I never was in support of the Casino in Milwaukee. I've always said, if someone can't afford to go to Las Vegas they can't afford to gamble. Of course, I should question my logic since much more than gambling occurs there. Things I am no way in support of. It may be best to stay far away from Las Vegas all together.
But I have several relatives that go to the casino here regularly and my wife has always wanted to visit since she knows friends who go occasionally and talk about it. So I took my wife to the Asian restaurant, RuYi, for her birthday. It was right off the floor and too noisy for my taste, but the food was clearly very fresh and well prepared. Excellence obviously a pronounced goal of the Potawatomi Bingo Casino. My wife was looking for sushi, but I should have guessed with the older clientele and short shelf life that we wouldn't find any there. They have fine dining also, isolated from the gambling floors.
But how are Casino's designed? When the Casino was approved I was working at American Design and had commented to the managing Architect, first of all my views on gambling previously stated and, on the Casino design. I suggested windows.
American Design didn't work on the casino but did work on the Milwaukee Connector study. Something, I made clear to everyone I worked with, I thought was redundant and unnecessary. A misuse of the tax payer's dollars, though I did the work I was told to do. I also made clear my opposition to the Kenosha, Racine, Milwaukee Commuter Link (KRM), in favor of simply extending the Chicago Metra service farther north, something the public prefers two to one over the KRM, if needed (it's not, Amtrak fills the need if any exists). I attended one in office meeting with HNTB as we worked together on the 'Milwaukee Connector.' Others were scheduled on my days off or I was given out of office duties. I also had no knowledgeable opinion on the MPS school expansions we worked on, but did ask questions. "Are they necessary?" "Do they have that many students?"
Windows? The Casino was highly controversial and split the community. Many cited the downsides of gambling, how it can destroy peoples lives, during the debate. I suggested a compromise to embrace the whole community would be a design that didn't accommodate the maximization of profit. Views of the outdoors, natural vistas or a star filled sky to give the gamer a sense of a 'greater reality'. These could be actual or generated images. A window wall showing the valley in it's pre-European influenced state. Where the real world outdoor weather conditions could be matched with computer simulation. Or the allusion of an open roofed structure creating the star filled skies of the North Woods those of us in urban environments have been denied. Images that instill wonder at the beauty of the natural world, the passage of time and vastness of the universe. A 'Greater reality.' There are some nature motifs worked into the interior but they are inconsequential.
But Casinos are designed to focus all ones attention on gambling. It may be appropriate for a game of skill that requires ones attentions, but the majority of the floor is filled with slot machines. The design serves the client but how well does it serve the public? Yes, there is more to do than just gambling. And the Potawatomi have invested in programs to help those with problems and casinos have ways to find and track anyone with serious problems, but that deals only with the aftermath.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is the leading professional membership association for licensed architects. It claims to hold its members to ethical standards. The law, in many ways, is a minimum standard, a minimal expectation of good conduct to support the mutual well being of a society. When we begin to speak of ethical standards that suggests striving for the highest possible standards, ....at least in my book. Their Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, while holding their members to a standard of public awareness and service beyond the norm, does not strive for absolutes. One should ask which is worse; claiming ethical standards you have no intention to pursue to their ends or mistaking technical and professional excellence for ethics? I certainly wasn't rewarded or acknowledged for any ethical queries I may have made on the job.
While we were driving to the Casino, less than ten minutes from our home, we had to pull over to allow some emergency vehicles to pass. They were there at the casino when we arrived. We saw on the news that a man had apparently killed himself in his car in the casino parking lot. There was no follow up in the media.
Does not design have a marked influence on human behavior and well being?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween
An example of form equals function, or where a function creates the ideal form for a seasonal sales vehicle in its simplest form. I e-mailed the company a couple weeks ago in regards to the inspiration for this structure. Was it a marketing professional who came up with the idea? An engineer, specialist contractor, entrepreneur or even an architect? I didn't get a response and no one working there had any idea.Air-supported structures have been around for decades now and have evolved into a variety of smaller scale seasonal uses. Clearly the engineering would be the driving force behind the application. Where would we be without engineers? But as I look at this structure and contemplate the variety of sources from which the concept may have originated, perfection of the form equals function ideal, I have to wonder how relevant is the architect? As architecture becomes more technology driven, are architects becoming glorified technicians? A set of tools and management skills driven by markets, trends, production demands and the pursuit of public funded projects that anyone of reasonable intellect can master? Where the obvious as well as the artistic innovation is missed? ... Scary!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Sidewalks
One change in consumer habits created by rising gas prices is the rising prominence of the local usually ‘upscale’ grocery store. And this before the recent near doubling of gas prices. Here in Milwaukee county in Wauwatosa a Rainbow Foods replaced the Sentry on State Street, and then converted back to an upscale Sentry store within the year. Sendick’s expanded to several new locations. The Pick n’ Save also on State Street has musicians playing on the weekends. hello
The first picture is the Pic-n-Save on State Street. Completely remodeled and turned high-end. The sidewalk feature added to the parking lot is not unique. Many if not all new development (e.g. Lowe’s on Burliegh) contain such features.
The next picture is Whole Foods, with its very wide sidewalks, on the East Side and as on the UWM campus bikes are numerous. The student population is strongly into bicycling and this will hopefully carry over onto their later years. Of course the radius of travel for a college student cannot be much over two miles, if that.
The next picture is The Outpost, also on State Street. One bicycle most likely that of an employee in the rack. One was also in the rack at the Pick-n-Save. The final picture being the Sendick’s’ on North Avenue; a remodel of an old Kohl’s Foods store. One bike and two scooters, and one bicyclist leaving as I drove up. There are no schools of higher education near by, only neighborhoods. The difference, the terrain is generally flat in the surrounding area unlike the river valley the State Street stores rest in.
Here is a blog post in which the first commenter clearly cannot tolerate riding on the street. It may appear she is in the minority but you have to consider who the readers are. The arguments against adults bicycling on sidewalks are valid for an experienced rider moving as fast as possible. I would argue those potential riders who cannot tolerate riding in traffic, or past parked cars whose doors may swing open at anytime, would not be going nearly as fast. They would be operating like pedestrians rather than vehicles at intersections, stopping and looking both ways. And they would be moving even slower than a child on a bicycle and easier to see.
Here is an article on bicycling in Britain. Documenting the results of a predominance of parents expressing a general fear for their children riding bicycles in traffic. My personal observations suggest this is a widespread fear in our nation among all age groups. Bike lane advocates also are moving to alternatives that create much greater separation from the automobile.
There are certain areas where I ride my bike on the sidewalk. Where Watertown Plank Road goes under highway 45 or parts of Hawley Road and pedestrians are near non-existent. I have two reasons that at times I do. First, it is much safer and second I’ve been stuck myself behind a bike in these stretches and know the frustration a driver feels. Highway 100 is an impossible ride with traffic speeding in all lanes and in some stretches there are no sidewalks. Of course it is illegal for an adult to ride a bike on the sidewalk. But should it be?
Bicycle advocates fight hard to protect bicyclists rights to roadways and vehicle status. They are generally ardent riders who ride many a mile and are in excellent shape. Unfortunately, there is a large group of potential riders that do not want to interact with auto traffic at all (even in a parking lot) when riding a bike, so don’t. As gasoline prices continue to rise and people grow more environmentally conscience there is an opening for promoting the use of bicycles for everyday tasks such as going to the grocery. Trek, a responsible bicycling advocate, has targeted this group with several models most notably the ‘Lime’ recognizing a large market that shuns shifting gears, and even hand brakes, as too complicated. In my own travels I spent three years overseas with a bicycle and public transit as my only form of personal transportation. In parts of the world where bikes enjoy wide use, multiple gear bicycles are almost non-existent for everyday use and all have baskets or a cargo rack.
I have brought up the issue of riding bicycles on sidewalks with bicycle advocates in the past and have always been met with a resounding, “No!” The reality is that is what we have already done in the new Canal Street corridor. Some will say the cities are not designed for such use of their sidewalks. They are if you widen the sidewalks. I recall all the Traditional Neighborhood Development types lamenting the past and the loss of the corner grocer. People did not drive their cars to the corner grocer. While the corner grocery is gone, the neighborhood grocery is on the rise.
The older parts of our cities were designed for our sidewalks to accommodate significant pedestrian traffic. I remember when we all walked to school every morning. Now many of our sidewalks are nearly empty. Altering the sidewalks to accommodate a specific user group is a kin to the building of bike paths and lanes. The difference is the potential users have no representation. A user group not particularly athletic or mechanically minded that would only travel short distances on every day errands. If gas prices continue to rise, a group potentially much larger than any group of bicyclists we have now. A group whose use of bicycles, on errands they had used their cars for in the past, would be making the largest contribution to fuel conservation.
The multi-use paths in our County Parks are ten feet wide and handle a variety of traffic of all different types, age groups and activities. They are quite crowded at times and accidents rare. There is a beauty to our sidewalks. They are size perfectly for their traditional use. But as gas prices increase, if the bicycle truly is an alternative to our energy and environmental needs there are places where the sidewalks should be widened and adults allowed to ride at slower speeds. Restricting this privilege to single speed bicycles may be the best way to control the speed.
Rather than engineering and reconstructing roadways to include bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks on stretches such as highway 100, here in Milwaukee County, would serve the fore mentioned user group. Sidewalks along Highway 100, where they have sidewalks, have few pedestrians and many destinations are currently only accessible by automobile. Ten-foot wide multi-use path on both sides along the entire length of Highway 100 would give access to jobs and shopping to bicyclists.
A ten-foot multi-use path on one side of Watertown Plank Road from Highway 100 and the Village of Wauwatosa would be similar to what was done on Canal Street. However, for most of the city, for those who will not travel more than two miles by bicycle on an errand, what would be the proper criteria for widening the sidewalk?
A combination of destination, terrain and crime are determinants for other locations for wider sidewalks. Local grocery stores and shops such as video rental or health food stores, being the main target, where consumer products would fit into a bicycle basket. The target user group not necessarily being the athletic type, there is no need for wider sidewalks in hilly areas. North Avenue is an ideal model where there are few hills in the surrounding neighborhoods to frustrate the target user group. Not that every sidewalk be widened, but those on one side of a street that would be central in a neighborhood and feed to the desired locations (North Avenue in this case), which can also include connections to bike paths. The final piece to the puzzle is the perception of crime. Low crime areas and secure bicycle parking facilities in any circumstance are necessary. Large numbers of inexpensive bicycles are the norm where bicycles enjoy widespread use and drastically reduce the threat of bicycle theft. A goal metropolitan areas have been trying to achieve in a variety of fashions.
My opinion is based highly on anecdotal evidence, common observations. I would argue that such observations are more relevant than the social engineering so prevalent in government and the professional community. Built on an understanding of why the majority of people are not riding bicycles rather than deciding how people should live in spite of themselves.
Part of a response from Shea Schachameyer of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin;
...as a bicycle advocate and a regular bike commuter I discourage people from riding on the sidewalk as statistically it's more dangerous to bike on the sidewalk than in the roadway. Yet, as a bicycle advocate I am all too familiar with people's fears of riding with traffic. .....
Bicyclist education and motorist education are both essential in creating safer conditions for bicyclists. The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin as well as most other bike advocacy organizations offer adult bike education classes to give people the skills and confidence to safely bike in traffic and on trails.
The first picture is the Pic-n-Save on State Street. Completely remodeled and turned high-end. The sidewalk feature added to the parking lot is not unique. Many if not all new development (e.g. Lowe’s on Burliegh) contain such features.
The next picture is Whole Foods, with its very wide sidewalks, on the East Side and as on the UWM campus bikes are numerous. The student population is strongly into bicycling and this will hopefully carry over onto their later years. Of course the radius of travel for a college student cannot be much over two miles, if that.
The next picture is The Outpost, also on State Street. One bicycle most likely that of an employee in the rack. One was also in the rack at the Pick-n-Save. The final picture being the Sendick’s’ on North Avenue; a remodel of an old Kohl’s Foods store. One bike and two scooters, and one bicyclist leaving as I drove up. There are no schools of higher education near by, only neighborhoods. The difference, the terrain is generally flat in the surrounding area unlike the river valley the State Street stores rest in.
Here is a blog post in which the first commenter clearly cannot tolerate riding on the street. It may appear she is in the minority but you have to consider who the readers are. The arguments against adults bicycling on sidewalks are valid for an experienced rider moving as fast as possible. I would argue those potential riders who cannot tolerate riding in traffic, or past parked cars whose doors may swing open at anytime, would not be going nearly as fast. They would be operating like pedestrians rather than vehicles at intersections, stopping and looking both ways. And they would be moving even slower than a child on a bicycle and easier to see.Here is an article on bicycling in Britain. Documenting the results of a predominance of parents expressing a general fear for their children riding bicycles in traffic. My personal observations suggest this is a widespread fear in our nation among all age groups. Bike lane advocates also are moving to alternatives that create much greater separation from the automobile.
There are certain areas where I ride my bike on the sidewalk. Where Watertown Plank Road goes under highway 45 or parts of Hawley Road and pedestrians are near non-existent. I have two reasons that at times I do. First, it is much safer and second I’ve been stuck myself behind a bike in these stretches and know the frustration a driver feels. Highway 100 is an impossible ride with traffic speeding in all lanes and in some stretches there are no sidewalks. Of course it is illegal for an adult to ride a bike on the sidewalk. But should it be?
Bicycle advocates fight hard to protect bicyclists rights to roadways and vehicle status. They are generally ardent riders who ride many a mile and are in excellent shape. Unfortunately, there is a large group of potential riders that do not want to interact with auto traffic at all (even in a parking lot) when riding a bike, so don’t. As gasoline prices continue to rise and people grow more environmentally conscience there is an opening for promoting the use of bicycles for everyday tasks such as going to the grocery. Trek, a responsible bicycling advocate, has targeted this group with several models most notably the ‘Lime’ recognizing a large market that shuns shifting gears, and even hand brakes, as too complicated. In my own travels I spent three years overseas with a bicycle and public transit as my only form of personal transportation. In parts of the world where bikes enjoy wide use, multiple gear bicycles are almost non-existent for everyday use and all have baskets or a cargo rack.
I have brought up the issue of riding bicycles on sidewalks with bicycle advocates in the past and have always been met with a resounding, “No!” The reality is that is what we have already done in the new Canal Street corridor. Some will say the cities are not designed for such use of their sidewalks. They are if you widen the sidewalks. I recall all the Traditional Neighborhood Development types lamenting the past and the loss of the corner grocer. People did not drive their cars to the corner grocer. While the corner grocery is gone, the neighborhood grocery is on the rise.
The older parts of our cities were designed for our sidewalks to accommodate significant pedestrian traffic. I remember when we all walked to school every morning. Now many of our sidewalks are nearly empty. Altering the sidewalks to accommodate a specific user group is a kin to the building of bike paths and lanes. The difference is the potential users have no representation. A user group not particularly athletic or mechanically minded that would only travel short distances on every day errands. If gas prices continue to rise, a group potentially much larger than any group of bicyclists we have now. A group whose use of bicycles, on errands they had used their cars for in the past, would be making the largest contribution to fuel conservation.
The multi-use paths in our County Parks are ten feet wide and handle a variety of traffic of all different types, age groups and activities. They are quite crowded at times and accidents rare. There is a beauty to our sidewalks. They are size perfectly for their traditional use. But as gas prices increase, if the bicycle truly is an alternative to our energy and environmental needs there are places where the sidewalks should be widened and adults allowed to ride at slower speeds. Restricting this privilege to single speed bicycles may be the best way to control the speed.
Rather than engineering and reconstructing roadways to include bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks on stretches such as highway 100, here in Milwaukee County, would serve the fore mentioned user group. Sidewalks along Highway 100, where they have sidewalks, have few pedestrians and many destinations are currently only accessible by automobile. Ten-foot wide multi-use path on both sides along the entire length of Highway 100 would give access to jobs and shopping to bicyclists.
A ten-foot multi-use path on one side of Watertown Plank Road from Highway 100 and the Village of Wauwatosa would be similar to what was done on Canal Street. However, for most of the city, for those who will not travel more than two miles by bicycle on an errand, what would be the proper criteria for widening the sidewalk?
A combination of destination, terrain and crime are determinants for other locations for wider sidewalks. Local grocery stores and shops such as video rental or health food stores, being the main target, where consumer products would fit into a bicycle basket. The target user group not necessarily being the athletic type, there is no need for wider sidewalks in hilly areas. North Avenue is an ideal model where there are few hills in the surrounding neighborhoods to frustrate the target user group. Not that every sidewalk be widened, but those on one side of a street that would be central in a neighborhood and feed to the desired locations (North Avenue in this case), which can also include connections to bike paths. The final piece to the puzzle is the perception of crime. Low crime areas and secure bicycle parking facilities in any circumstance are necessary. Large numbers of inexpensive bicycles are the norm where bicycles enjoy widespread use and drastically reduce the threat of bicycle theft. A goal metropolitan areas have been trying to achieve in a variety of fashions.
My opinion is based highly on anecdotal evidence, common observations. I would argue that such observations are more relevant than the social engineering so prevalent in government and the professional community. Built on an understanding of why the majority of people are not riding bicycles rather than deciding how people should live in spite of themselves.
Part of a response from Shea Schachameyer of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin;
...as a bicycle advocate and a regular bike commuter I discourage people from riding on the sidewalk as statistically it's more dangerous to bike on the sidewalk than in the roadway. Yet, as a bicycle advocate I am all too familiar with people's fears of riding with traffic. .....
Bicyclist education and motorist education are both essential in creating safer conditions for bicyclists. The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin as well as most other bike advocacy organizations offer adult bike education classes to give people the skills and confidence to safely bike in traffic and on trails.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Hubba Hubba
Despite its inherent disadvantages of being a fixed system, its rejection of the latest technologies, its extreme costs and the fact that we have nowhere near the congestion to justify such an expense in Milwaukee, many of our elected representatives refuse to let that dinosaur, commuter rail, die.
Some time back I had a correspondence with a Journal Sentinel Reporter on mass transit. He happened to mention the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative that would upgrade our rail to allow speeds up to 110 mph. It has failed to receive Federal funding.... Thank God.
As the world is creating rail systems that reach 300+ mph do we really want to be investing in obsolete systems? Further inquiry reveals a system much more extensive than connecting major cities with supposed high speed rail (Rail to Rhinelander? Can I take my bike with me for the WORS race?). More a social engineering project than one addressing real transportation demands. However, how many could you find in the media or academia that do not give their whole hearted support to any such projects? Who would be bold enough to express disdain at the lack of vision or true initiative, at a lack of pride in settling for feel good token projects based on old technologies rather than creating the best possible solutions to real problems?
As oil prices surge what are the market forces dictating? Many are finding that driving is actually cheaper than flying. Airfares are rising drastically and extra fees being developed to cover rising costs. And almost no one is choosing rail as a solution though it uses less fuel per passenger mile. And why should they if they value their time? To travel by rail to New York from Chicago is over 24 hours. A slightly longer and slightly cheaper ($2) ride than the Greyhound Bus. To Miami it is two days by train and a day and a half by bus.
Rather than the spider web suggested by the Midwest Regional Rail Plan, a solution that would truly open peoples minds to the use of rail as a viable travel option would be to create a single high speed line with the latest and greatest technologies that connects airline hubs from North to South. This would relieve congestion in our airports, saving fuel in taxiing, holding patten times, and by reducing the number of connecting flights. The potential for greater competition providing the consumer the best value. A new built from scratch system that would inspire support from those with vision and pride despite its seemingly prohibitive costs. A more noble battle than beating people over and over with a redundant and obsolete transportation system, known as commuter rail, until they give up.
Several routes could connect major airline hubs,as well as our major cities, and open airports in less desired destinations to relieve airport congestion in our larger cities. The most likely route to achieve those goals also contains the most difficult terrain. It would start in the Chicago area, including General Mitchell International Airport, O'Hare and Chicago Midway, and extend to Miami Florida. Existing hubs in the route include the fore mentioned as well as Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International, Orlando International, Ft. Lauderdale International and Miami International. This would open Indianapolis International and possibly Louisville International to possible expanded service. This route could extend to Minneapolis St. Paul International or begin in Detroit rather than Chicago, both airline hubs.
The distance by rail from Minneapolis to Miami, following this general route would be roughly under 1800 miles. At an average speed with stops at 180 mph the trip would take approximately 10 hours and begin to make rail competitive. Driving time, without stops, is currently in excess of 27 hours at posted highway speeds. Round trip flights found on Expedia.com with one connection begin in excess of $300. Travel times ranging from approximately 5 hours to more than 8 hours, not including delays or the time it takes to check in. Nonstop flights taking about 3 hours 30 minutes and costing over $500 departing on Friday and returning on Monday. A proven and well established high speed rail system, the N700 Shinkansen, reaches speeds over 180 mph though with stops the average would be somewhat lower. Meglevs are being researched in the United States that will exceed 300 mph. Similar systems already exist and others are being developed and marketed that far exceed 300 mph. (Lets surrender to the French.)
An alternative route from Chicago or Minneapolis over our central plains, much easier to construct, could connect to the hubs of St Louis and Memphis, and extend to New Orleans . A second alternative connecting with the hub in Kansas City and on to Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston, each containing two hub airports. Terre Haute airport in Indiana, currently with no passenger service, if connected with high speed rail could handle much more traffic.
The incremental approach that has been the status quo for the advancement of high speed rail has failed and is justification for the colossal investment I am suggesting. While the costs may appear astronomical (exceeding $100 billion), how do they compare to the costs we face in unplanned natural disasters or wars? How much money is already set aside across the country for alternative transportation projects? Where there is a will there is a way. Cliche, but so true. Is it not an ethical mandate to produce a system that would succeed? Actually being used to capacity, reducing congestion on our interstates and airways and reducing overall energy consumption. The moneys spent and then wasted on operating systems that are too limited in scope to compete with the costs and time advantages of cars, buses, and airlines could very well be much more costly. Including interconnecting the various, already obsolete, high speed rail technologies into a larger continuous system.
My opinions are not unique or an unseen revelation. Yet with all the talk of mass transit among our elected officials and media who among them is even considering what has been written here and elsewhere, and eagerly pursued by other nations and companies around the world? If one believes in rail as a real solution where's the will, the vision, the desire for responsible solutions over special interests? Do our elected representatives, professionals and academics truly desire excellence or is it all in the bottom line? Winning the feel good voters, making the quick easy buck.
Some time back I had a correspondence with a Journal Sentinel Reporter on mass transit. He happened to mention the Midwest Regional Rail Initiative that would upgrade our rail to allow speeds up to 110 mph. It has failed to receive Federal funding.... Thank God.
As the world is creating rail systems that reach 300+ mph do we really want to be investing in obsolete systems? Further inquiry reveals a system much more extensive than connecting major cities with supposed high speed rail (Rail to Rhinelander? Can I take my bike with me for the WORS race?). More a social engineering project than one addressing real transportation demands. However, how many could you find in the media or academia that do not give their whole hearted support to any such projects? Who would be bold enough to express disdain at the lack of vision or true initiative, at a lack of pride in settling for feel good token projects based on old technologies rather than creating the best possible solutions to real problems?
As oil prices surge what are the market forces dictating? Many are finding that driving is actually cheaper than flying. Airfares are rising drastically and extra fees being developed to cover rising costs. And almost no one is choosing rail as a solution though it uses less fuel per passenger mile. And why should they if they value their time? To travel by rail to New York from Chicago is over 24 hours. A slightly longer and slightly cheaper ($2) ride than the Greyhound Bus. To Miami it is two days by train and a day and a half by bus.
Rather than the spider web suggested by the Midwest Regional Rail Plan, a solution that would truly open peoples minds to the use of rail as a viable travel option would be to create a single high speed line with the latest and greatest technologies that connects airline hubs from North to South. This would relieve congestion in our airports, saving fuel in taxiing, holding patten times, and by reducing the number of connecting flights. The potential for greater competition providing the consumer the best value. A new built from scratch system that would inspire support from those with vision and pride despite its seemingly prohibitive costs. A more noble battle than beating people over and over with a redundant and obsolete transportation system, known as commuter rail, until they give up.
Several routes could connect major airline hubs,as well as our major cities, and open airports in less desired destinations to relieve airport congestion in our larger cities. The most likely route to achieve those goals also contains the most difficult terrain. It would start in the Chicago area, including General Mitchell International Airport, O'Hare and Chicago Midway, and extend to Miami Florida. Existing hubs in the route include the fore mentioned as well as Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson International, Orlando International, Ft. Lauderdale International and Miami International. This would open Indianapolis International and possibly Louisville International to possible expanded service. This route could extend to Minneapolis St. Paul International or begin in Detroit rather than Chicago, both airline hubs.
The distance by rail from Minneapolis to Miami, following this general route would be roughly under 1800 miles. At an average speed with stops at 180 mph the trip would take approximately 10 hours and begin to make rail competitive. Driving time, without stops, is currently in excess of 27 hours at posted highway speeds. Round trip flights found on Expedia.com with one connection begin in excess of $300. Travel times ranging from approximately 5 hours to more than 8 hours, not including delays or the time it takes to check in. Nonstop flights taking about 3 hours 30 minutes and costing over $500 departing on Friday and returning on Monday. A proven and well established high speed rail system, the N700 Shinkansen, reaches speeds over 180 mph though with stops the average would be somewhat lower. Meglevs are being researched in the United States that will exceed 300 mph. Similar systems already exist and others are being developed and marketed that far exceed 300 mph. (Lets surrender to the French.)
An alternative route from Chicago or Minneapolis over our central plains, much easier to construct, could connect to the hubs of St Louis and Memphis, and extend to New Orleans . A second alternative connecting with the hub in Kansas City and on to Dallas-Ft. Worth and Houston, each containing two hub airports. Terre Haute airport in Indiana, currently with no passenger service, if connected with high speed rail could handle much more traffic.
The incremental approach that has been the status quo for the advancement of high speed rail has failed and is justification for the colossal investment I am suggesting. While the costs may appear astronomical (exceeding $100 billion), how do they compare to the costs we face in unplanned natural disasters or wars? How much money is already set aside across the country for alternative transportation projects? Where there is a will there is a way. Cliche, but so true. Is it not an ethical mandate to produce a system that would succeed? Actually being used to capacity, reducing congestion on our interstates and airways and reducing overall energy consumption. The moneys spent and then wasted on operating systems that are too limited in scope to compete with the costs and time advantages of cars, buses, and airlines could very well be much more costly. Including interconnecting the various, already obsolete, high speed rail technologies into a larger continuous system.
My opinions are not unique or an unseen revelation. Yet with all the talk of mass transit among our elected officials and media who among them is even considering what has been written here and elsewhere, and eagerly pursued by other nations and companies around the world? If one believes in rail as a real solution where's the will, the vision, the desire for responsible solutions over special interests? Do our elected representatives, professionals and academics truly desire excellence or is it all in the bottom line? Winning the feel good voters, making the quick easy buck.
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