The Wall Street Journal has done a brilliant job of, as our Senior Consulting Editor Luther Miller likes to say, “making the obvious less obscure.”
Writing a White Paper for the University of Denver’s Intermodal Transportation Institute about America’s high speed passenger rail potential has reinforced my conviction: Closing the gap between where the U.S. has been, and where the rest of the world is going, with fast passenger trains will require drawing lessons about how, and why, past efforts to put passenger railroading into high gear on this continent fell short of the passenger rail revolution that has swept Asia and Europe.
One of the perks of living in the Idaho panhandle, snuggled between Washington and Montana, is the ability to eavesdrop on our Canadian neighbors just to the north. During a recent drive to work, I was paying close attention to the CBC radio Eyeopener show, which is broadcast out of Calgary, Alberta.
OK, one more leap into the briar patch of controversy over light rail transit (LRT) vs. Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), with a glance at diesel multiple-unit (DMU) light railway, and some observations about federal New Starts policies.
One clause in a single sentence in President Obama’s second inaugural speech has potential for meaningful consequences: “Together, we determined that a modern economy requires railroads and highways to speed travel and commerce.”