Projects And Transportation > Railways & Waterways

The anti-rail hitmen are still out there

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gildone:
This was on NPR.   Good thing that reality is overwhelming the arguments of people like O'Toole and the "think tanks" they are shills for.  His "opinion" below is a good example of:  if the facts don't conform your argument, start making up your facts.  I'm only sending this along to remind people that these folks haven't gone away.  You can make comments on NPR's website at the link below if you wish:

Trains Are For Tourists
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102068196

by Randal O'Toole

NPR.org, March 19, 2009 · When I went to Europe, I loved to ride the trains, especially the French TGV and other high-speed trains. So President Obama's goal of building high-speed rail in the United States sounded good at first.

But when I looked at the details, I discovered that — while high-speed rail may be good for tourists — it isn't working very well in Europe or Japan...

noozer:
Randall O'Toole is a tool. Another example of an idealogue who is ready to criticize, but can't come up with anything new to offer.

David:
Sounds like he's using manipulated statistics (or they're just flat-out false).

BuckeyeB:
Who the bleep cares what this guy says??? Why even put this on Urban Ohio? It has NO bearing on our situation, especially since 15,000 emails and phone calls to the state legislatute tell us the public takes the issue of rail passenger service very seriously.

Randal O'Toole's time has passed.

kingfish out of water:
^I sense a little bit of both. Take this paragraph:

Japan and France have each spent as much per capita on high-speed rail as we spent on our Interstate Highway System. The average American travels 4,000 miles and ships 2,000 ton-miles per year on the interstates. Yet the average resident of Japan travels only 400 miles per year on bullet trains, while the average resident of France goes less than 300 miles per year on the TGV — and these rail lines carry virtually no freight.

Assuming these numbers are true, wouldn't the disparity between American and Japanese and French be attributable to population density and sheer landmass? Beyond that, how can you compare the rail systems of the two countries when a very large percentage of Americans have no access whatsoever to commuter rail and therefore use the highways to get everywhere? This is ignoring altogether, of course, the Apples/Oranges comparison between interstates and railways.

This alone tells me O'Toole's stats are meaningless.

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