Here’s an interesting take on the contrast in efficiency between Cascadia and France. Guess who comes out on top?
Consider intercity trains:
In fact, I had a bad case of high-speed train envy after taking the TGV from Paris to Marseilles. This trip, which is about the same as going from Portland to Vancouver, British Columbia, takes about 3 hours. The Portland-to-Vancouver trip takes 7 hours on our moribund Amtrak system (and you can’t even ride the train all the way there–instead, you have to get off the train in Seattle and ride a bus to Vancouver).
I’m not sure if all the arguments about French households being more efficient translate to the Northwest. But there’s plenty to learn on transportation. For example, Seattle is building a proto-streetcar that may one day match what Paris launched months ago.
Comments
3 responses to “France is more efficient than Cascadia”
The highway tolls between Paris and Marseille total over USD 67 according to autoroute.fr. Add in $6-7/gallon for gas and its not surprising that people are more interested in taking the train.
At $50 – 120 per person each way they TGV is hardly a cheap option either.
It should also be noted that Marseille-Paris is quite a bit further than Portland-Seattle. 506 vs 774km driving.
Between Seattle and Portland the train already pencils out for one traveler. It’s usually $25 on Amtrak or $20+ for gas alone, not counting wear and tear.
I think the point is that we need to start creating the kinds of options that they have in France. Between Seattle and Portland Amtrak is far slower than driving and will be for many years to come, even though traffic will increasingly crawl. I’m all for building projects to dramatically boost time and reliability — and then adding some highway tolls to cover the bills.
MAGLEV!
http://www.thyssenkrupp-transrapid.com/download/Kompetenz_e.pdf