I totally agree with David Cohn.  Please, please free us from the bondage of Big Oil, Big Air, and Big Auto (and their conservative supporters)  They've been crippling this country for too long.

I know that the average American home is responsible for about 40% of energy usage in the USA. Federal and State governments should grant tax credits, low interest federally insured loans, or any other program that would encourage the general homeowner, and all new construction, to have their homes become more energy efficient, and even partially self-subsistent with regard to power usage. I know that by using Geo-Thermal (holes drilled in the ground, pipes containing a glycol mixture, and recirculated through heat pumps and cooling coils), natural gas and electrical usage could be lowered significantly. By using wind generation (Windmills) and solar panels for the home, centralized electrical generation needs over the aggregate could be lowered significantly thus lowering consumers' bills. The increased demand for these green technologies would boost the economy through employment and manufacture of heat pump, solar, and insulation components. The decreased use of natural gas could be redirected to be used in our transportation needs, thus reducing the carbon emissions and acting as a bridge to newer electrical and hydrogen cell transportation technologies (which themselves offer a huge employment and manufacturing potential). The subsequent decrease in demand for fossil fuels such as gasoline, diesel and coal offer huge monetary savings as well as reduction of carbon footprints. The cost savings for federal, state, local government offices, as well as schools could also be enormous.

Along with any high speed train, we need Personal Rapid Transit to resolve the "last mile problem in cities and towns along the route. With the train, the "last mile" may be as much as 50 miles. PRT is the smart way to get good, clean, economical local transportation.

Failure to address local transportation will leave us still forced to drive automobiles to the widely spaced train stations and all too many people would simply drive the entire trip.

Equal to or better than all the other transportation options, PRT provides the fundamental ability end the automobile addiction and end the economic waste that goes with it.

High speed trains must have few stations lest they become low speed trains. They therefore suffer from a first/lastmile problem that can be solve by personal rapid transit (PRT). 

PRT is a new system of transportation that uses automation to rapidly move small groups of people (1 to 4) to their destinations nonstop. 100 mpg equivalent electric T-Pods have very low parking needs since they typically accomplish some 50 trips per day. Their small size means the infrastructure required is light, unobtrusive and relatively low cost. The new sustainable city of Masdar in the UAE is planned to be automobile free and to use a PRT system as the primary form of transportation. The Heathrow PRT system is up and running, undergoing operational testing prior to opening for public use in 2009. The antiquated Morgantown PRT system has been running for over 30 years and has completed over 140 million injury-free passenger miles (regular transit would have injured over a hundred and probably killed somebody in that many passenger miles). PRT is very scalable and can be introduced as a supplement to existing transit. As usage grows, it can be easily extended with additional stations and guideways. With its low infrastructure needs, low energy use and lack of point-of-use emissions, PRT is likely to prove to be the sustainable transportation system of the future.

Global warming is a lie that our government made to give them a reason to create a carbon tax.They want to tax us on our breathing!

Great idea!!!  Actually, I would use magnetic levitation trains, but that's just me.

The whole critique of how expensive this would be is the point.  Expensive = JOBS.  Manufacturing jobs, engineering jobs, R&D jobs, zoning jobs, construction jobs, IT jobs, you name it.  Plus, it creates more demand for electricity which equals more jobs building renewable power plants.  Once people are employed, they spend money, increasing the GDP, thus creating more wealth and more jobs.  So expensive, long, hard = long-term job/infrastructure growth for the U.S.

Additionally, we can get Amerirail passes for students all over the world to see the many diverse cultures we have in America and further our global standing.

GREAT IDEA!!!

--Joe

High speed between: DC, B'more, Philly and NYC.  Imagine the potential!

Awesine comments everyone.

I'll be driving down from San Francisco to Los Angeles again this Christmas break. I grew up in LA and migrated up here for college - fell in love and haven't really left. But of course I go donw often to visit my folks.

But - as you might guess that means I've put on A LOT of miles on the car or in frequent filier form.

I am really excited at the idea of the train from SF to LA. Although it probably won't be completed for 10 years - when it is, imagine how much congestion that will clear up.

I agree with the Personal Rapid Transit people here - PRT needs to be part of the solution for better transportation. This is not only to curb global warming but also address the significant downsides of our current transit paradigm such as urban pollution, congestion, fatalities and dependence on automobiles that have slowly choked our transit ways.

PRT as a last mile solution definitely needs to be part of this mix

You may also like to vote on the thread here "Solving Urban Transportation through innovation"

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/solving_urban_transportation_through_innovation

which has a Personal Rapid Transit focus.

Projects like this are already in the works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_the_United_States

Alayna, as high-speed rail is defined, Acela is already providing it in the Northeast corridor. And on November 4, California voters approved a SF-Sac-LA-SD high-speed rail project.

I'm a big fan of rail travel. But I'm skeptical about rail's effect on global warming. Rail will be impractical for long-haul transport for the foreseeable future, so the train will not be a viable alternative for most air passengers. And as David mentioned, rail is coal-powered.

I think this idea should be renamed: Better Transportation for Reducing Depence Upon Petroleum. The environmental benefits of this idea are debatable, making the entire idea vulnerable to criticism. The strategic and economic security benefits, however, are indisputable.

What people tend to forget is that the main purpose of all this is to save the planet -- in practical terms, reduce CO2 so that it does not deplete the Ozone layer and reduce other pollutants in norder to provide a clean atmosphre.

This must be done throughout the World, not just the USA.  Today, although the US burns up a quarter of the petroleum the world uses, it emits far less CO2 and greenhouse gases than other countries because most of the vehicles uses catalysts to reduce pollutants and there is a system to ensure periodic checks of these systems.  This is not so in third world countries, which have no control over pollution.  The firewood and kerosene cooking fires and uncontrolled emissions from vehicles in these countries, particularly India and China emit far more pollutants and CO2 that the US and Europe combined.

Therefore, this has to be a Whole World solution, if necessary through UN policed enforcement.

Fast trains are just a blip in this scenario, but to be effective, they must run on electricity and nothing else.  All transport, cars, trucks, aircraft and ships must run on electricity generated using non polluting means.  All households and industries must be fuilly electrified without compromise.

Do not use coal, for goodness sake, its even more polluting than petroleum products.

Its not a case of whether to convert to electricity or not, but that we HAVE to, if we are to leave a livable planet to our children.

The biggest stumbling block to using electricity has been the sabotage of electrical technology, mainly solar, storage and delivery means -- we are still in the 18th century in this regard -- sabotage that has been actively pursued by the Seven Sisters, the major oil companies of the World for the past 180 years.

If Uncle sam removes the Seven Sisters form the scene, and announces that ALL petroleum products will be banned ten years hence, American ingenuity and R&D will find ways to generate, store and distribute electricity to serve all our future needs  using sloar, hydro, wind and any number of other means.

That includes powering aircraft. Technology such as ultra-cacitors, induction and many others have been sabotaged by purchasing and suppressing patents and even neutralising inventors and inventions.

All it need is the determination and the strength of character to defeat the power of the Seven Sisters.

Since about 65% of our oil supply is used for transport, we must change our transport fuel to electricity and develop lots of electric vehicles and grid connected vehicles (GCV's) such as electric rail, electric bus, etc. powered to the extent possible by renewable energy.   See Richard Gilbert and Anthony Pearl's book "Transport Revolutions: Moving People and Freight Without Oil" http://transportrevolutions.info/ for a good discussion on this topic.  

The development of distributed renewable energy could be signficiantly encouraged by adopting Feed-In Tariff programs http://www.newrules.org/de/feed-in-tariffs.pdf which would unleash the entrepreneural spirit of the American people creating lots of local jobs.   

Base load utility scale renewable energy projects could be developed using High Temperature Concentrated Solar Thermal Power (CSP) http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3791 in the southwestern US desert areas and transmitting it using high capacity, low loss HVDC transmission lines to other areas of the country.    For example, an approximately 100 sq. mi. area of these plants could potentially  provide 100% of current US electricity supply!    As a former electric power engineer, this is about as close to a silver bullet energy solution as I have seen.   

It almost goes without saying that our power grid also needs to  transition to "smart grid" techology which allows for significant demand side management (aka energy conservation) capabilities. 

@Thomas Besteder - calm down.

No - this might not be in every city, but this is NOT about internal city travel. This is about elimating a large portion of air travel. I haven't done the studies or the research about how much gas is emmitted by planes - but I imagine it is a lot.

Imagine if ONLY all the air travelers between LA and SF were elimated in exchange for bullet trains between those two cities. How much pollutants would we save?

Now connect Seattle, San Fran and Los Angeles.

Add Las Vegas, San Deigo and Portland and you've probably reduced the need for 80% of all air travel on the west coast.

Rinse and repeat.

Yes - some pollutants will be produced. This is not a silver bullet.

If anybody finds a silver bullet to stop global warming - let me know and I will give them some fairy dust and we will call it an even trade.

This is a practical solution that has lots of benefits including curbing c02 output.

I think Richard Heinberg from the Post Carbon Institute outlines the situation we are facing very well along with ways to respond.  see http://globalpublicmedia.com/memo_to_the_president_elect

I love all the suggestions about mass transportation, which uses bullet trains.  I think cities should restrict automobiles in retail and business districts, have large parking lots in the outline areas with electric busses/shuttles transporting people from the parking lots to downtown locations.
Plus I want the auto industry to develop energy efficient motors to replace the current gas guzzling motors in our personal vehicles and sell them for under &5000.  Then all Americans can have fuel efficient cars.

Take a look at Energy, Jobs and Environment.
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/energy_jobs_and_environment

We need to move away from using  cars except in extreme instances. We need mass transit between cities and within cities.And we need inter nodal links--for example, airports should be linked to a local and non local train system. For examples of what works now, simply look at what the Europeans are doing.

The U.S. needs MUCH better public transport. (a) Good bus and light-rail service within metropolitan areas provide a REAL option to cars. (b) HIGH-SPEED RAIL (TGV/Bullet trains) competes well with airplanes because of travel time between downtowns and airports and airport delays. This creates manufacturing and construction jobs and reduces oil consumption. Maybe some plants of the BIG 3 automakers could be adapted. Barack Obama's pledge of $15 billion per year for energy independence is WOEFULLY INADEQUATE!!

I support much more investment in mass transportation, especailly in light rail for communities but this idea is way too weak considering our situation.  We need broad policy changes now.  I'm sorry to be so blunt but  1/3 the energy being used goes into food production and distribution because we have such a centralized system. We need to grow as much of our food locally as possible.  We need a massive investment in our soil, localizing food and fuel production as well as ruralizing cities, breaking up the unsustainable concentrations of waste and consumption. This is a big development project so there will be much meaningful work designing, building and growing food, decentrailizing for efficiency. This is a solution to the issues we are seeing with the environment, our health, energy and the economy.  I beg of you to be creative and insist on a beautiful green vision.

A better Transportation model for the near future would be for EVERY STOP LIGHT in the USA to be on a sensor. No more idling at a Red Light while there is NO CROSS traffic! The savings in fuel & emissions alone would be worth the trouble it would take to make the CHANGE over. And maybe the rest of the world would follow suit. Plus some jobs could be created to rethink the MODEL we do use now that is so wasteful.

I would vote for this but NOT if there's a bunch of non-sensical conservative bashing.

The sad fact (even in mass transit happy California) is that most people think rail and buses are GREAT ideas--for the *other* guy. This has been proven every single time some new capability has gone online.

Do I think it's valuable and useful?  Definitely.

Do I think conservatives have been somehow "stopping" this?  Not a chance--the *voter* has found it lacking.

This is not a liberal or conservative thing.    It will be a necessity to move toward mass transit probably using electric vehicles because of the dual threats of global warming and peak oil.  Here is an interesting audio discussion by Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon institute that provides a good overview of the situation. http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wiaa/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1437333

No matter the mode of transport, the incoming administration and the Big 3 auto makers MUST consider using hemp seed oil as fuel! Think about it ~ put our farmers back to work, food is once again grown for food and not fuel, substantially reduce pollution from the production and use and best of all, eliminate, that's right, I said ELIMINATE our need for any and all foreign oil! Hemp seed oil can also be used for heating homes. Hemp is cheap to grow and grows quickly, cleanly and is drought tolerant.

There is no clean coal, we've seen what a mess we are in because of our dependence on crude oil and we will be running out of both of those resources probably in my children's lifetimes. 

Replacing our need for excesses of oil or electricity is only the beginning of what we can utilize hemp for. Don't forget we can produce every grade of paper known to man with hemp pulp and the medicinal values are countless! So I say...Hemp For All, Hemp For Life, And Hemp For Quality Of Life!

No matter the mode of transport, the incoming administration and the Big 3 auto makers MUST consider using hemp seed oil as fuel! Think about it ~ put our farmers back to work, food is once again grown for food and not fuel, substantially reduce pollution from the production and use and best of all, eliminate, that's right, I said ELIMINATE our need for any and all foreign oil! Hemp seed oil can also be used for heating homes. Hemp is cheap to grow and grows quickly, cleanly and is drought tolerant.

There is no clean coal, we've seen what a mess we are in because of our dependence on crude oil and we will be running out of both of those resources probably in my children's lifetimes. 

Replacing our need for excesses of oil or electricity is only the beginning of what we can utilize hemp for. Don't forget we can produce every grade of paper known to man with hemp pulp and the medicinal values are countless! So I say...Hemp For All, Hemp For Life, And Hemp For Quality Of Life!

No matter the mode of transport, the incoming administration and the Big 3 auto makers MUST consider using hemp seed oil as fuel! Think about it ~ put our farmers back to work, food is once again grown for food and not fuel, substantially reduce pollution from the production and use and best of all, eliminate, that's right, I said ELIMINATE our need for any and all foreign oil! Hemp seed oil can also be used for heating homes. Hemp is cheap to grow and grows quickly, cleanly and is drought tolerant.

There is no clean coal, we've seen what a mess we are in because of our dependence on crude oil and we will be running out of both of those resources probably in my children's lifetimes. 

Replacing our need for excesses of oil or electricity is only the beginning of what we can utilize hemp for. Don't forget we can produce every grade of paper known to man with hemp pulp and the medicinal values are countless! So I say...Hemp For All, Hemp For Life, And Hemp For Quality Of Life!

If we replace gasoline with Hemp Seed Oil, could we use the oil in our current gas motors or would we need to buy a new motor for our current vehicles or buy a new hemp seed oil using vehicle?  I we could use the hemp seed oil in our current gas burning engines that would be excellent for we would not have to buy new and recycle our current vehicles.  
If we can use hemp to produce paper that would save our trees.  How wonderful to solve two issues to save our planet: The issue of gas and the issue of paper.

Global Warming... hmmm sounds like the perfect platform to pass ANY LAW YOU WANT!!!  Green is the new RED!  Do you stupid ass politicians read???!!  OF Course you do, you just think America is stupid enough to swallow your shit.   The tide for this nonsense is OVER, Scientists from all over the world are now speaking out against it... I have an idea, why dont you guys repackage the idea and call it something new... like let's say, "Climate Change" yeah.. maybe they will buy that!!

We need not only bullet trains, but a national train network.  We need a 3-tiered system linked together - all powered by wind, solar, geothermal, and ocean/tidal power.  The 3-tiered system would be as follows:
1. Bullet trains (like France's TGV) going from city center to city center all across the country
2. Regional rail systems connecting to the bullet trains and to all the regional destinations
3. Local light rail and streetcar trains connecting to the regional trains and all the local destinations

Together these form a complete rail transportation system for the entire country.  We have to build this because we are entering the peak oil era and oil will go up in price again and stay there, and we will have no viable transportation if we don't rapidly build a 21st century rail system.  There is no research needed... these systems are already in use all over the industrialized world, excpet America.
We have laid out the plan here: 
http://www.urbandesign.org/newdeal2009.html

Let's get this straight, many people want a network of rail transportation. Can some one explain just how such a network will attract ridership when so many existing rail lines are begging for money? Rail lines are only efficient when they connect large pools of potential riders and even then they are not always viable. A good example is the New York MTA which is always sucking around for more operating money. As for helping the "Global Warming" problem, how? Has anyone done an end to end study of this concept's costs including construction, maintenance and operation? Costs meaning both financial and environmental. This idea smacks of the same pervasive hot air that Gore's " carbon credits" company exhibits.

Bullet trains cause more pollution than regular trains.  Look at George Monbiot's book _Heat_ where all the transportation modes are analyzed.  That said, why is the US so far behind in rail transportation?  The train systems in India and China are far better.  Where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the BART commuter rail is back-ass-wards compared to trains in Paris, Stockholm, even China.  We are not a developed country. Invest in rail!!

To all you KNOWLEDGEABLE Global Warming advocates, here is a link to a recent Senate document about dissenters to the theory. Interesting, there are many more learned dissenters than there are authors of the UN IPCC report. The IPCC report had 52 authors which doesn't exactly correspond to the sum total of climateological experts in the world.

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_id=83947f5d-d84a-4a84-ad5d-6e2d71db52d9

Here's a specific transportation idea for you, if interested: http://www.change.org/ideas/view/build_the_blue_sky_tram_net

It's been entered in Google's 10 to the 100 competition for $2mm funding, also based on a vote.

Boston has a wonderful MTA system.  I lived in Boston for 12 years and used the MTA constantly.  I owned a car and found parking a hassle with Meter Maids constantly ticketing cars whose meter ran out.  Parking Garages were expensive.  During rush hours (4 pm to 6 pm) the time spent getting from place to place doubled.  I soon learned to leave my car in the garage and use the MTA.  The MTA was the cheaper and faster mode of transportation in Boston.

We need to research the impact of rapid transit systems, if they have not been researched before.  Use the outcomes of the research to develop and improve transportation systems that are both cost effective to the taxpayer and economical for the consumer.

I like it.  We need much better public transit.  May take a complete re-work of urban design.   Seems like it would fit with my Renewable Model Communities idea:

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/renewable_model_communities_rmc

It will not be enough for riders to go 300 mph plus between cities on a technologically advanced "High Speed" train without having a technologically advanced Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system waiting and available at each "High Speed" train station, providing them with a last mile solution into and out of each of these stations. 

Without Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) there will be nothing but a traffic jam of congestion getting to and from these "High Speed" train stations.  You could not efficiently bring enough buses, Taxis or personal automobiles into each of these "High Speed" train stations or for that matter build a Park-n-Ride big enough to handle the volume of riders necessary to meet its demanding popularity and financial operating requirements. 

PRT will definitely enhance the volume and efficiency in-and-out of each these "High Speed" train station with the capabilities of PRT's point-to-point network service.  Getting on PRT provides direct non-stop delivery to each riders final "Off-Line-Station" or at least within three to four blocks of each riders final desitination. 

All "Citizens for Optimal Mass Mobility and Urban Transit Efficiency" (C.O.M.M.U.T.E.) must demand Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) as a "Last Mile Solution" to and from each "High Speed" train station.  We must demand this from every government entity, as well as industry, as one of the best ways to insure and provide leadership towards a more "Green", "Efficient" "Fast" and "Economic" transportation system. 

For more detailed information on Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) please go to the website listed below........ 

www.PRTinternational.com 

At this website you will learn more about............ 
High Capacity Personal Rapid Transit (HCPRT) or what the company PRT International, LLC has coined........... 
"Intelligent Transportation Network Systems" (ITNS). 

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} CARPE DIEM for zero emission transport (for more information E-mail to DrMolak@gmail.com).   The current car manufacturers’ crisis may be a God send, since the new administration may be in a position to force production of electric trains, busses and cars, rather then continuing producing of inefficient and polluting internal combustion engines in personal vehicles (cars).  While forcing the implementation of more efficient ways of moving people around (personal cars with internal combustion engines are the LEAST efficient means of transportation in terms of CO2 emissions/mile traveled) is a good beginning, a financial system that encourages green electric energy development and frugality rather than greed is a must.   If  President Kennedy in 1960 could inspire the nation to reach for moon in less then 10 years, then President Obama should be able to inspire the nation to convert to green economy and solve multiple problems by its implementation, The technologies already exist and are ready to go. Only political will to break the monopolies of fossil fuels and internal combustion engines companies can lead us to sustainable redevelopment of our entire economy.   Coordinated with municipalities’, states’ and federal government transportation policies to revive an efficient surface intra and intercity public transport, the car companies should be required to start production of street cars, electric locomotives, electric buses and some electric cars, which combined with a development of renewable electric energy networks could lead to the zero emissions economy, as suggested by Al Gore.   Internal combustion engine may go the way of horse and buggies some hundred years ago.   As Mr. Vaclav Havel, the first President of democratic Czechoslovakia, noticed in his first speech to American Congress in 1991:  "Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for better in the sphere of our being as humans, and the catastrophe toward the world is headed - be it ecological, demographic, social or general breakdown of civilization - will be unavoidable." 

The current crisis is a tremendous opportunity to radically transform the way we move around and get us closer to zero emission economy and make US sustainable
   

On January 20, 2008 our nation will be getting a "divorce" from the Bush Administration.  Just like divorcing from a bad marriage, we will have to recover.  But a divorce is also an opportunity to remake ourselves.  American is going to reinvent itself.  
We will reinvent our financial systems, health care, green technologies, green lifestyles and even new social structures where we respect those who are different from us, respect our planet, respect our personal lives and family members.  Somehow we have to work on all these issues.  We are going to have to mature socially and emotionally as a people to make the changes we need.  
Thank you Vlasta Molak for bringing the role of the human consciousness into the discussion of developing effective transportation systems.

Here are additional ways to curb global warming
Urgent Tax on Coal Based Electricity
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/urgent_tax_on_coal_based_electricity

Telecommuting Incentives for Employers
http://www.change.org/ideas/view/telecommuting_incentives_for_employers

Help!!!

This website is awesome.

I've heard a lot of people say that there is no such thing as clean coal - well that's true.

-But -there is such a thing as cleaner coal. This is a huge deal because 60% of the chinese population, the world's largest, uses coal completely unfiltered and unclean to fuel power plants as well as cook and heat their homes. This releases not only CO2 but high particulate matter, sulfur, and nitrous oxides which cause acid rain. 

Clean coal should be developed but not intended as a staple for American energy; rather, America should advocate, even aid foreign countries to implement filter technology to greatly reduce global warming. Among a great many other things.

When we say there is no such thing as clean coal its a good statement, because the technology is not yet implemented where coal is burned.  While cleaner coal is possible, it is more or less a white stag in America, often talked about but not actively pursued.

There is such a thing as clean coal, but it not an alternative to oil, wind, solar, or geothermal; it is an alternative to unfiltered coal, which releases sulfur, high particulate matter, and larger volumes of nitrous oxides (a main cause of acid rain).

60% of China's energy for heating homes, cooking fires, and acquiring drinking water comes from coal - uncensred and uninhibited, dirty coal. Cleaner coal could considerably curb global warming if we actually implement it.

Also, regarding electricity to fuel the bullet trains: What we could really use is a real two-way power grid, that we can plug into. This would make home generation of energy through small scale wind and solarvoltaic more attractive because people could actually make money on surplus energy when they get an electricity check (not bill). It takes a log of gusto to make those kind of investments afterall, when you consider $2k-$5k per pannel, for example.

lets see, temperatures have been going down in the past few years. now what is this warming thing that al gore thinks is going on??? oh yes, its to line his wallet and his bank account.

There are too many scientists and weathermen who have spoken and said that its all a lie.
i for one, trust a scientist more than i trust al gore.

In the Chicago area the NIMBY'S have been not too responsive to adding rail connectors to the existing system.  Your Bullet Train idea is good, if it can compete with the airlines.  That is a very expensive solution and requires seperate trackage from the existing freight lines.  A more meaningful idea might be to enhance the local commuter options by offering and funding better linkages from homes to work and shopping.  There is little in the way of mass transit (busses, etc.) except within a city like Chicago. When you get into even the close ring of suburbs you have to drive to get from one suburb to another.  All the rail commute options start at a distant point and then go into downtown at three different stations.  If you want to go between towns on the different METRA lines, your only option is to go into downtown change stations and go back out.  There is no common linkage between the five METRA lines, driving is better and faster. The outer belt (EJ&E line) was considered as that connector, but with the major opposition it faced has not gone very far.  This is where the funding and project support should be focused.  The PACE bus system serving the suburban area is limited on its routes and schedules making them almost equally inconvienent.

I am all about high speed rail. My electronics teacher would have a Europen gentleman in every year to talk about having a High Speed rail system for the Middle Tennessee area. I think it is a smashing idea.... but as for all this "green" save the planet stuff...how pretencious can humans be...that we could destroy the earth. HA! She would destroy us. She has always survived. We would be the ones that would go extinct. Now don't get me wrong..POLLUTION IS REAL. "Global Warming" is a hoax. as one put it to tax us for breathing, and simply for LIVING! Thats scary. Do your research read your science papers. Don't belive Brian Williams, Katie Courick, Anderson Cooper, or even the PTI guys, love those dudes. Read and find out for your self. And ALWAYS...

Trust but VERIFY!

Global warming is real.

I supported your idea, please support this one.

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/pass_the_dream_act_now

Thank you

make vacuum tube maglev trains and they can go 20 times faster. new york to london in a neutrally buoyant tunnel developed in the netherlands and one can travel that great distance in less than 1 hr. i'm all for high and ultra high speed rail, but this CANNOT involve private money... for starters they cannot raise that kind of capital without very high interest rates, which would defeat the purpose of building them.

we can use the powers of the constitution to create credit at very low interest rates to finance these projects.

There was no place to vote for Public Transit in general; basically I want to see more public transportation and less dependence on personal transportation (cars, SUV's, motorcycles), as this will decrease our dependence on oil and will declog our cities.

It would be great to have high speed trains to decrease dependence on air travel, as well.

I recently read abotu a steam engine train in England, maybe that would be an option?
One concern I have about the train from Northern CA to Southern CA is that it will have to go through bear country, so will wild animal's habitat be divided? I understand that golden bears travel from Yellowstone to Alaska.

I completely agree with David.  I come from New York originally and absolutely love Amtrak, travelling both to Washington and upstate New York.  I have lived in Louisville, Ky., for the past 20 years and while there was train service from here to Chicago, the tracks were in such poor condition that for part of the trip, the train could travel only 30 mph and finally the Bush administration had starved Amtrak so badly that the passenger service to/from Louisville was shut down.  We need train travel not just for the East and West coasts, but for ALL of the country.  There are cities which are only relatively short distances and the only means of transportation is either air or bus.  We need to go back to the times when we had a decent rail system all over the country, as is the case in Europe and Japan.

Modern mass transit systems are increasingly automated. Its entirely possible to design high speed trains that are entirely automated and do not use human drivers. The airport near my home runs trains that are completely automated. The doors are specially designed to block entrance and exits for a short interval before starting so that a driver is not needed to watch the doors.

Many jobs would be created by building them and maintaining them, though.

Still, I think that most people who are not computing professionals, and even quite a few of them, are wholly unaware of the power of technology to replace many low skilled jobs with far fewer high skilled jobs.
(Which can often be done anywhere on Earth.)

We need a national dialogue on how we can make communities work without a return, ever, to the levels of employment we had in the past. There is a strong possibility that they won't ever come back.

People's plans to retire on 401ks wont ever be realized - the harsh reality is that its impossible for people (i.e. baby boomers) to all withdraw stocks all at the same time without substantial losses.

They wont be able to continue working either. Machines will do the work better, cheaper and faster.

Global warming is very real. I have lived on the plains all my life and I have seen the season changes since the end of the Vietnam war.
 the weather pattern started to change back in the late 70s.
 we used to get killer blizzards every year the snow would fall in Oct and stay till march that no longer happens.
 we are hurting for rain and winter snow.
 google the Kingsley Dam out side Ogallala Nebr the lake is almost dry.
 we have had a drought for the last 13 years.
 the dam provides water for irrigation for the south east and central section of the state.
  The killer blizzards that hit every spring no longer come.
 The snow has changed from heavy with water to soft powder no moisture.
  The entire North Platte river basin is dry and in need of water.
   I have seen droughts that last well over 12 years in a complete stretch.
 with out the aquifer and the sprinkler systems for irrigation the state of Nebr and eastern Colo there would not be any crops.
 The aquifer is hurting we are taking out more water then is being replaced.
 It will take 20 years of good weather to refill Kingsley dam. the dam also provides electricty for Ogallala they had to shut if off the dam is too low for the spill way to work.
  
  google the Ogallala aquifer.

 Global warming is very real it has hit the heart of the US the hardest.
 the heart of the US needs the high speed rail we need the infrastructure spending to boost our rural economy.

  The high speed rails can be power soally by wind power we have more then enough wind on the plains to power the entire central plains states.
 
 it is over 550 miles between Omaha and Denver the same between KC and Denver
 Short of over 400 from OKC and Denver
 We need high speed rail to interconnect the cities on the plains
 the average family don't fly it is way to expensive they drive.
 To get to a univeristy for decent health care they drive. 
  or they do with out decent health care.
 a high speed rail should have been put in decades ago. rural central US are the ones being ignored and abondoned they suffer in their unwillingness to stand and say we need HELP.
  They feed the world yet they are the ones who suffer in their silence and pride.
    We need the transporation to be caught up with the rest of the globe.

   global wearming it going to hurt the farmers FIRST.

      Robin Feusner
     Ardmore OK.