Bret Devereaux

When you realize this is *not* the map we already have, you get a sense of just how dire the long-distance rail situation is herehttps://twitter.com/samjmintz/status/1318910466798780416 …

It's been a while since I've read about this, but my impression was that the issue is that absent very high density, long distance rail doesn't draw enough riders to be sustainable. This is where it matters that US Population density is like, a third of France's...

Still, 3 hours to get from Boston to NYC? Should be better along crowded corridors.

There's the time and there's the price - an extraordinary percentage of the time it is cheaper to fly. With climate change looming that state of affairs can't be accepted

Well and it seems possible that from a purely economic standpoint, the size and lower density of the United States may simply mean that air travel is going to generally outperform rail. The question becomes how willing are we to subsidize the latter in the name of the climate.

No points for guessing my answer, Bret

And that's a valid answer! We don't expect schools or the military or roads to pay for themselves either. But then we need to be honest about what we are doing!