> HSR was a great idea for the second half of the 20th century in relatively dense countries… The US is more spread out, tilting in favor of air… The US should

> HSR was a great idea for the second half of the 20th century in relatively dense countries… The US is more spread out, tilting in favor of air… The US shouldn’t be so spread out. These rail projects are for the long term. In the long term, we should be looking at increasingly dense urbanization, some day decreasing ability to use debt financing to build and maintain infrastructure, and the end of large-scale use of petroleum fuel. We need to make less stuff work for more people. I don’t see why I would want to be in an isolated cocoon for hours with no room to stand and no bathroom when there is a viable alternative. However, it’s still possible that the California HSR project is a terrible plan. It’s not that fast for how much it costs, and everybody’s saying it’s going to be even more expensive than the leaders are letting on. We really should be making airports less difficult to use. The terrorists won 9/11. Driverless cars are a cool tech demo, with the possibility of decreasing the awful death toll of driving private automobiles and the tragic misuse of life in traffic, but it’s not a great long-distance option. The average car trip, with no carpoolers, takes too much space per capita. The normal commute should not involve lots of driving.