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| In addition to the tunnels and trusses we got to check out an old, abandoned caboose. |
I don't remember the last time I rode a train in the US. Does the monorail at the Sacramento airport count? My grandma used to always ride Amtrak to Salem when she'd visit from California, but that was because she's afraid of flying. It certainly wasn't for the convenience. A one-way Amtrak ticket to Sacramento from Portland (booked a month ahead of time) costs about $122. The same kind of ticket with Alaska Airlines would cost $125. The biggest difference between the two trips is that the train ride lasts 15 hours (potentially longer because Amtrak always has to yield to freight trains) whereas the plane gets there in a little under 2 hours. Decisions decisions.
According to The Economist, the US has the largest rail network in the world, but ridership numbers are tiny. That's because we use trains to carry freight. Cargo trains are what you'll mostly see in Oregon. It isn't unusual to see car after car filled with lumber. Six blocks from my school are tracks that are used on a daily basis. Still, I just don't think of trains as a convenient or efficient way to travel around the state or country. When I was a kid my family took road trips all over the US, which are the source of many happy memories. I wonder if little European kids have that experience or if they take family "train trips."
Then I think of commuters. There are definitely people who live in Salem and commute to Portland everyday... by car. I can't imagine driving 45-75 minutes every morning and then again in the evening. A train is so luxurious in that respect. You can read the paper, play poker with the person next to you, or even change into a totally different outfit on the way home.
Of course there's the environmental impact of a car-centered society. What with climate change and pollution being a major concern worldwide, you'd think the US would have figured out an all-encompassing alternative to cars in our country, but no. It's tough to build nationwide train systems when the American population is spread out all over the place. Yes, there are metropolitan hubs, but there are still people living all over the place, which means high-speed rails are the only realistic solution. There are plans to build high-speed railways in the US, as seen in the map below (click on map to enlarge).
This is super exciting. However, the trains that are useful on a day-to-day basis are the regional rail systems. According to the US High Speed Rail Association, they have a three-tiered plan for transforming American transportation. I have no idea what the timeline for the project is, but hopefully the Oregon portion is projected to be complete before 2030.
Clearly major changes are coming and already happening in the US. After they come, though, it's all about getting people to change their own lifestyles to utilize these new transportation systems. Cars are such an integral part of my life as an American I have trouble envisioning a life without them. I mean, it's only a little itty bit of trouble envisioning it, but still.
Maybe I'll go to Europe and come to embrace this train lifestyle and come back to the US to find the high speed rail project even further along then anticipated. These steps into the future of American transportation will be interesting to observe in Oregon. Houses with seven cars, half of them junked, on the front lawn are an image that is quintessentially Oregon. Drive in the rural areas, along the coast, or through certain parts of Salem, and you'll see it.
American transportation is a huge issue. It's hard to tackle it all at once, but something clearly needs to be done. Changing a car-centered culture is tough, especially in such a unique (and huge) country as the US. Despite the differences when it comes to population density and size, living in Germany will be a window into the future possibilities for the US transportation system.
