by Ben Lewis

Created on: July 14, 2008

Railhigh speed or otherwise

After reading some of the articles on this topic, it occurred to me to write along a somewhat parallel track, namely advantages I see of rail over highway in general.

Let's consider some basics of modern transportation systems: there is little need to re-invent the wheel here but we do seem to overlook some basic applications of that wheel.

Everyone knows that machines require some kind of fuel in order to produce power whether that fuel be wood, coal, oil (in some stage of refinement), or some more innovative form, ethanol, eg. The same group knows other considerations can make this process more efficient and cost effective, e.g. reducing resistance. Sleds and skates that use runners or blades work quite well on their medium but alas, that medium is in most places, seasonal.

We in the temperate zone have opted to put wheels under our conveyances but wheels need roads. (So called all-terrain vehicles are handy for transporting individuals or small groups and their gear into the "outback" but those are not going to replace mass transportation.)

It is precisely here that we literally and metaphorically went off the rails. Steam was used to power river boats, ocean-going vessels, and rail road trains for many years before the advent of private passenger automobiles equipped with pneumatic tires and designed to run on dirt or paved roads. Thus began our long journey in a wrong direction. It should be apparent that it was a wrong direction because we are trying just now to find alternatives and one sign of that is our writing these articles on making better use of mass rail transportation.

This phenomenal "success" of private passenger automobiles has now brought us to several crises: astronomical costs of petroleum based fuels & their agricultural substitutes, air pollution, global warming, congested roads, etc. The private motor vehicle was able to outstrip other modes of transportation because of these well-known factors: first & foremost : that indomitable American pioneer spirit that allowed the auto owner to go where & when s/he is readyand then auto makers learned it was not enough to build vehicles that are cheap by being mass produced and dependable by being simpleNO, after that, they must also be fast and sexy, i.e. status symbols.

Our frivolity in following fashion along with our greed in the form of mindless lust for markets has helped bring us to these crises. So now some of us are just beginning to see that our lifestyles are unsustainable.

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