BIKE: Living in a fool's paradise

[alan_drake]

This analysis failed to look adequately at the possibilities of alternative electricified transit.

1) US freight rail lines could be electrified (at least the main lines and busier short haul lines).  The Trans-Siberian RR was completely electrified in 2002, so there are no technical obstacles to US rail electrification.

Per vague decades-old memory, RRs consume 1% of US oil.  I have been looking for more current data but hav enot found it. (Any suggestions ?)

Florida East Coast & Norfolk Southern RRs has a truck trailer pickup in Atlanta and matching terminals in several Florida cities down to Miami.  Major labor as well as fuel savings.  Similar operations could be more widespread.

2) Electrified urban transport - Ranked by corridor density:

Heavy/Rapid Rail
Light Rail/Monorail
(with Commuter Rail for longer hauls)
Streetcars
Trolley buses (for busier bus routes)

Washington DC went from ~4% bus commuters in 1972 to 38% today.  Additional rail investments could raise that to over 50%.

3) semiHSR (90 to 110 mph) between cities with established urban rail systems less than 250 miles apart and populations of 1 million +

These lines could also (unlike true HSR) serve as high speed reliable electrified rail frieght.  This "dual use" could justify extending the network past "weak links".

Example: Miami-Orlando (-Tampa)-Jacksonville-Savannah-Charlotte (-Atlanta)-Richmond-DC-Baltimore-Philly-NYC-Hartford-Boston (with a spur NYC-Albany-Buffalo-Cleveland-Detroit-Chicago)

Most, but not all of the city pairs could support electrified semiHSR pax service BUT express freight service (streamlined boxcars @ 90 mph carrying fish, fruit, express packages etc.) would tip the economic balance.

Not the EU or Japanese model, but it suits our geography/population.
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Taken together with a more fuel efficient vehicle fleet, a reduction by more than half in US oil consumption could be achieved with minimal economic suffering in a couple of decades.


Alan Drake