US HIGH SPEED RAIL ASSOCIATION

21st Century Transportation for America

TRANSPORTATION  BIAS
 
The American transportation system is embedded with layers of major bias against rail, promulgated for decades by industry to keep everyone focused on more cars, bigger roads, and endless driving and flying for all. This transport bias permeates our entire society, government, and media, and is kept alive by biased laws and policies on the books. Its amplified and accelerated with an endless funding stream of tens of Billlions of dollars for continuous and ubiquitous advertising and message shaping against rail and pro-autos.
 
 
TRANSPORT BIAS IN ACTION

-To build a rail line, the voters have to approve it, but to build a highway, it never goes to the voters

-When highways are proposed, they always propose the best of the best, the newest, the highest standards, highest capacity, the best route, etc., and then price it up, and then find the money. But with rail, the process is completely opposite, cost is always the first issue, and the cheapest systems are proposed with the lowest standards, lowest speeds, and the worst service. Two completely opposite processes of approach to building transportation!

-Many states have a constitution that prohibits transportation public tax dollars from being spent on anything other than highways!

-Rail is always supposed to "make money", or be cash positive. That question is never even brought up when roads are discussed. In fact, no road ever makes money. On top of that, high speed rail is the only transport system that actually does turn a huge profit once up and running.

-Roads are ok to be funded with public dollars all day long. But rail for some reason is completely different - as if its taboo to fund them with public dollars! All we hear constantly is "let the private sector do it", and "not with my tax dollars!"

-America's transportation funding, philosophy, standards, and messaging are all massively biased against rail

-Rail is the best transportation investment possible... 'best' based on factors like delivering the highest mobility per dollar invested; being the highest capacity; being the most efficient; being the one that can be powered by renewables; being the one that helps solve the housing crisis, etc. NOT investing in high speed rail when the benefits are proven for 50 years in nation after nation is a huge anti-rail bias by our government.
 
 
In the United States, federal and state governments spend more than $200 Billion every year
expanding roads, while cutting funding for rail systems.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"High speed rail carries 20 times the capacity of highways!"
 
 
 
 
"High speed rail carries 10 times the capacity of aviation!"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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