Nobody Cares: PRS

[Noodles]

It's kind of weird because ever since the airline ended I've seen lots of weird like sentimental/mourning type statements and posts in some of my feeds, people saying they'll miss Spirit Airlines, all kinds of things like that. And it's like I'm visiting the Twilight Zone because I can't think of anything good I've ever heard from a passenger of this airline. Every time someone has talked about it, that I've heard over the years, it's always about how horrible the experience is, even above other airlines. How there is zero amenities, and they nickle-and-dime and restrict things even more than other airlines. I feel like half the stories about passengers themselves going crazy and abusing attendants or other passengers, come from budget airlines like Spirit.

Like look at this garbage. Nearly 200k people have "pledged" (not actually *raised* or *donated*, but still) around $88 MILLION so far to buy and 'revive' and 'relaunch' Spirit Airlines. If you weirdos loved this airline so much you're willing to (pretend at least) collectively donate tens of millions of dollars to keep it going, why the heck weren't you buying tickets when it was running?

There is this bizzare ass mental illness that seems to infect a huge amount of the population where basically like, nothing can ever change, nothing can fail, we can't just say "This airline sucked, and it died", we have to try tonget it to live on because "change = bad.". Even if it doesn't actually affect them.

 

[Naluri Murai]

There is this bizzare ass mental illness that seems to infect a huge amount of the population where basically like, nothing can ever change, nothing can fail, we can't just say "This airline sucked, and it died", we have to try tonget it to live on because "change = bad.". Even if it doesn't actually affect them.

I know this kinda goes against what you said, but frankly if there was an airline to go under, I'd rather it have been Frontier. Every time I go to either book a flight or do research on flights, I find that they're the cheapest option, but oh, surprise surprise, you get a 'free' near 24-BUTTFUCKING-HOUR layover in LAS VEGAS! What, so I can gamble for my night's stay an expensive ass hotel whilst I wait for your crew on the other side of the planet to wake the fuck up and meander their ass over here to pick me up at 4 in the morning in a cramped-ass 737?

Yeah, no, I'll stick to flying Basic with Delta, thanks. At least flights to LAX from my airport are direct and the wifi's free.

 

[Noodles]

Personally, I don't fly at all. The last time I flew was like... 30 years ago, maybe? I am not sure I can even name major airlines at all. My uncle worked for US Air but I think they are gone.

 

[Naluri Murai]

If the US government wants to provide nationwide public transit, then it should just nationalize the railways.

I went on a rant about this a while ago, in that realistically, if we want to do away with airlines outside of intercontinental flights or major population centers, then we should have:

1. Invested Billions of dollars into high speed transnational and regional rail
2. Done so in the 1980s
3. Nationalized the existing infra and told the existing companies to eat our entire ass

As someone who visited San Bernardino and LA this year back in March - I loved riding Metrolink and the LA subway. By far and away the best experience I've had with mass transit in my life, even if getting out of LAX was confusing as hell. If we could, to quote Serj Tankian, pull the tapeworm out of our ass and speedrun high speed rail that saw me to LA in 6 hours from the East Coast or less, that'd be great - but we all know that's never going to happen.

 

[Casey Pelous]

... pull the tapeworm out of our ass and speedrun high speed rail that saw me to LA in 6 hours from the East Coast or less, that'd be great - but we all know that's never going to happen.

Coast-to-coast in 6 hours would require a train that could average about 500 mph. Current high-speed rail top speed is in the 200-mph range -- maglev can get up to 350'ish, at least for short bursts.

It would take a whole lot more than that tapeworm removal to build a 500-mph train -- and remember, that's average speed, so figure more like a 550 or 600 mph train. That's as fast as a jetliner except without the benefit of high-altitude operation for efficiency. Airplanes go in fairly straight lines -- train routes have an annoying tendency to turn, which adds even more miles and more need for more speed. For what it would cost to develop such a thing, never mind securing the right-of-way and building the system, we could have two or three fantastic airline systems. God, we might even be able to size the seat spacing for someone taller than, say, 4'2".

 

[Naluri Murai]

Coast-to-coast in 6 hours would require a train that could average about 500 mph. Current high-speed rail top speed is in the 200-mph range -- maglev can get up to 350'ish, at least for short bursts.

A GIRL CAN DREAM

 

[Soen Eber]

It would be nice if we didn't have to scavenge museums and ebay everytime a Traffic Control radar broke. That's my dream.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

A real ‘Murica system is Smith and Wesson designing a howitzer and parachute system high speed transit.

 

[Free]

Ted Turner: CNN founder dies at 87

The media mogul pioneered the modern 24-hour news culture when he launched the Cable News Network in 1980.

www.bbc.com

He'll forever be known to me as Jane Fonda's former husband.

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Did they play the Turner Doomsday Video?

 

[Free]

Did they play the Turner Doomsday Video?

You've been waiting for reports of his death just so you can post that question, right?

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

You've been waiting for reports of his death just so you can post that question, right?

24 hour news cycle made it absurdly prophetic, and now gestures broadly at everything.

 

[detrius]

Coast-to-coast in 6 hours would require a train that could average about 500 mph. Current high-speed rail top speed is in the 200-mph range -- maglev can get up to 350'ish, at least for short bursts.

It would take a whole lot more than that tapeworm removal to build a 500-mph train -- and remember, that's average speed, so figure more like a 550 or 600 mph train. That's as fast as a jetliner except without the benefit of high-altitude operation for efficiency. Airplanes go in fairly straight lines -- train routes have an annoying tendency to turn, which adds even more miles and more need for more speed. For what it would cost to develop such a thing, never mind securing the right-of-way and building the system, we could have two or three fantastic airline systems. God, we might even be able to size the seat spacing for someone taller than, say, 4'2".

Focusing on a coast-to-coast high-speed rail connection right from the start is a bit like trying to climb Mount Everest before learning to walk.

The first step would be to connect the cities in America's megaregions, starting with the Northeast Corridor. From there, you connect the megaregions with each other. The final result could look like this:

Speaking about seat spacing, this is how much room I had when I traveled to my parents a few months ago:

 

[Noodles]

I like the idea of trains, but in general the US is much larger than a lot of people seem to think.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

They make sense as regional transit. Connect Miami to Boston and San Diego to Vancouver, Washington to Chicago, New Orleans to Cleveland, and Savannah to Dallas as major routes and while few people would ride end to end, a lot of people would ride segments of those lines. Chicago to L.A. or Seattle would make more sense to fly. Skip the Great Plains and the mountain west, and run up and down the coasts and the Mississippi with a few east-west lines to hit relatively close and densely populated areas.

 

[detrius]

I like the idea of trains, but in general the US is much larger than a lot of people seem to think.

Again, that's why you don't focus on long-distance connections at the beginning but connect the densely populated areas first.

For the US, that means covering the coastal areas first.

There's no reason why America can't have something like high-speed rail networks connecting Boston and Washington, around the Great Lakes, or along its Southern coastline.

But for some reason, when Americans hear the word "trains", they always think this:

 

[Veritable Quandry]

But for some reasons, when Americans hear trains, they always think this:

Yes, we have a trolley problem.

 

[Isabeau]

Europe is big, too. They may fly for longer distances, yet take the train regionally.

 

[Veritable Quandry]

Europe is big, too. They may fly for longer distances, yet take the train regionally.

Yeah. Short rides are nice, but I hear the Orient Express is murder.

 

[Isabeau]

*groan* ha ha