DB78

Thanks for clarifying orulz. That description has the plan make good sense. I've thought this so many times before so I'll just say it here: I'm glad the lines will go ahead and skip some of the rinky dink towns. Having to go through them is a waste of time and a nuisance for travel to DC and all points North. A 4 hr train ride to DC would be wonderful. I wonder how much faster the trip will be than that once the Richmond to DC lines are brought up to high speed tracks. Another 30 minutes shaved off perhaps? Raleigh to DC in 3.5 hours and not having to worry about parking. I'm giddy about the prospect.

JoJo: I don't understand the whole idea of following what was has been the status quo pro-sprawl stance for a long time here in North Carolina. The half cent sales tax increase seems like a great idea to me. If I'm not mistaken, don't we have the 2nd most state owned roads in the USA? That's insane. The arguments against rail usually only give part of the story. They talk of the unfortunate subsidies that are needed but nearly 100% of the time neglect to also admit that their anti-rail stance encourages sprawled communities that cost a lot in tax money for city services, amongst other expenses. Since you brought up the subject, I'm a big time libertarian, but I also support mass transit. I wish it could get here sooner. There certainly are areas that we could trim the fat from in the budgets to get rail here sooner, but that's likely to get this discussion way off track. Let's save the automatic assumptions about political leanings, as it is not really worth while discussing here. Plus, when you sit down and talk to people rationally, assumptions are often proved wrong. My 2 cents.

Actually, the Cato Institute is awesome. It's a gold mine of great information. From being pro school choice to anti-war. However, Randal O'Toole is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. I don't think he would be able to find snow in Alaska or water in the ocean. I've heard him speak on transit before and couldn't believe they let him in the front door of the Cato Institute, much less is allowed to speak publicly about it.

There hasn't been any word on these for some time now??? Anyone have some new info???

Chief: Oil closed at $89.47 today. Niiiice. The writing is on the wall. We have to change our way of thinking with transportation. The price for oil may go back down to say $65-70 in the near future for oil, but that will be a temporary reprieve. It's bound to keep steadily going up. Hybrids and diesel cars will only forestall an inevitability with transportation. Therefore, high speed rail has to be taken seriously. How many more highways can we create here in NC?? Don't we have the 2nd most state roads, behind Texas?? The unfortunate part is that even with the track improvements planned so far between Charlotte and Raleigh, the top speed will only be up to 90mph and from Raleigh to Richmond up to 110 mph, then 90mph again from Richmond to DC. Not exactly huge improvements. Not exactly high speed either. Hopefully this conference on Monday in Raleigh will eventually lead to something more substantial than the plans so far that I just described. I think long term Amtrak can even be profitable. That would be nice to see. There were a lot of people on the train a few weeks ago. Higher speeds would be a force multiplier, leading many more to take the train for drives under 500 miles.

Not sure if this necessarily belongs here, but next month there is to be a summit with leaders from across the country, on high speed rail for the East Coast held in downtown Raleigh. October 22nd. http://www.pr.com/press-release/52784