trains, (mergers for) planes, and (the price of gas for) automobiles

apparently, it's not just me and stilgoe who think that regional trains could make a resurgence in this age of bazillion-dollar oil barrels!

the NYT did a piece the other day, about that very idea and its grounding in reality, at least for amtrak. matthew wald, who wrote it, makes the valid point that amtrak still uses oil, so it's not immune—all the more reason for the creation of shinkasen-style electricity-based bullet trains! more importantly, amtrak (surprise surprise) has pretty broken-down equipment, so a serious update may be in order for the federally-subsidized program.

privatization, anyone? that's what mccain proposes. obama, on the other hand, wants to keep the state in charge for the time being, but focus on improvement. the economics 101 student in me says privatization is probably the way to go, but media-studies guru paul levinson disagrees wholeheartedly.

i've got an idea, but i want to keep it a secret, given that i might try to pitch it at a story meeting soon.

weird thought from a non-economist

upon reading this set of data and analysis about per-capita oil consumption in the US and the decline of SUV's, i have to wonder—what's the next mode of transportation going to be?

what if someone broke up the amtrak rail monopoly, and bloomberg's plan for an american shinkasen went through? what if that plan were expanded throughout the country? sure, right now, it seems like it would only be slightly faster than the acela service that amtrak offers, but i'm dealing in long-term hypotheticals. what if trains took over the continent again, at least for regional travel within the US? it works for india...

harvard design prof (again, not an economist) john stilgoe has a more developed version of this idea, so i guess i'm just jumping on board with an existing theory. however, where he's certain, i'm merely postulating.