outlying communities along the route won't have to travel to an airport... think those people wouldn't prefer to commute at 220 MPH then drive to an airport, park their car at 12$ a day and then wait in line to remove their shoes?

    yeah, it makes no sense for the commuter traveler at all :rolleyes2:

    STOMP
     
  20. MARIS61

    MARIS61 Real American

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    That's not Obama's plan though.

    He envisions a train from Eugene to Vancouver BC, for example. I'd ride that one twice a year to BC if it stopped in Bend, but I doubt I'd ever drive to Eugene, leave my car and ride the train to BC.

    I used to ride Tri-Met busses (3 with transfers) to work and back in Portland, wasting about 1-1/2 extra hours of my life every weekday, until one day my wife had a medical emergency in Tigard while I was at work. If I had driven to work I could have reached her in 15 minutes, but on Tri-Met it took nearly 2 hours and a lot of jogging. I never rode a bus to work again.

    Being independently mobile is a huge priority for me. I simply have to be able to go where I want, when I want, without relying on anyone else's aid or permission.
     

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