▪️You can have the same experience in the US with the new Brightline trains that run from Miami to Orlando. Comfy seats, great service, Starlink internet, top speed of over 200 km/hr, fares starting at $79, but privately run.
https://www.afar.com/magazine/brightline-train-review-riding-floridas-high-speed-rail
▪️Brightline has other projects in the works, like a route between LA and Vegas, which is breaking ground this year and ambitiously projected to be completed by the Summer Olympics in 2028. It’s partially subsidized by the govt, but mostly private funds.
https://www.dot.nv.gov/projects-programs/transportation-projects/brightline-west-high-speed-rail-project
▪️Unfortunately, Brightline’s Florida ridership has been below forecast, and they are issuing junk bonds for new funding. Whether or not it succeeds will depend on the market, perhaps high speed rail just doesn’t make sense in the US, but they’ve shown how a privately run railroad can be built quick and efficiently. And if it fails, it’s primarily a loss for investors, not taxpayers.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-26/brightline-florida-s-high-speed-railroad-slashes-2024-ridership-forecast?embedded-checkout=true
▪️Meanwhile, the “nationalized” high speed rail boondoggle in CA drags on. In 2008 it was pitched to taxpayers as a high speed rail connecting LA to SF, completed by 2020 at a cost of $33B. As of 2024, no rail exists and no estimates are given for completion.
▪️Now, they estimate it will cost $35B just for the “train to nowhere” route from Merced to Bakersfield, which might be completed by 2030-33. The rest of the track will now cost an additional $100B! If it ever gets completed. A private project would have smartly been abandoned long ago, but “nationalized” projects can burn through endless money and timetables.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-21/high-speed-rail
It’s bizarre to see them seesaw back and forth that Trump is totally clueless and aloof, just golfing all day, then all of a sudden he’s a dangerous king/dictator who’s diligently plotting to seize absolute power.
▪️This one is frustrating because, while it’s nice to see the vigor and speed that DOGE is acting with, they’re also sloppy with some of their findings. This is not some bombshell, millions of dead people’s SS numbers aren’t being paid out to fraudsters.
▪️This problem has been known for some time, you can read an inspector general’s report from 2015 about millions of names on the SS “numident” not being correctly annotated for deaths, even though they were older than 112 (the oldest known American at the time).
https://oig-files.ssa.gov/audits/full/A-06-14-34030_0.pdf
▪️There are innocent explanations for some of these. Expatriates that died outside the country, for example. Or immigrants given temporary work permit who returned to their country, people issued new numbers for various reasons, etc. However, most are simply due to the govt not diligently keeping track of deaths.
▪️It’s embarrassing that the govt has millions of numbers on the numident that are ...
