Something which this article highlights is the lack of reliable rail in the USA.

Where I am there is a decent rail network, and the rail provider has a fleet of EVs for rent, where the cost of the electricity is included. This provides a "green" last mile solution even if the public transport itself in each area may be lacking (often it's not however).

So a trip looks like this:

Hop on the train which quickly takes the lion's-share of the travelling distance, then switch to an EV that fills the gap to the final destination/s. Then do this process in reverse to get home.

This approach solves the largest problems presented by the author.

▲

1970-01-01 5 days ago | parent [-]

High speed rails would involve large scale manufacturing and long-term planning. This is the one thing the US simply cannot do anymore (unless it's military, then they will make 300ish in a decade)

▲

quitit 5 days ago | parent [-]

High speed rail is definitely not a requirement. Ordinary trains are still faster than driving.

What the USA lacks is a robust network. The spread of rail is too thin to be useful for everyday use.

▲

dboreham 4 days ago | parent [-]

Trains in the western US are not faster than driving because there is heavy freight rail traffic. Passenger trains (if they existed) would get stuck behind slow freight trains.

	▲	quitit 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		That’s why more rail needs to be built. I.e a robust network - I find I’m repeating myself. Side lanes are also a feature of these networks, and exist not just to overtake freight or behind schedule trains, but also enable different levels of service, such as express trains versus “all stops” style services. The optics of this thread are telling.