Why High-Speed Rail Can't Make It in California

Joel Kotkin, fellow in urban studies at Chapman University, has previously been on the show for his writings on demographic and economic trends in the U.S.

His most recent work details the failure of California's high-speed rail and how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' Green New Deal is just wishful thinking.

Mr. Kotkin also writes about other countries where high-speed rail systems operate and are effective simply because of less population density and distance between major cities.

"Imagine taking high-speed rial from Los Angeles to Chicago: a three-hour trip by plane becomes a 15-hour or longer trek across vast, empty spaces. During that time, the traveler would cover more high-speed rail mileage than the current length of the entire French system," he writes.

His main point is ultimately that if a bullet train will not work in California, it can't work anywhere else in the United States. Airplanes will simply be the fastest and most convenient form of international and cross-country travel.

Read the article at the City Journal.


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