Washington state Democrats believe that a Portland-Seattle-Vancouver high-speed rail line is vital to the future of the Northwest. It is so vital, in fact, that they want someone else to pay for it, namely the federal government. The federal government, after all, seems to be unique in the world in that it can spend unlimited amounts of money without raising taxes to cover those costs.
You’ll never guess why they think high-speed rail is needed so badly. According to a letter from Washington members of Congress to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, the high-speed train will “allow people to live in less densely populated areas and work anywhere in the megaregion.” So much for the supposed benefits of high-density living!
We already have a way for people to live in less-densely populated areas. It is called the automobile. The only thing preventing that from working is the urban-growth boundaries around Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver, which force population densities and housing prices to increase.
Just how is high-speed rail going to work better than automobiles? Will it stop at less-densely populated cities in the corridor such as Winlock, Washington (density 1,100 people per square mile), Ferndale, Washington (2,200 people per square mile), or Crescent Beach, BC (population density unknown but it is low)? No, the high-speed train will only make intermediate stops at denser cities such as Bellingham, WA (3,300 per square mile) and New Westminster, BC (13,000 per square mile).
High-speed rail advocates have unrealistic expectations about what a train can do. Having make housing unaffordable by imposing urban-growth boundaries around every major city in the corridor, they think trains will somehow alleviate that problem by allowing more urban sprawl. But the reason for the growth boundaries in the first place was to prevent sprawl. The solution to high housing prices is to get rid of the growth boundaries, not to spend tens of billions of dollars on trains that few people will ride.
Stop calling it High speed rail by it’s state name.
It’s welfare trains….that’s basically what it is.
How efficient is transit?
Total spending on transit in 2022 was 80 Billion dollars
Roads 200 Billion.
Except Transit accounted 1% modal share transportation usage
Driving cars 85%.
Transit get’s 30% of the budget to move 1% all passenger miles…..
The real solution is Getting federal government Out of transportation spending. If washington/Oregon/California want HSR. Let them form a “Pacific Northwest” coalition to mutually Pay for it. More so, shift competitive contracts who may actually drive the price down a tad.
High speed rail is not a question of wow or fancy. It’s a matter of “Who Pays”. In Europe, Infrastructure building and train management is handled by two distinct companies. Trains run privately, but infrastructure namely the rail is subsidized and the company is largely a public endeavor. In fairness this model is not uniquely unfair. Our roads run in this fashion. Except Roads by default are public goods. THey require no individual ownership of cars to utilize you can walk along them, bike on them.
In any case, In Europe it’s prior rail system was a model of efficiency. The introduction of a high speed train connection invariably accompanies the elimination of a slightly slower, but vastly more affordable, alternative route, forcing passengers to use the new and more expensive product, or abandon the train altogether. As a result, business people switch from full-service planes to high speed trains, because it’s posh, hip and happening thing for people to do, while the majority of Europeans ironically got pushed into cars, coaches and low-cost airplanes.
Historically, train fares have always been lower than air fares. The arrival of high speed trains which ramped up labor costs and maintenance; followed by low-cost, No frills airlines in the 2000s has inverted this. Rich and poor have simply swapped travel modes: the masses are now travelling by plane, while the elite take the train. Since there are fewer wealthy Europeans, this obviously won’t bring any energy savings or reductions in carbon emissions any longer.
High speed trains share a fundamental problem with almost all other “sustainable” high-tech solutions that are being marketed these days: they are way too expensive to become mainstream. This explains why installing thousands of miles of high speed train lines did not stop the growth of passenger air traffic in Europe. In 20 years they turned airplanes into buses and Trains into yachts.
This group including a HSR line to Spokane reminds of of RTD throwing in that rail line to Longmont. They’re not doing it cuz it’s needed. They’re not doing it cuz they think it’ll get funded. They’re just blowing smoke up our skirts to try to grab some more support. Liars.
The Northwest Line is going nowhere:
Northwest Rail would start as commuter line on existing tracks
RTD currently taking feedback from the public on the long-awaited expansion to Longmont
Longmont Transportation Planning Manager Phil Greenwald has worked for the city since 2000, meaning he’s worked on this project his entire career.
“I would just say that the writing was on the wall pretty early on that this was going to be tough to fund,” he said of the Northwest Rail project.
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There is no planned start date for the commuter line. Once input is closed, RTD plans to review, continue coordination, compile a common set of facts and host an open house and online meeting next spring to share the new study information.
What a waste of taxpayer money:
Longmont Transportation Planning Manager Phil Greenwald has worked for the city since 2000, meaning he’s worked on this project his entire career.
I bet Phil’s got a hell of an expensive pension plan.
Texas Central Railroad, the No-government-funds! All-private-investment! highspeed train plan between Houston and Dallas, was abandoned by its Japanese partner, the bulk of its private investors, its contractor, its CEO and its Board of Directors. Not to worry, planners and consultants: Texas Central is now in talks about partnering with Amtrak…to study and plan a potential HS railway.