Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Big Government Failures: The High Speed Rail

Barack Obama has a vision for transportation in the United States and it is the high speed train. It is good that Obama has a vision, but every Obama vision has solely one objective: to eliminate carbon emissions and offset climate change. That may sound noble, but it is misguided at best. The Obama goal is to have high speed trains between major cities that will reduce traffic congestion on our highway system and therefore, lower emissions. After all, many climate friendly European countries have high speed rail systems. Still, the fact remains that a high speed rail will have an infinitesimal effect on carbon emissions, but it is an expensive endeavor.

To start the high speed rail project in the United States, Congress set aside 8 billion dollars in the stimulus. Obama is asking for another 53 billion this year (more than the annual cost for the Department of Education). Unfortunately, this is not nearly enough money to build the initial short high speed rail system between Tampa Bay and Orlando. Keep in mind, China for instance, has set aside over 300 billion for their high speed rail system. And what’s worse, much of the 8 billion dollars in funding is going to another failing government entity: Amtrak. Amtrak is losing money on every ticket it sells. Amtrak uses the same railway lines as our freight system and therefore, journeys on Amtrak are long and arduous. An Amtrak trip between two major cities will generally take 3 or 4 times longer than going by car. So why is the government going out of its way to keep Amtrak afloat? That is the mystery. If the plan is to build a high speed rail and render Amtrak obsolete, now is the time to save money and let Amtrak go into bankruptcy.

Most high speed trains can reach speeds of 300 miles per hour, especially along flat and straight paths. For this reason the Tampa Bay to Orlando route is a good choice because Florida is flat. This will also make the rail system, at least theoretically, cheaper and faster to construct. Thus, one would expect that the high speed rail between Tampa and Orlando would have trains traveling at a maximum speeds. However, this rail will not even approach 200 miles per hour. And what’s making matters even more difficult is that every politician wants the train to stop in their jurisdiction, obviously slowing the train and defeating the purpose of a high speed rail. The end result, no one will use the rail because it will fail to be both cost and time efficient (remember people have to travel to and from the train station).

Implementing a high speed rail system, especially in heavy populated areas, is particularly difficult. The government must be able to purchase the land, which is increasingly difficult if not impossible. Hence, most rail systems will require expensive tunnels and bridges to circumvent areas where land is unattainable. The bottom line is that it will cost hundreds of billions to set up high speed rails in the most populous metropolitan areas. The 8 billion the government set aside is a joke and Obama is now trying to 53 billion on top of that. The government does things half heartedly and in an illogical manner. First, their must be a plan and all the land must be have been procured in advance to payment. Secondly, the entire project must be funded up front. Going into a project without having the land and the money set aside to complete the project will only spell failure. And if the government succeeds in building a high speed rail line, it will be completed years late, fail to meet its “high speed” objectives, and will go over budget by billions of dollars. Anyone who has worked on a government project understands how budgets and deadlines are ultimately missed.

The only reason the government is so hell bent on having a high speed rail is because France has one and it makes the United States appear as if we are green conscious. Hence, the government is putting on a show. Obama wants to model America not only after the European socialized model, but by their green conscience lifestyle. Instead, it makes better sense to use the money to improve our road and air travel systems to make them more efficient and less cumbersome to use. Besides, most major cities have rail lines that reduce traffic congestion and offset the brunt of our carbon emissions. A high speed train traveling between two cities, in the middle of nowhere, results in an exuberant cost for a very negligible carbon emissions savings. Instead, the government would be wise to invest the 8 billion to build carbon scrubbers to eliminate carbon dioxide in our air.

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