Would the US have been better off with a better rail system rather than an interstate highway system?

Question

Is the interstate highway system an inefficient handicap for the United States?

Answer 1

I don't think so. Where I live (southern California) there is no more room for any more rails, but they could build an elevated monorail above every freeway that would go to all the same places, but that will never happen, especially in California, where the transportation funds keep getting "borrowed" AKA STOLEN and used for non-transportation projects.

Answer 2

They serve different purposes really.  Having one or the other would decrease the effectiveness of either relative to what we currently have.  Roads keep people off the rails for the most part, while goods and raw materials travel by rail, river and road.  Besides, the interstate system also serves a handy function as a backup emergency landing strip system for military and commercial aircraft.  Bridge specifications were setup to also accommodate the storage of aircraft under the bridge should the need arise.

Answer 3

Rail system is better

Answer 4

Interstates give more freedom. Trains are more efficient.

I hate to say "apples and oranges," but they really are two different things. Road vehicles give a great deal of flexibility (the truck leaves the factory and drives all the way to the store to deliver goods, but a train requires transfers and separate shipping from the terminal to the final destination). However, trains take up less space for a given throughput, and can move more in a given time.

How about train tracks in the middle of interstates? That would have been the most effective solution... I smell a big oil conspiracy!

Answer 5

Yes, especially since we're going to run out of oil.  Electrifying the rail network would be easy.  Good luck electrifying the highway network.  Hopefully as our oil dwindles away the railroad companies will expand their capacity.

Answer 6

I say a rail system will be better that the Interstate Highway System because as the more people are taking to the roads our highway systems is getting crowded. I looked at how some countries have high-speed rail systems, years ahead of the United States, while our national rail network consist of a national intercity rail service and freight rail service, both of which have to share the same right of way. Then there is the environmental issue and our dependence on the "black stuff".

I believe its time that we, as a nation, pull up our sleeves and start putting our national rail system back together. Lets follow the example of Japanese and Europeans, who already have electrified high-speed rail running on it own right of way at speeds that makes our national rail system look like a crosstown bus. Lets show the world, that this nation, does not need to relied on imported "black gold" from over seas and give the airlines a bit of a competition. Lets inform our elected officials that a better rail network is needed and needed now, not later.

So, yeah, the US would have been better off with a rail systems rather than an Interstate Highway System and today, this nation could still have a better rail system from what we currently have.