Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

 

[via wikipedia]

"Can you wait three minutes?"

This question was posed to me while ordering my dinner from a restaurant in Arlington, Virginia. It was near closing time, and the cooks had begun cleaning up, so my order of fries was going to take a few minutes before they would be ready. The restaurant was surprisingly busy for this late on a Monday night, but I reasoned that the massive accumulation of snow outside had not just canceled my train home, it had also shut down streets, grocery stores, and restaurants across the entire region.

I had prepared myself for a quick, three-day trip to Washington, DC to interview with a few firms. When one interviewer asked me if I would be able to meet with another person on Monday (the person I would be working more directly with) I reluctantly agreed. This was Super Bowl Weekend, and I was planning on hosting a party on Sunday night. But if the extra time would help me land the job, I was willing to stay. The Super Bowl was not my only reason for wanting to leave on time - the snow was just beginning to fall, and many business had already closed in anticipation of the snow. My lack of understanding just what was about to take place was underscored by the comment I made to the interviewer:

"You know what we call this in Chicago?"
"What's that?"
"June"

The snows began on Saturday. On Sunday the skies parted and cabin-fevered Washingtonians began to take to the street. The street scene was one I truly enjoyed seeing; the streets were hardly plowed, to say nothing of the sidewalks, and there were few vehicles out. In their stead, throngs of people could be seen walking up and down the newly pedestrianized streets amidst the winter wonderland. The collective need surpassed our selfishness, and people could be seen digging out sidewalks, removing snow from a neighbors' roof, or pushing a car out of a snow-fortified parking space. It was a stunning moment of humanity in which I saw the possibilities of a pedestrianized world and the potential of all the networks and relationships that could be forged when we no longer passed by each other at 40 miles an hour, but had time to wave, say "hi", and ask how a strangers' day has been going. I wish I would have had my camera.

After I found out I was going to be staying until Monday, I traded my Saturday train ticket for one on Tuesday morning. This was a simple process, and I applaud Amtrak for its ease. But neither train was to leave; both were canceled, logically, due to the heavy amounts of snow accumulation strung between DC and Chicago. If the trip is normally 17 hours, imagine that same trip plowing through 26 inches of snow. I rescheduled again, this time for Wednesday. It was also at this time that I booked a cheap flight out of Dulles. While I was glad to be arriving in Chicago 36 hours earlier than I would have on Amtrak, I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't complete my round-trip journey by train alone. 

Tuesday's blizzard only compounded the problems. In addition to the trains not running, the airports had closed indefinitely, and me without a car, was stuck there to wait it out. I knew beforehand that America had a love affair with cars, but I've always been biased toward mass transit, and so I could overlook its deficiencies. But stranded in DC with no way of leaving, no way to get around, I was given no choice but to come to grips with the fact that America NEEDS cars. Yes, we can build a national high-speed rail network, and it will increase usage over today's ridership, but America came into its own during the automobile revolution, and as a result we have larger, more spread out cities in varied locations with little option to connect it all with any type of mass transit. Short of dynamiting each American city and starting from scratch, America will require a lot of cars.

And the cars we need do not need to look like the cars we have. Smaller, more efficient cars, cars that stack or compact, cars made for one or two people, cars that include towing or carrying capacity. Wind-, Solar-, and Geothermal-generated Hydrogen or electric cars can replace the internal combustion engine. Carpooling, rideshare, rentals, all are potential avenues for the new automobile. As my 4 canceled trains and 3 flights indicate, cars will be necessary.

And like most Earth-saving technologies, the market, policies, financing, technologies, or innovations are preventing them from hitting the streets today. So we should work toward many solutions, generating them in myriad ways, the same way one of my myriad schemes to get home finally panned out. Because some technologies will sputter out and some will be canceled, but given enough time one will carry us home.

So can I wait 3 minutes? You bet.

High-Speed Rail in America

This week I will be taking a 17 hour journey by train from Chicago to our nations' capital. I'm quite excited, as this will be my very first cross-country trip via Amtrak. Moreover, I am very pleased that I will be able to go from my house to Union Station to Washington DC, to Silver Spring, MD, to Bethesda, MD, back to DC, then to Chicago, and back to my front door, all without setting foot in a single car. The trip will span 5 states, involve 3 mass transit systems, and will include an estimated 40 hours on one for of train or another. Needless to say, I'm taking a few books.

What I find amazing about all of this is that someone like myself - a confessed TrainGeek and mobility infrastructure wonk - has yet in my life embarked on such a journey. I've taken similar routes in Europe, where I traveled from the small village of Didcot in England, to within 200' of my apartment in Paris. Of course that trip utilised Europes' high-speed rail connections, and which saw me across four train systems and two countries, all in about 6 hours. But this trip on Amtrak is quite different. Amtrak is a notoriously slow and unreliable service. In its entire history it has failed to turn a single year of profit, and thus relies heavily on government subsidies. I nearly opted against this excursion on Amtrak, as the total travel time will nearly double, and the cost is slightly higher than would be the cost of gas for the trip. The only reason I'm willing to make these concessions is that I don't like driving, and I do like the free time granted by rail travel. Indeed if I weren't such a geek about trains, there is little chance I would not have driven my car all that way. Unfortunately for Amtrak, there are few people like myself that are willing to make such concessions.

And thus the great American High-Speed Rail Gamble: Obama is putting a great deal of money on the line that if given the choice between driving or flying, or having the option to travel on relatively inexpensive, reliable, safe, and convenient high-speed rail, that Americans will choose the latter. Even with my obvious biases toward rail (I would love to visit any medium-sized metropolitan city without setting foot in a car), I do feel that this is a realistic and as-of-yet unresolved issue. To provide high-speed rail in the quantity and quality required to turn a profit, costs may end up being prohibitive to flying. If you seek to provide cheap, reliable service you will end up sacrificing quality.
And so on.

Therefore I hold the belief that if you are to provide the type of service, quality, etc, required to convince people that rail is a viable option, AND you provide it at a cost similar to or less than driving, you must first revolutionize the way we think about "high-speed rail" I do not believe that the European or Asian models will work in America. This is what I think will:

Dedicated, elevated rail: Amtrak faces its sloth and inconsistency on two factors: 1)They share rail lines with freight trains, and often are the second-priority when it comes to sharing a single track. This results in increased stoppage time, and when they can run,  2) track quality, contextual issues, and imposed speed regulations prevent the trains from achieving a speed necessary to provide quick transit. By providing dedicated tracks the trains will be able to travel smoothly and consistently. By elevating the track, the risk of animals or debris on the tracks is reduced and speeds can be increased.

Electrified rail: The second advantage to elevated rail is that the system can be provided ample, secure electricity to power the trains. This can also lead to cleaner transit if the power is generated sustainably.

Solar Power: With over 87 million square feet of potential surface area along the rail between Chicago and DC, there's ample opportunity to install solar panels along many different lengths. The panels would have direct access to sunlight, and would be able to easily power the entire rail system, thus providing clean, cheap energy. There's potential for additional profit if Amtrak sells power back to the grid when not in use.


Computerized trains: Having studied the CTA budget, it's plain to see that the highest cost to any mass transit program is its manpower. While I would certainly never suggest fully automating a 200 MPH train with hundreds of live aboard, there's certainly an ability to automate many functions of rail travel, which reduces costs and reduces the risk of human error. One engineer aboard a bullet train could pilot the vehicle, while the computer monitors the engines, the passenger cars, and the track ahead. Automating certain aspects of the stations would further prohibit human error and improve safety. Maintenance of tracks and vehicles would be much more efficient if the tracks and vehicles were monitoring themselves and pointing mechanics to specific issues, instead of lengthy and costly maintenance overhauls on healthy trains.

Smart Ticketing: The ability exists today to implement a ticketing system that would provide any industry (airlines, hotels, sports venues, etc) with the right balance of occupancy and profit. Creating a program that analyzes trends in hourly, daily, monthly, yearly, and 5-year purchasing, companies could simply input their desired occupancy (75% full, 95% full, etc.) and the program would constantly adjust prices so that the cost rises when demand rises and lowers when demand lowers. As the scheduled departure approaches ticket prices would increase or decrease dramatically in order to fill the requisite seats. This system could be a boon to business class and other last-minute travelers, as they will be able to find inexpensive seats (as opposed to astronomical airline prices) and the train is able to make a bit more money by filling up the last remaining seats.

These are a few. I'm sure I'll add to this list upon my return.