Riley O’Sullivan and Jaida Luparello- Period 5
The United States Federal Government should substantially increase its
investment in high-speed rails. Not only will this create an influx of jobs, but it will reduce
operating costs all throughout the states. About 15% of the US population is in poverty
and the numbers are only going to continue to rise. This new innovation will help people to
grow financially by creating millions of well paid jobs. It will open up positions to different
fields such as engineering, manufacturing, construction, real estate development, plus
operations and management of the new system. For every $1 billion dollar investment,
approximately 24,000 jobs will be created. It is estimated that the US will spend almost
$100 billion dollars before the year 2030. That is a whopping 2,400,000 jobs created,
solving so many financial problems for people all across America.
High speed rails are significantly better for the environment than traveling by car
or plane. Transportation is the number one source for carbon emissions around the world.
High speed rails will minimize the amount of greenhouse gasses being emitted into the
atmosphere. This new efficient train system will use renewable energy rather than gas or
oil, leading to a large decrease in carbon emissions. It is estimated that the amount of
greenhouse gasses will decrease by about 12 billion pounds per year. According to Project
Drawdown, “a project with the goal of steadily decreasing greenhouse gasses, high speed
rails could reduce carbon emissions by up to 90 percent”. Not only will high-speed rails
help the environment, but the US will save billions of dollars on oil. Around 13 million
barrels of oil will be saved per year. Utilizing electric trains will be a drastic environmental
game-changer and it will reduce the demand and reliability on foreign oils.
Many other countries have or are in the process of building high-speed rails such as
China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and more, so why aren't we? High-speed rails have
benefited all of these places by shortening travel times and making transportation easier
and safer. High-speed rails can travel up to about 250mph making this a more efficient
way of transportation. The car ride from New York to Florida is around 16 hrs and 45min.
When taking a high-speed rail, it would only take around 7 hours and 30 minutes, cutting
the travel time by about 10 hours. High-speed rails will become a transformative and safe
way to get from state to state, city to city, and town to town. About 1.35 million people
die in car accidents each year around the world. In the US, 42,915 people die due to car
accidents per year. In countries with high speed rail systems, such as Germany and France,
the numbers are substantially lower. In Germany there are about 2,570 deaths per year
and in France there are 2,541.
Traffic and road congestion are huge problems that are getting worse due to
overpopulation. Highways are packed, travel times are being increased, and money is
being wasted on expansion of roads and fuel. Over $203 billion dollars are spent each year
on solely roads and highways. Instead of expanding highways and freeways, the
government should invest in high-speed rails, the cheaper and simple solution to
America's problems. They would relieve congestion due to less people driving and more
people taking electric trains. High speed rails would take tens of thousands of people off
the roads, taking pressure off of streets, highways, and other types of road systems.
Electric trains will especially benefit crowded cities such as New York and Las Vegas,
leaving more room for things like biking and walking. These “bullet trains” can transport
up to 32,000 people per hour, making this a better system then any other source of transit
available. They are also rarely delayed due to its ability to travel in extreme weather
conditions, making them a reliable and trustworthy source without any worries of
cancellations.
As you can see there are many benefits to not only the government, but the citizens
of the US by investing in high-speed rails. They will create an influx of jobs, reduce
greenhouse gas emissions, institute a safe environment for passengers, and reduce
congestion on all types of road systems. If other countries have them and are thriving, we
should too!
Cites
review of 10 years of transportation fatalities https://www.apta.com/researchtechnical-resources/high-speed-passenger-rail/benefits-of-high-speed-railfor-the-united-states/
safest forms of transportation