The infrastructure equation ...

Roberts Rurans

We all have been there, stuck in traffic, navigating crappy roads and dealing with infrastructure that's falling apart as we speak. As a personal example, yours truly likes taking trains as there's less hassle dealing with security and the insanity of airports but efficient train service, like everything else, is slipping by the wayside as we speak. For example, going from CT to VA via AMTRAK takes 10+ hours, something patently ridiculous as the distance is less than 400 but the US cannot build a high speed train in any way, shape or fashion. 

To whit.

Most Americans don’t think about infrastructure unless it fails. But when it does, it’s personal. When subways stall or highways clog, you’re late for work. When a bridge closes, your commute reroutes into chaos. When the storm drain overflows, your basement floods. And when transmission lines fail, the power goes out, leaving homes sweltering, grocery shelves empty and businesses offline.

Weak infrastructure makes your life just a little bit worse.

The United States is sleepwalking into an infrastructure crisis — one that will quietly degrade our quality of life and kneecap our ability to compete in the global economy. It’s not just the older infrastructure that’s in need of repair and replacement; it’s also support for the new systems, such as artificial intelligence.

The crisis calls for a national recommitment to modernization — not as a partisan project, but as a precondition for global competitiveness, national security and basic dignity in daily life. And while responsibility ultimately lies with Congress, it’s also with all of us who understand the stakes.

As an aside, try driving in CT, a nightmare of epic proportions as I 95's a death trap,The Merritt's but two lanes and congested to the max and there is no real mass transit save for Metro North, which does function, but it's not enough. As for quality of roads, marginal at best so ... we have all been there without question.

Regarding high speed rail, CA has a most interesting tale to tell ...

Image Credit: Pxhere | CC0 Public Domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)

When California shifted its bullet train plan into high gear in 2008, it had just 10 employees to manage and oversee design of the largest public construction project in state history.

Consultants assured the state there was little reason to hire hundreds or thousands of in-house engineers and rail experts, because the consultants could handle the heavy work themselves and save California money. It would take them only 12 years to bore under mountains, bridge rivers and build 520 miles of rail bed — all at a cost of just $33 billion….

But significant portions of this work have been flawed or mismanaged, according to records reviewed by The Times and interviews with dozens of people involved in the project. Despite repeated warnings since 2010 about weaknesses in its staffing, the rail authority believed it could reduce overall costs by relying on consultants and avoiding a large permanent workforce. But that strategy has failed to keep project costs from soaring. Ten years after voters approved it, the project is $44 billion over budget and 13 years behind schedule.

And it "ain't" done. 

China's take.

A CRH2A (based on E2-1000 Series Shinkansen) in Xiamen

The economics of high-speed rail in China has been a topic of much discussion.[9][10] A 2019 study produced by TransFORM, a knowledge platform developed by the World Bank and China’s Ministry of Transport, estimated the annual rate of economic return of China's high-speed rail network in 2015 to be at 8%, which is well above the opportunity cost of capital in China for major long term infrastructure investments. The study also noted a range of benefits which included shortened travel times, improved safety and better facilitation of tourism, labor and mobility, as well as reducing highway congestion, accidents and greenhouse emissions as some automobile travellers switch from car use to rail.[11][12] A 2020 study by Paulson Institute has estimated the net benefit of the high-speed rail system to be approximately $378 billion, with an annual return on investment of 6.5%.[13]

Any questions?