3 ms·

Of course, if such a thing were ever built, you'd wait so long in security and lines to pay off every mouth in the national security theater pork barrel trough

Of course, if such a thing were ever built, you'd wait so long in security and lines to pay off every mouth in the national security theater pork barrel trough that it'd have been faster to drive. The best thing about driving in the USA is that oil companies, manufacturers, the UAW, the AAA, the AASHTO, and the rest have established a lobbying network that can blow down even the most sensible limits on driving. They whine like a toddler even at tiny inconveniences that would benefit them in the long run like raising the gas tax enough to keep highways and bridges from falling down. And the government bows and submits and the motorcar industry gets even steeper outrageous subsidies while high speed rail, public transit, and air travelers get whacked with a bat in the teeth. Usually it's the national security complex that wields the bat but it could just as easily be an overpaid transit union.

dapole 13y ago
Not sure that raising gas taxes will get you your desired result. Here in California we have the highest gas taxes in the nation at 71.9 cents per gallon plus state and local sales tax added, and we have some of the worst roads I have seen in the US.
TheAnimus 13y ago
>established a lobbying network that can blow down even the most sensible limits on driving. Last time I was in the states, they had rather slow limits on the Freeways. Has this improved yet?
- drone 13y ago
  Depends on the state. Some states have lower, or higher speed limits within their borders. For example, I-10 West of San Antonio, in Texas, has a speed limit of 80mph (by necessity, I'll say!), and State 130 between Austin and San Antonio has a speed limit of 85mph. Utah has some highway sections at 80mph, and most states in the central-west region of the US have highway limit at or around 75mph.
varelse 13y ago
I'm a fan of subsidizing green electricity generation (and I include nuclear power as green) and electric cars with a progressively increasing tax on gasoline. Most (not all of course) of this nation's towns have been engineered around roads and cars. You can't just add a light rail or a subway and expect instant adoption. You can, however, gradually change the nature of the cars and the fuel that powers them. I would expect such a plan to go absolutely nowhere for the same reasons you outline above.

dapole 13y ago

Not sure that raising gas taxes will get you your desired result. Here in California we have the highest gas taxes in the nation at 71.9 cents per gallon plus state and local sales tax added, and we have some of the worst roads I have seen in the US.

TheAnimus 13y ago

>established a lobbying network that can blow down even the most sensible limits on driving. Last time I was in the states, they had rather slow limits on the Freeways. Has this improved yet?

drone 13y ago
Depends on the state. Some states have lower, or higher speed limits within their borders. For example, I-10 West of San Antonio, in Texas, has a speed limit of 80mph (by necessity, I'll say!), and State 130 between Austin and San Antonio has a speed limit of 85mph. Utah has some highway sections at 80mph, and most states in the central-west region of the US have highway limit at or around 75mph.

varelse 13y ago

I'm a fan of subsidizing green electricity generation (and I include nuclear power as green) and electric cars with a progressively increasing tax on gasoline. Most (not all of course) of this nation's towns have been engineered around roads and cars. You can't just add a light rail or a subway and expect instant adoption. You can, however, gradually change the nature of the cars and the fuel that powers them. I would expect such a plan to go absolutely nowhere for the same reasons you outline above.