Is Interstate 14 Dead? (Atlanta, Columbus, Savannah: purchase, prices, buses)

[tckr83]

Originally Posted by gaduchman

Does anyone really care? From the drawing board to final chip sealing takes 7 to 10 years.

You can put in light rail in half the time for less than 1M per mile.

Light rail is a waste of time and money. People don't want to ride trains in the southeast, maybe in the northeast... They want to drive their car and exit when/where they want to along the way to their destination. Light rail has been nothing but financial trouble in city lines across america as well as Amtrak for years. Why would that change now?

It just won't take off in the Southeast.

[River_Dawg]

Whats up with this obsession with rail? Whats wrong with driving somewhere?

Anyway, I-3-and I-14 would both benefit Georgia in some compacity without a doubt. But wouldnt I-14 do GA more justice as a whole, freeing up the the flow of traffic, connecting cities that could become partners in growth etc.....

[NorthEastSouthWest]

Originally Posted by River_Dawg

Whats up with this obsession with rail? Whats wrong with driving somewhere?

Anyway, I-3-and I-14 would both benefit Georgia in some compacity without a doubt. But wouldnt I-14 do GA more justice as a whole, freeing up the the flow of traffic, connecting cities that could become partners in growth etc.....

No I-14 would be just as dead as I-16 another stretch of lonely interstate.

[jetgraphics]

Originally Posted by River_Dawg

Whats up with this obsession with rail? Whats wrong with driving somewhere?

Why rail?
Many reasons - not the least that electric traction rail uses 1/20 the energy per passenger / mile as an automobile.
And that a single rail has the theoretical carrying capacity of 9 lanes of superhighway.

Why not drive?
[] The Age of cheap and plentiful oil is over.
[] Highway capacity does not scale up to handle increased population on finite surface area.
[] Inefficient.

I stipulate that there is a need for parallel development of urban rail and high population density housing served by urban rail, and until that is satisfied, the automobile will be the only option. But as the cost goes ever upward, it will soon be unsustainable.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/polit...nitiative.html

[River_Dawg]

Originally Posted by jetgraphics

Why rail?

Why not drive?
[] The Age of cheap and plentiful oil is over.
[] Highway capacity does not scale up to handle increased population on finite surface area.
[] Inefficient.

I stipulate that there is a need for parallel development of urban rail and high population density housing served by urban rail, and until that is satisfied, the automobile will be the only option. But as the cost goes ever upward, it will soon be unsustainable.

https://www.city-data.com/forum/polit...nitiative.html

Southern culture- get in your car and drive yourself

[tckr83]

It's not going to work in the south, I'm telling you. I don't know anyone who has used amtrak or even considered it... This is what Washington is trying to force down our throats now.

Theoretical; (definition): existing only in theory.

Is this theory? Is this opinion? Or is there more substance to it? Because before we sink (and I mean sink) Billions of dollars into a rail system that will be just as successful as amtrak is now ... let's not pull another global warming scenario playing out in which the scientist involved in the claim were proven to be lying in their reports. Let's have some facts. In a day, there is no way a single rail line from Columbus-Augusta or Savannah-Knoxville could transport as much people/commerce as it's 9 lane counterpart. There's just no way.

Traffic continually flows on an interstate and a train comes through how often exactly? That's the spin to try to make rail look comparable. If a train is continuously running in a loop... then maybe. But i've never heard of a train that's 800 miles long (knoxville-savannah and back), has no beginning or end and connects to it's own caboose by way of it's lead engine.

It's just not possible for that to be correct.

[gaduchman]

Originally Posted by tckr83

Light rail is a waste of time and money. People don't want to ride trains in the southeast, maybe in the northeast... They want to drive their car and exit when/where they want to along the way to their destination. Light rail has been nothing but financial trouble in city lines across america as well as Amtrak for years. Why would that change now?

It just won't take off in the Southeast.

Baloney!

1M/mile for light rail and $4-6M for heavy rail. Since no one is doing heavy rail anymore and there's no reason for it, light rail is the cheapest form of mass transit.

Cheap oil is your past - your next fillup is going to be $6/gal by this time next year. Fuel oil, by comparison is far cheaper when purchased for diesel electric train companies - not Amtrak. Private industry does it more efficiently than any govt anything.

[gaduchman]

Trains and trucks run 24/7 everywhere. Flatbed railcars take your produce trailers from Savannah today and it's in LA on Tuesday - still fresh for a Vons or Safeway store

[Stars&StripesForever]

Originally Posted by NorthEastSouthWest

No I-14 would be just as dead as I-16 another stretch of lonely interstate.

Nearly everyone who drives from Atlanta to Savannah, Hilton Head, and the Georgia Coast drives by way of I-16. To call it "dead" is a bit misleading. While it is less traveled than other interstates throughout the state, it isn't a multi-state interstate, but is intrastate, which from the start is going to generate less travel.

[outsideperspective]

The debate over which interstate should be completed or completed first and which would benefit GA the most can be argued forever with a coalition against the Savannah-Knoxville interstate " stop interstate 3 " and the current state of the economy I doubt it would be built in our lifetime. An Augusta-Columbus interstate via Macon has no real opposition though I personally feel this Highway will do little to boost the economies of either city.