thetransitgirl:

A network of 113 lines, including 26 long-distance routes and 87 frequent regional routes, 21 of which would support high-speed service. Connecting thousands of American cities and towns, including the 132 shown on this map, of which 45 would have high-speed service and only 12 would not be served by frequent regional routes. Today, after eleven years of planning, I’m launching my vision of Rail for America.

This isn’t a formal policy proposal or a business plan. This is an idea: a glimpse into what the American rail network has potential to be, through which I hope to illustrate where Amtrak’s service is desperately lacking. This plan asks the question: what if America’s transit network was comparable to those of Europe and China? Of course, Europe and China have much denser populations than that of America, and so the network proposed here is less dense than those of Europe and China. But this is a fundamentally different kind of system than today’s Amtrak, which is held back by only serving towns it deems viable without feeling the need to serve the entire country. I aim to fix that.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be shifting the focus of this blog to offer many detailed glimpses into the structure of this network, looking into specific cities and corridors to determine the best ways to operate. Through this plan I’m hoping to tie together transportation analysis on the local and national scales, by identifying how even local commuter routes play a part in a cohesive national network. Is this a daunting task? Yes. But I’ve been working on this since I was eleven years old and I don’t plan on stopping now.

And if you want this network to become a reality? Talk about it. Share this plan, get people thinking, send people here to see what I’ve got in store. Prove to the nation and the world that you’re tired of America’s focus on cars and highways and that you’re ready for something better.