Tacoma Vs. Rivian

Lots of new developments in battery tech in the works.

 

You need a vacuum to get those speeds: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vactrain

 

Never know if we never try.

And again, it doesn't have to be coast to coast right outta the gate.

 

It's not something I need or want.

 

High speed rail lines and better inner city transportation is something this country should have invested in years ago. Glad to see some progress. Anybody who commutes into the city knows what a pain in the butt driving in traffic everyday is. I love driving highway and long distance but city driving sucks. High speed rail lines between close major city's would be great. Cheaper than flying and less hassle. I have to get to DIA at least two hours before my flight even starts. Not to mention weather holds, waiting on the runway for takeoff clearance longer than anticipated etc.

 

Lol I was kinda suggesting its good for the entire country.

But ok, noted.

 

Is it? How many people would really benefit from highspeed rail?

I'm not saying the country wouldn't benefit, but I don't think the end results would do much for the majority of people.

I always see transportation projects sold as a great and marvelous thing, but here we are today dealing with the same issue that existed before those projects had been completed.

 

I think people see countries like Japan or ride a train in Europe and forget just how big and empty this country is and somehow forget that even in places like Japan, a lot of people really would rather fly from Tokyo to Sapporo than take the damn train.

 

We already have the Amtrak Acela. It can do 150Mph. It still sucks compared to a plane.

 

China actually now has one of the largest highs speed rail networks and that country is massive. Trains are cheaper more and efficient than flying. Go to travel on them when I went to China, they are an absolute marvel of modern tech.

 

China differs from America in one key area, they have a massive frigging population. There aren’t enough airplanes to move every last bit of them around.

 

I was there in 2006 and 2007 and the maglev was insane. Somehow we accidentally skipped paying one time and were paranoid we were going to get arrested.

 

Those efficent railways do look impressive, and I can see the appeal even though I don't think I would need to use them in the US. Flying would probably be better than piling into a train. Where is everybody going? What's wrong with virtual if you don't physically need to be there?

I've never been on one, but they seem to work on the coasts at getting people where they need to go. Until CSX stages cars of new Tacomas on their tracks and the passenger train has no lane to travel, extraordinary times and all that.

 

Really depends on the distance. You are right though population density makes a major difference. China is actually like us where they have insane highway infrastructure and millions of drivers as well. For longer distances planes make more sense. But when it comes to closer domestic travel the high speed trains have a lot of advantages. Rail is also much more energy efficient than flying or driving which is one of the main issues it solves. Also you can focus on other thing when you travel travel by train. Catch up on work, stream entertainment etc. I love driving but am much more mentally drained after driving 8 plus hours.

 

I’m getting older and the furthest I’m willing to drive is down to LA to visit my older daughter. Will probably be doing that much more when she has her baby.

 

I feel that. I remember being a freshman in college and driving from Denver to LA overnight without stopping. Don't think I could manage that these days. My dirtbag roommate at the time didn't have a license so I did all haha.

 

Also, the income of most of china's population is below what we in the US would call poverty. They don't money to buy a personal vehicle, so public transport is the only option.

 

Was there in 18 for work. Blew my mind. I would have been paranoid too, I have never have seen such a dystopian amount of surveillance in my life.

 

And the government also really doesn’t like them moving around. When people are free they kind of get crazy ideas that Beijing doesn’t want them to have.

 

They actually buy more vehicles than any other developed country. They are the largest new car market in the world. Their highway systems have become bigger and more intricate than ours in the last 15 years. Not by total distance but just by the amount of lanes, overpasses, bridges etc.