That’s not how it works. HSR could be used to alleviate traffic in dense urban regions, without actual cross-country interconnectedness.
So-Cal, Nor-Cal AND something connecting the two with a couple of stops in between.
Salt Lake area.
Houston - Forth-Worth-Dallas - Austin triangle.
Florida.
Urban areas connecting the Great Lakes.
I won’t address the East Coast specifically, as it’s quite evident that it’d have needed something around the same time Japan, Europe or China made strides.
Just to do a quick jump over the border, various governments have been attempting to build a HSR in the Windsor - Quebec City corridor for decades, but the political will is simply not there, and we still have the worlds widest and highest traffic highway that costs a fortune to maintain instead (along with the catastrophe that is the 407ETR).
Meanwhile as the latest example, Italy built up a new HSR system by 2015, in an area that is comparable in size and density to Florida. It has a monthly pass system that even allows you to take your bike on every route. It’s also a national corporation. How come transit in NA is not allowed to be national, except when it comes to funding roads from tax payer money?
attempting to build a HSR in the Windsor - Quebec City corridor for decades, but the political will is simply not there
Personally I put a lot of the blame on my own country, south of that border (from the good old days of international cooperation). While of course it’s up to Canada and that route would serve most of the population, it would be an even more appealing project if it connected to to an even greater whole rather than just ended. NYC has Acela as the start of intercity rail, A midwestern regional network centered on Chicago would be fantastic, but now imagine Canada HSR connecting the two at Windsor , Niagara Falls, Montreal . Imagine a HSR network serving like 150M people or more, if people on both sides of the border can get our shit together
That’s not how it works. HSR could be used to alleviate traffic in dense urban regions, without actual cross-country interconnectedness.
So-Cal, Nor-Cal AND something connecting the two with a couple of stops in between.
Salt Lake area.
Houston - Forth-Worth-Dallas - Austin triangle.
Florida.
Urban areas connecting the Great Lakes.
I won’t address the East Coast specifically, as it’s quite evident that it’d have needed something around the same time Japan, Europe or China made strides.
Just to do a quick jump over the border, various governments have been attempting to build a HSR in the Windsor - Quebec City corridor for decades, but the political will is simply not there, and we still have the worlds widest and highest traffic highway that costs a fortune to maintain instead (along with the catastrophe that is the 407ETR).
Meanwhile as the latest example, Italy built up a new HSR system by 2015, in an area that is comparable in size and density to Florida. It has a monthly pass system that even allows you to take your bike on every route. It’s also a national corporation. How come transit in NA is not allowed to be national, except when it comes to funding roads from tax payer money?
Personally I put a lot of the blame on my own country, south of that border (from the good old days of international cooperation). While of course it’s up to Canada and that route would serve most of the population, it would be an even more appealing project if it connected to to an even greater whole rather than just ended. NYC has Acela as the start of intercity rail, A midwestern regional network centered on Chicago would be fantastic, but now imagine Canada HSR connecting the two at Windsor , Niagara Falls, Montreal . Imagine a HSR network serving like 150M people or more, if people on both sides of the border can get our shit together