The United States should make the transition from airplanes to trains
Point
Ben Brown-Steiner
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinion
Airplanes are a necessary part of our new international society, but a part that is both damaging and troubled. Airlines are struggling to stay afloat (financially in the red and physically doing poorly during inspections, among other problems) and are facing increasing fuel costs, scrutiny from environmentalists, technical problems, and tight security issues.
They were revolutionary during most of this century with regard to travel and military advancements. But today they are rivaling automobile emissions and are one of the largest industrialized, corporation-owned, environmentally damaging, financially unstable, and unsustainable businesses of our modern world.
The carbon footprint of air travel is nearly the same as the carbon footprint of automobile travel. Air travel also emits other chemicals directly into the higher atmosphere. It is also subject to the same turbulent and troubled fuel market as the automobile industry.
For travel in the United States, it is nearly as easy and as cheap to travel by bus or by train as by plane. For mid-range travel, train transportation is getting more appealing. The carbon footprint is significantly smaller, the cost is quite competitive with air travel, and although the time of travel may be a little bit longer, there are few to no delays.
My friend from Cleveland was visiting me in Rochester last year, and she didn't have a car, so her options were: airplane, bus, or train. Airfare was too expensive, and a bus ride would take nearly twelve hours, so she chose train. It was easy, pretty cheap, and efficient. She arrived in a train terminal; picking her up at the train station was easier than picking her up at an airport.
The airline system in the US has been efficient and successful, up until September 11, 2001. Since then, increased security requirements and additional regulations have chipped away at the efficiency of the system. As we have seen in the past few weeks, the system is large, but easily disrupted. If the United States focused more on other forms of transportation, then the entire transportation system would be more resilient.
If we were to switch a portion of our booming transportation towards train travel, it would create more options and more redundancy. Travelers could easily switch to taking a train if American Airlines was shut down again for a failed inspection. It may take a little longer to get to the destination, but it may be a trade-off that will grow more appealing in the near future.
As fuel prices rise, inspection failures continue, and delays become more of the norm for air travel, travelers should switch over to train. It would be much easier if the government and industry reinvigorated the infrastructure. It would be cheaper for the travelers, and better for the environment.
They were revolutionary during most of this century with regard to travel and military advancements. But today they are rivaling automobile emissions and are one of the largest industrialized, corporation-owned, environmentally damaging, financially unstable, and unsustainable businesses of our modern world.
The carbon footprint of air travel is nearly the same as the carbon footprint of automobile travel. Air travel also emits other chemicals directly into the higher atmosphere. It is also subject to the same turbulent and troubled fuel market as the automobile industry.
For travel in the United States, it is nearly as easy and as cheap to travel by bus or by train as by plane. For mid-range travel, train transportation is getting more appealing. The carbon footprint is significantly smaller, the cost is quite competitive with air travel, and although the time of travel may be a little bit longer, there are few to no delays.
My friend from Cleveland was visiting me in Rochester last year, and she didn't have a car, so her options were: airplane, bus, or train. Airfare was too expensive, and a bus ride would take nearly twelve hours, so she chose train. It was easy, pretty cheap, and efficient. She arrived in a train terminal; picking her up at the train station was easier than picking her up at an airport.
The airline system in the US has been efficient and successful, up until September 11, 2001. Since then, increased security requirements and additional regulations have chipped away at the efficiency of the system. As we have seen in the past few weeks, the system is large, but easily disrupted. If the United States focused more on other forms of transportation, then the entire transportation system would be more resilient.
If we were to switch a portion of our booming transportation towards train travel, it would create more options and more redundancy. Travelers could easily switch to taking a train if American Airlines was shut down again for a failed inspection. It may take a little longer to get to the destination, but it may be a trade-off that will grow more appealing in the near future.
As fuel prices rise, inspection failures continue, and delays become more of the norm for air travel, travelers should switch over to train. It would be much easier if the government and industry reinvigorated the infrastructure. It would be cheaper for the travelers, and better for the environment.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Chad Bernier
posted 4/26/08 @ 2:10 PM EST
You are crazy. Have you ever tried to travel by train? It is only useful for kinda short trips. You must by train tickets far in advance if you want to get onto train during peak times, like weekends. (Continued…)
Post a Comment