The travel infrastructure in the United States could change drastically within the next 20 years with the introduction of Magnetic Levitation (Mag-Lev) trains. If these trains, which run up to 300 mph, were to be implemented, a commute from New York to D.C. would only take 1 hour. This would have an immense effect on where people would live and how they would travel to work.
However, there is a very large cost to this project since new rail infrastructure would have to be built to accommodate these new trains. On the plus side though, the building and running/maintaining of these rail lines would also provide a vast number of jobs across several industries.
The idea of this excites me a lot. I have heard the arguments against transportation like this including the massive size of the U.S. and the interests of powerful auto companies. Some think a national rail system wouldn't work in a country with the size and population of the U.S. because of the distances and people like to drive themselves, unlike a small nation like the U.K. I have also heard that progress has been discouraged by car companies because America's reliance on owning cars to get from place to place and they don't want to give that up. Personally, I think it would be really cool to be able to travel via train because it is much cheaper than flying, you can see the landscape as you travel, and it offers an option to travel that's a little better for the environment and pocketbook than buying and burning gas in our cars.
ReplyDeleteIf the Mag-Lev could replace some existing train lines right now this could be a great idea. It seems like nowadays trains are an obsolete from of transportation and are mainly used to ship goods across the country. However, I know that other countries, like Japan, have developed high speed trains already that sound similar to the Mag-Lev. I do not doubt this undertaking would be a massive infrastructure expenditure, but in the long run could be an excellent new form of transportation. Also, this could potentially reduce the amount of cars on the road. The project maybe also cost a lot, but may open many new jobs for workers across the country.
ReplyDeleteThe research and development, construction of, implementation and continuing maintenance and care of these trains would create thousands of jobs. It would also open us up to a new technology that can be looked into and adapted to other purposes. The money that needs to go into it would be substantial but the benefits would be huge. Another benefit is that people could live and work where they want to, even if that's not the same place. It would open up opportunities for a population that has been shifting to metropolitan life to be closer to their jobs to move back to more rural or suburban areas. I think this train is a great idea and would open up a whole new technological arena.
ReplyDeleteThis new development in my idea would decrease transportation costs for many workers and save some time for them to get to work. Moreover, it would increase the number of employment opportunities and in turn reduce traffic upon the road.
ReplyDeleteThese trains could allow people to live in less populated cities and allow them to travel to work a couple states away in an hour or so. This could change how people plan on where they would like to live and could create thousands of jobs for the production of these rails. Hopefully in the future these trains are across all of America revolutionizing the train industry.
ReplyDeleteNew technology improvements can be a great idea for production in the economy. This one in particular will create more jobs, cheaper transportation cost, and increase travel. This also may decrease the numbers of discouraged workers we have in this country. If people can get transportation from a different state within an hour, more people will search for work opportunities outside of where they live.
ReplyDeleteIf these trains could be put into action within the next twenty years or so then we can hope for a positively outlook for the economic future. People won't just consider jobs directly where they reside but also jobs in bordering states. Transportation from D.C. to New York on the Mag-Lev only takes 1 hour. Today, people travel well over one hour to drive to work whether due to distance or just traffic in general. The Mag-Lev could also be very useful for transporting goods throughout the country which will speed up transportation with hopefully less costs.
ReplyDeleteTrains are a dying form of transportation. This new train may help to bring back train travel, but it also might only resurrect the train for a short time before it goes back to being a secondary mode of travel. I do not know if the train will ever truly be the major mode of transportation because of its limitations to the track, but it will be interesting to see how this innovation changes train travel.
ReplyDeleteIf this is implemented, it could have huge implications in the transportation market. This could definitely boost the economy by providing new jobs, it would be profitable and it would make commuting a lot easier, which again would lead to more employment.
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