New Yorkers see the first high-speed Acela train from Washington to Boston in this file photo from Penn Station on Dec. 11, 2000. Amtrak hoped to compete with the airlines for passengers traveling the Northeast corridor, but slow tracks have prevented the trains from reaching competitive speeds for the length of its run.ZUMA Press / Newscom / FileEnlarge By Matthew E. Kahn, Guest blogger / October 7, 2010 High Speed rail is an interesting network problem. Any state along the route can make the entire network less attractive by not making the investments required to "keep the trains moving". Certain Republican governors are threatening not to invest in Fast Trains. Their ideology and commitment to smaller deficits means that their threats are credible. So what happens next? Will train boosters mail checks to these leaders to encourage them to avoid Amtrak speeds? Is bad behavior always rewarded in our political system? Now, this network isn't literally an O-ring. In that case, you are only as strong as your weakest link but in a high value of time economy --- how will trains compete if they go 200 MPG for part of the ride and 70 MPG for the other part? Average speed over the journey will determine the one way time and how the train will really compete with the incumbent planes.
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Matthew Kahn Mathew is an economics professor at UCLA and has written three books: Green Cities (Brookings Institution Press); Heroes and Cowards (Princeton University Press, jointly with Dora L. Costa); and in fall 2010, Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive in the Hotter World (Basic Books).
Perhaps geographers can create a new "straight line" across country through only Blue States showing how the fast train will proceed. If only liberals want to ride the fast train, then this ideological placement of the train may be efficient?
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday honored Victor Perez, the man behind the improbable car chase that resulted in the recovery of an 8-year-old girl abducted in Fresno, Calif. 'This guy is a true action hero,' said the governor. Here is his story and the stories of three other everyday heroes who responded to trying circumstances with extraordinary grace or courage.
Global News Blog The Vote
Leanne Sarco is a ranger at Grand Isle State Park, located on a barrier island off the coast of Louisiana. When the oil spill closed beaches and canceled her job running a summer program for children, she asked her boss if she could rescue hermit crabs instead. Her effort attracted volunteers from far and wide.
She recruited Facebook friends to save Gulf Coast's hermit crabs.
When park ranger Leanne Sarco saw oil-covered hermit crabs on the Louisiana beaches, she started her own project to clean and save them.
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