A couple of quick things:
Severe weather (snow, ice) can block or delay rail transport, but
locomotives can be (and are) equipped with plows, sand for rails, etc.
Trains' efficiency remains one of their trump cards. Another is
their comfort and convenience (in a well designed system). If you
don't absolutely positively expensively have to be on the other end of
the hemisphere by tomorrow, there's no more civil way of getting there
than a good train. And as for going by rail from Des Moines to
Ames...what COULD happen is that when your train stops at the platform
in Ames, you take your bicycle from the special storage compartment at
the end of your car, and you roll it out of the car, down the
platform, through the terminal, and pedal away. When we traveled by
train through Scotland a couple of years ago, every car was equipped
with bike racks, and there were plenty of bicyclists using them.
Buses and metro rail systems across Europe and increasingly here in
the US regularly accommodate cyclists.
Bill Witt
Quoting Ronald Spears <[log in to unmask]>:
>
> Went to England - very good transport - buses ran every 10 minutes
> in the city of Super Mare but it is a rather small and compact
> country - dynamics are a lot different. Take a rail to from Ames to
> Des Moines and when you get there what happens?
> -------------- Original message from Thomas Mathews
> <[log in to unmask]>: --------------
>
>
>
> Awesome letter, Dana!
>
> It's true, we had a better, safer, more energy-efficient
> transportation system in 1920 than we do today. The early 20th
> century system, as you note, was based on rail, not automobiles.
>
> The absurdity of our highway-based transport is obvious during a
> snow or ice storm which would not affect railroad operations, but
> which sends cars and trucks off the road or into multi-vehicle
> pileups.
>
> All progress is change, but not all change is progress.
>
> Tom Mathews
>
> In a message dated 2/16/2009 7:02:51 P.M. Central Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
> What do we need for transportation?
> Deborah Fink, Ames Feb. 12, 2009
>
> Regarding David Swenson's Feb. 5 Iowa View: He's is absolutely right
> in his criteria for ranking stimulus projects. Infrastructure and
> schools are urgent and practical targets.
>
> What I missed was any movement beyond the status quo. We need a
> certain infrastructure of roads and bridges because we drive cars
> almost everywhere we go. Should we maintain this infrastructure?
>
> For more on this article go to
> http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902120342
>
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