Gen Y has decided: trains, not cars. The latest news is zany, fun, controversial. Bottom line: it's more evidence that trains have won.
The BBC has a story reporting that a company wants to put audio ads embedded in train windows. Only someone putting her or his head against the train window could hear the ad.
The technology is not being met with universal approval, of course. But whether train window ads will become reality is not the point. The point is that business, from McDonald's to Siemens, is putting its resources and future with trains, not cars.
To underscore the point, there's a futile desperate ad above the BBC train story for a car, pleading with Gen Y to turn back to cars. Turn back they will not.
Maybe "trains have won," but I wish I could be sure; check out the long list of critical comments following this editorial by Yonah Freemark:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/26/opinion/freemark-high-speed-trains/index.html
I will say one thing--it might be positive there is that large number of comments. That says this subject has high visibility and interest. That might not have been true a few years ago.
Posted by: D. P. Lubic | July 29, 2013 at 09:40 PM
Pfffft!! When are we going to get real trains in this country?
As it is, we still have a damned hard fight for them:
http://www.voicesonthesquare.com/essays/2013/07/14/sunday-train-why-does-congressman-mica-lie-about-amtrak
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2013/07/09/amtrak-foe-mica-meets-his-match-in-john-robert-smith/
We even have supposedly "green" bicycle advocates who want to rip out an existing and operational heritage railroad for a riding trail:
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/06/12/news/doc51b8d5dbbe113062434352.txt
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/06/18/news/doc51c039aba57d7930062383.txt
http://dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/06/20/news/doc51c25fd3936ac820559395.txt?source=jBar
An editorial of interest:
http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/blogs/doug-bowen/preservationists-rearview-work-or-future-prep.html#.UbYQ3ExD7U0.email
There are three "studies" on the subject of the rail vs. trail concept. Here they are:
Study by the county:
http://www.ulstercountyny.gov/planning/ucpb/sp/cmrt/plannersmemo_cmrt.pdf
Study by an outside consultant, paid for by a rich guy (one of the founders of Facebook) who has recently bought a house in the area:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/148500624/Rail-Trail-Economic-Impact-Study
What the railroad has to say; do check out the appendixes as well:
http://catskillmtrailroad.com/reports/CMRR_Report-RailWithTrail-MP3-11.pdf
More material. Item of note on the Chuck Schumer story--he's standing on rails that saw a train just a few weeks before for the Christmas season.
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/02/19/news/doc512416913bb20077395557.txt
Have fun searching and reading:
http://dailyfreeman.com/shared-content/search/index.php?search=go&l=20&s=recent&r=&d1=12-1-2000&d2=today&q=catskill+mountain+railroad
Posted by: D. P. Lubic | July 15, 2013 at 05:59 PM