People will only ditch their cars, if there are alternative transport solutions like reliable high speed rail. But this will take great investment, and although every election time, Pollies get warm and fuzzy feelings about HSR, they then (predictably) cower away from their promises. We will be a car loving nation for the same reasons that continental USA has not wholly embraced rail travel. People in the sticks will use their cars to get the big smoke because the infrastructure has been allowed to wither away, and play second fiddle to projects like SFS.
As more and more people ditch their cars both for moral and practical reasons, the justification for more rail ventures becomes increasingly obvious. These are exciting times..
Build it, and people will use it for a number of reasons - it will be cheaper, greener, and in many cases, quicker.
If the Feds are looking to go on an infrastructure spending binge (as it is looking like at the moment), they should look at these regional rail projects, to get people off the roads and to maybe entice people who might be looking for a seachange or tree change to leave the big smoke.
Edit history
Edited 04 Mar 2020 10:16, 10 months ago, edited by ANR
People will only ditch their cars, if there are alternative transport solutions like reliable high speed rail. But this will take great investment, and although every election time, Pollies get warm and fuzzy feelings about HSR, they then (predictably) cower away from their promises. We will be a car loving nation for the same reasons that continental USA has not wholly embraced rail travel. People in the sticks will use their cars to get the big smoke because the infrastructure has been allowed to wither away, and play second fiddle to projects like SFS.
As more and more people ditch their cars both for moral and practical reasons, the justification for more rail ventures becomes increasingly obvious. These are exciting times..
Build it, and people will use it for a number of reasons - it will be cheaper, greener, and in many cases, quicker.
If the Feds are looking to go on an infrastructure spending binge (as it is looking like at the moment), they should look at these regional rail projects, to get people off the roads.