4 ms·
The thing is we already have a solution to that, high speed commuter rails from the suburbs into the city, there's just not enough funding to build out the infr
by nrhk 9y ago
The thing is we already have a solution to that, high speed commuter rails from the suburbs into the city, there's just not enough funding to build out the infrastructure.
The amount of people who come into Tokyo is mind boggling.
- TheCoelacanth 9y agoThe problem is that high speed rail is only cost effective when it is going between two dense cities. If it goes to low density suburbs not enough people will ride it for it to be financially viable.
- closeparen 9y agoWe certainly don’t hold roads to a standard like “financially viable,” and systems like Metro, LIRR, and BART may have their problems but they exist.
- TheCoelacanth 9y agoThat's an awfully loose definition of "high speed". Metro North averages about 37 mph and LIRR about 31 mph[1]. The only high speed rail in the US is Acela and even that is pretty slow for high speed rail. [1] https://pedestrianobservations.com/2015/07/26/why-labor-efficiency-is-important/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2015/07/26/why-labor-effi...
- closeparen 9y agoYeah ok, high speed rail (competing with air travel) and commuter rail (competing with driving) are pretty much mutually exclusive. I think parent meant the later. Tokyo’s commuter network isn’t proper HSR either.
- namlem 9y agoExactly. Self-driving minibuses are a much better solution for suburban-urban transit.