How The United States Ended Up With No High-Speed Rail
When was the last time you took a train in the U.S. to get from city to city? If you don’t live in the Northeast part of the country, chances are you probably haven’t used a train for any sort of long distance travel.
Even in large American cities, much of the population doesn’t take public transit. In fact, according to the American Public Transportation Association, 45% of Americans have no access to public transportation. If you don’t live in New York or Chicago, you probably drive most places. Everyone in your household of driving age owns a car, and you wouldn’t even dream of your life without it.
For an increasing number of people in the U.S., there is an echo of a future that never was. Cities that could have provided high-speed public transit access throughout the local area and between major cities is almost nowhere to be found. For the masses, cars are the only option in an expansive, sprawled metro area clogged with traffic and long commutes.
Historically, there are many reasons things ended up this way. Let’s look at a few:
Oil Companies Encouraging the Dismantling of Public Transportation
There was a huge shift in the middle of the 20th Century when it came to how Americans transported…
