• Cethin
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      14
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      11 months ago

      The US has a concept of eminent domain, which it has used in the past to build fairly fast affordable rail (and highways). There’s no reason it can’t work today except the fact our politicians are owned by car lobbiests.

    • Chetzemoka@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      11 months ago

      We’ve should have nationalized high speed rail the same way we have a nationalized interstate highway system. Not everything needs to be privatized for profit.

    • RGB3x3@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      When they put up highways, they very *very" often bulldozed through poor black neighborhoods. They didn’t care.

      I don’t suggest we start doing that again, but the US had and has the capability to build out a fantastic trail system, but the highway system is lobbied for hard by car manufacturers.

      AMTRAK gets like an eighth of the federal funding that roads get.