There and Back Again
I’m about to go to bed, but I need to share something with you. Today was another shining example of why we need high-speed rail here in Texas. A few members of my research group and I spent six hours in my car driving to and from Houston this afternoon to help a group of high school students in an energy forum. Note the irony. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy driving as much as the next guy, but why can’t I hop on a modern train and ride from Austin to Houston and back, all the while checking my email, getting work done, avoiding traffic, eating, and stretching out my legs? What is worrisome is that today’s trip is not an anomaly; I seem to be making these “there and back again” trips to Houston and Dallas more frequently (at least four since last summer). There’s a time and place for cars, but driving three hours to a two and a half hour event and three hours back home isn’t one of them.
