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posted by janrinok on Saturday March 08 2014, @12:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can't-get-there-from-here dept.

Papas Fritas writes:

"Michelle Rindel reports at AP that despite being two of the largest cities in the Southwest, Las Vegas and Phoenix are linked by a road that narrows to two lanes, hits stoplights in a Depression-era town and until recently backed up traffic over the Hoover Dam. An effort to improve what's now a 4 1/2-hour drive to cover the 300 miles of desert between Sin City and the Valley of the Sun with a more reliable road has heavy-hitting allies, including business leaders and the Republican governor of each state. 'Long-term jobs are created by our connectivity,' says Steve Betts, noting that the stretch would be the first piece of a new shipping route between Mexico and Canada.

That the cities aren't already linked by an interstate is a fluke of timing. The Phoenix and Las Vegas populations exploded just after the national road-building frenzy that started in the 1950s. The Las Vegas metro area, population 2 million, is 40 times larger than it was in 1950. The Phoenix area, population 4.3 million, has grown 13-fold over that span. Highway supporters won a key victory last year when Congress formally designated Interstate 11. The legislation provides no funding, but it allows builders to tap into interstate construction dollars. An interstate could link Los Angeles, Phoenix and Las Vegas as partners in a 'megaregion' that competes with other regions, and could open a trade route from Mexico to Pacific Ocean ports and Canada. Arizona and Nevada are currently losing much of that flow and its attendant development to Texas and California, according to Betts, chairman of CAN-DO, an acronym for Connecting Arizona and Nevada-Delivering Opportunities. Still, other critics worry that pushing further toward the interstate dream would contribute to urban sprawl and hurt the environment. 'The last thing we need is another freeway,' says Sandy Bahr, president of the Arizona chapter of the Sierra Club. 'We need to look for other transportation modes.'"

 
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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday March 08 2014, @01:32PM

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Saturday March 08 2014, @01:32PM (#13177) Homepage Journal

    It would be orders of magnitudes cheaper to establish an Amtrak [amtrak.com] route from Las Vegas to Phoenix.

    For me to travel one way from San Jose, California to Portland Oregon on Amtrak set me back eighty bucks. Last I checked in 2010, one way air from Seattle to San Jose was $160.00. My Aunt Peggy recently paid $250.00 to fly round trip from Spokane to Portland; that's $86.00 on Amtrak with two weeks advance purchase.

    There is no security checkpoints at any Amtrak stations - Some Soylentils pointed out that when TSA tried to set up at some Amtrak station, they were escorted out by security.

    The seats are wide and comfortable with enough legroom that you can play footsie with the cuties sitting opposite you. Some of the seats have tables not the fold out trays like on airplanes but enough room to spread out your work. They all have lots of 110 VAC sockets, most trains have WiFi.

    However that Wifi is a single shared 3G connection, so it drops when the train is in some rural areas, streaming video is blocked and you are limited to 10 MB of file downloads.

    The Amtrak website does not have the lowest fares because its web programmers were infinitely many monkeys. To get the best fare you must go to the station. For some routes just one day advance purchase will get you a good price but for other routes you need two weeks so do look into it well ahead of time.

    The railway tracks are ALREADY there as the US does still ship a lot of freight via rail. The very best way to get new passenger routes established is to take the train for routes that are presently there. The Amtrak Coast Starlight from Seattle to LA is always full, but most routes aren't. It doesn't cost any less to operate a train when seats are empty so in reality Amtrak operates on a shoestring.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by ilPapa on Saturday March 08 2014, @02:46PM

    by ilPapa (2366) on Saturday March 08 2014, @02:46PM (#13189) Journal

    I just took the Empire Builder from Chicago to Minneapolis and back and it was delightful. I got work done, a brief nap and caught up on the Venture Bros. When I got there, I was ready to roll.

    If I'd driven I90-94, with the weather, I'd have needed therapy by the time I got there, and with the weather it probably would have taken longer. If I'd flown, by the time I drove to the airport, dealt with the public humiliation of lines and anal probes and sat on the tarmac, it wouldn't have saved much time and I'd feel like crap. Except the weather had flights delayed by hours, so it would have been all that pain plus taken just as long.

    Trains are where it's at. Come Fall, I'm taking that baby all the way to the Pacific Northwest.

    My grandfather worked for the Rock Island railroad, so I've been taking trains all my life. It's the only way to travel that keeps your dignity intact.

    --
    You are still welcome on my lawn.
    • (Score: 1) by Jiro on Saturday March 08 2014, @05:07PM

      by Jiro (3176) on Saturday March 08 2014, @05:07PM (#13229)

      Quickly checking Amtrak's site shows that only one Empire Builder train per day runs. If you had driven, you could have gone any time you wanted. That's why people drive cars.

      At least you're fortunate enough to have picked a train that actually runs on weekends.

      • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday March 10 2014, @04:12PM

        by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday March 10 2014, @04:12PM (#14050)

        The Chicago - Milwaukee segment runs every 30 minutes during the rush hour and every hour most of the rest of the day. I've taken that more times that I can count.

        There were plans to extend that to Madison and eventually MPLS but for political reasons that absolutely had to be stopped. It was, and is, a great idea.

        The train goes 60-100 MPH continuously with about three five minutes stops, even when you go to the bathroom or eat dinner. So its much faster than driving.

        As for flying, unless you're rich you either have to save money or your boss requires you to save money such that you will be taking the one cheapest flight. So once again, there is only one travel time per day.

  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Angry Jesus on Saturday March 08 2014, @03:16PM

    by Angry Jesus (182) on Saturday March 08 2014, @03:16PM (#13205)

    Some Soylentils pointed out that when TSA tried to set up at some Amtrak station, they were escorted out by security.

    Amtrak even used to run a commercial where they said one of the perks was that you got keep your shoes on.

    Unfortunately, the gears of government bureaucracy grind slow but sure. [nytimes.com]

    • (Score: 4, Informative) by Angry Jesus on Saturday March 08 2014, @04:55PM

      by Angry Jesus (182) on Saturday March 08 2014, @04:55PM (#13225)

      Hey! You guys who rated my comment as "funny" need to click the link at the end.
      It is anything but funny. We are losing.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by McGruber on Saturday March 08 2014, @03:20PM

    by McGruber (3038) on Saturday March 08 2014, @03:20PM (#13210)

    Phoenix (population 4,329,534) and Las Vegas (population 2,000,759) are the two largest major US cities without passenger rail service:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_major_cities_ in_U.S._lacking_Amtrak_service [wikipedia.org]

    • (Score: 0) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday March 08 2014, @05:29PM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Saturday March 08 2014, @05:29PM (#13240) Homepage Journal

      I once had a close friend who was from that way-out-in-the-middle-of-the-desert town.

      A little town like that one wouldn't expect much fine dining, but the McDonalds she worked at during high school has a special, private seating section for bus drivers. All you have to do is park your bus in that fine Scottish Restaurant's parking lot, and you get all the McD you can eat, gratis.

      It is quite popular to organize charter bus trips to gambling centers. That's big, between the SF Bay Area and Reno.

      I once rode the Amtrak train from Reno to Oakland, but trains don't stop for gas, beer, junk food or tobacco.

      Some other Soylentil pointed out that the existing road is just fine because the average velocity is 67 miles per hour.

      However I expect an Interstate between LV and LA would be at least three lanes all the way, four or even five near each city, yet it would still be at capacity and there will still be lots of traffic backups.

      It will move lots of Quarter Pounder meals though!

      Again: We MUST get the money out of politics. The people who ride Amtrak, who work for Amtrak, the people who make the trains, I expect we vote but few of us contribute cash to the congresscritters.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
      • (Score: 2) by demonlapin on Sunday March 09 2014, @10:37PM

        by demonlapin (925) on Sunday March 09 2014, @10:37PM (#13658) Journal
        If you take the political money out of Amtrak, it would quickly die outside the Northeast Corridor.

        Trains are useful over a certain set of distances. They work well in Western Europe due to its incredibly high population density. They're wonderfully scenic ways to view the land, too. But it takes three days to get from New Orleans to LA. You can fly - with change of aircraft! - in less than seven hours, for $520.
  • (Score: 2) by davester666 on Saturday March 08 2014, @07:50PM

    by davester666 (155) on Saturday March 08 2014, @07:50PM (#13285)

    So, you are saying I should start taking the train to places I don't want to go, in the hopes that eventually, Amtrak will notice and go "hey, this guy seems really determined to take the train. Sure, he is kind of crazy for taking the train to spots where he doesn't want to go, but just maybe he is crazy like a fox. We should make a new route to where this guy really wants to go, and then see what happens."