George Schupp: Driverless cars a dream for future, but high-speed rail works now
Re “Fast trains soon to be obsolete” (Letters, Jan. 16): The writer labels high-speed rail a 19th Century relic and goes on to describe imaginary driver-less cars as a reason to stop high-speed rail in California and continue down the path of massive government subsidies for highways.
Electrified high-speed rail has nothing to do with the slow, steam-powered trains of the 19th century. Advanced countries like China, Italy and Japan (just to name a few) have been investing in high-speed rail for years because it’s a fast, efficient and reliable part of their transportation infrastructure.
Show me even one small town where self-driving cars have been transporting people. High-speed trains have been operating successfully all over the world for years.
Good luck to any dreamy inventors who want to make the automobile an efficient means of travel. When that first robot car rolls off the assembly line in the imaginary future, it should be christened the Red Herring.
George Schupp, Modesto
This story was originally published January 19, 2015 at 12:41 PM with the headline "George Schupp: Driverless cars a dream for future, but high-speed rail works now."