Episode 112: We’re Dawdling on High-Speed Rail

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Bullet trains have been a major component of transit systems in places like Japan, China, and Europe for decades. Why hasn’t high-speed rail taken root in the supposedly forward-thinking United States? Mark and Joe set off on a journey of discovery through issues like inadequate infrastructure, population density, and the usual economic and political obstacles before reaching its terminus in America’s ongoing, dysfunctional love affair with cars. Daunting as these challenges are, there’s still a way forward, if we have the will to get there (a big if). (Recorded May 30, 2025.)