High-speed train could one day connect San Antonio to Austin (fit in, calculation)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Austin97

I think you underestimate the increased volume possible with automated cars. If the cars today are driving at an average of 10mph at rush hour and they can drive at 65 on mopac because there is no braking then you can handle much more traffic than a rail system. In addition, electric cars today can charge in 20 minutes at a high speed charging station.

Finally you can have automated busses which would carry the same density of passengers as a train.

"automated busses" Now there is an idea that makes much more sense then rail! Rail is inflexible, very difficult and expensive to modify its routes. Automated busses however can change their route to go anywhere there is a demand. And use existing highways and City streets. NO NEW infrastructure is needed!!!

[Onedarkrose]

We can find ways to build new toll roads out to other cities, but decent rail is a problem. Lame, lame, lame.

[JandMmichels]

By "high speed" you mean one that has a top speed of 40 mph like New Jersey declined to have pushed on taxpayers.

No accidents....really ?? Considering the accident records for rapid transit in the NE, I assume you're calculating the odds of you in your car being involved in a fender bender vs you being on a mass transit train car that was thrown hundreds of feet from the track....well you have a point....fender benders are a major pain and occur more often....but you gotta watch out for that one transit train wreck.....can say "unsurviveable" ?

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by JandMmichels

By "high speed" you mean one that has a top speed of 40 mph like New Jersey declined to have pushed on taxpayers.

No accidents....really ?? Considering the accident records for rapid transit in the NE, I assume you're calculating the odds of you in your car being involved in a fender bender vs you being on a mass transit train car that was thrown hundreds of feet from the track....well you have a point....fender benders are a major pain and occur more often....but you gotta watch out for that one transit train wreck.....can say "unsurviveable" ?

The Top speed is 135mph in New Jersey , being upgraded to 160mph as we speak and by 2025 190mph on the Trunk lines , 90mph on the Branches and 50mph on the secondary lines. The Only city that has been having accidents and bad ones every few years is DC , everyone else hasn't had a serious one in more then 15 years at least one with deaths. Rail wise the last bad derailment was in the 90s.... So Rail and Transit are alot safer then cars , I guess that's 35 million use it each day in the Northeastern states up by 1 Million since last year.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by JandMmichels

By "high speed" you mean one that has a top speed of 40 mph like New Jersey declined to have pushed on taxpayers.

No accidents....really ?? Considering the accident records for rapid transit in the NE, I assume you're calculating the odds of you in your car being involved in a fender bender vs you being on a mass transit train car that was thrown hundreds of feet from the track....well you have a point....fender benders are a major pain and occur more often....but you gotta watch out for that one transit train wreck.....can say "unsurviveable" ?

Can you say: " that last post was incompressible"?

[BevoLJ]

@ The whole automated car thing - Will. Never. Happen. Especially in Texas. Americans, and even more so Texans, love their freedoms and don't trust anyone other themselves. There is no way in hell they will ever trust computers. Whether it works well or not doesn't matter. Americans want control, and want to be able to enjoy the freedom of the road for themselves. Good or bad, it is just our nature.

Originally Posted by JandMmichels

By "high speed" you mean one that has a top speed of 40 mph like New Jersey declined to have pushed on taxpayers.

No accidents....really ?? Considering the accident records for rapid transit in the NE, I assume you're calculating the odds of you in your car being involved in a fender bender vs you being on a mass transit train car that was thrown hundreds of feet from the track....well you have a point....fender benders are a major pain and occur more often....but you gotta watch out for that one transit train wreck.....can say "unsurviveable" ?

Your post is a bit hard to understand (which is fine, mine are often even harder. lol) so forgive me if I am not understanding you correctly.

Are you trying to suggest that cars are safer than rail?

[DarkWolf]

Originally Posted by JandMmichels

By "high speed" you mean one that has a top speed of 40 mph like New Jersey declined to have pushed on taxpayers.

No accidents....really ?? Considering the accident records for rapid transit in the NE, I assume you're calculating the odds of you in your car being involved in a fender bender vs you being on a mass transit train car that was thrown hundreds of feet from the track....well you have a point....fender benders are a major pain and occur more often....but you gotta watch out for that one transit train wreck.....can say "unsurviveable" ?

Amtrak Acela Express at Metuchen Station @ high speed - YouTube



NJT Bi-level Express meets HHP-8 #658 Amtrak Northeast Regional - YouTube


Mountain Station Video Part 1 - YouTube


Princeton Junction Amtrak Acela Express - YouTube

[TexasHorseLady]

Nexis4Jersey, just curious, what's your dog in this fight? What's it to you whether there's high speed rail in TEXAS, given that you're in New Jersey, very far away and a very different kind of state than New Jersey (or New York, your former location) with very different needs?

[jb9152]

Originally Posted by JandMmichels

By "high speed" you mean one that has a top speed of 40 mph like New Jersey declined to have pushed on taxpayers.

No accidents....really ?? Considering the accident records for rapid transit in the NE, I assume you're calculating the odds of you in your car being involved in a fender bender vs you being on a mass transit train car that was thrown hundreds of feet from the track....well you have a point....fender benders are a major pain and occur more often....but you gotta watch out for that one transit train wreck.....can say "unsurviveable" ?

How many people were killed in "transit train wrecks" in 2011, JandMmichels? 32,885 people were killed in highway accidents that year.

You really should do a modicum of research before you post dreck.

[jb9152]

Originally Posted by Austin97

I think you underestimate the increased volume possible with automated cars. If the cars today are driving at an average of 10mph at rush hour and they can drive at 65 on mopac because there is no braking

No braking? Then how do vehicles enter and leave the roadway? What happens in a breakdown situation? How about curves? Do vehicles have to slow down for those? How about red lights and Stop signs?

Originally Posted by Austin97

then you can handle much more traffic than a rail system.

Not necessarily. I'll explain in a later post, but increases in speed do not necessarily translate into increases in capacity. It seems counter-intuitive, I know, but I'll hopefully be able to explain it in simple terms. It's confusing to me sometimes, too, and I do this stuff for a living.

Originally Posted by Austin97

In addition, electric cars today can charge in 20 minutes at a high speed charging station.

I honestly have no idea what this has to do with the topic at hand. But then again, we started off talking about high speed rail...

Originally Posted by Austin97

Finally you can have automated busses which would carry the same density of passengers as a train.

Ummm, no. That's not the case. A single 8-car train of bi-level railcars can carry 1200 seated passengers. 2000 if you count standees. A single bus, automated or not, can carry about 60 passengers. You'd need 20 to 30-odd buses to carry the equivalent capacity of a single train.

Per hour, you could run such trains at a practical headway of 5 minutes (not accounting for whether or not there is demand to do so), which means 12 trains per hour. That's a passenger-moving capacity of 24,000 passengers per hour. To do the same with buses, automated or not, you'd need 400 of them.