America is too big for planes, too. If your transportation solution is flying, now everyone has to get around via endless highways or big, complicated regional airports, and you can only have so many of those. There’s a reason why rural areas in North America have completely different politics from urban areas, and why so much of it is driven by a sense of isolation and abandonment. Trains promise to help here because they are able to stop in small places that will never, ever have practical airports.

A good rail network provides a reliable, consistent, repeatable, and straightforward three hour connection from Nowheresberg to the nearest city. Slow, but good enough to feel like they exist in the same planet. Unfortunately, that promise is subtle, and it plays out over decades, so the reward system we’ve created for ourselves is incapable of supporting it. And thus, we have Amtrak and confederate flags

https://cosocial.ca/@dylanmccall/113233671160717813

  • MNByChoice@midwest.socialEnglish
    39·
    1 month ago

    Rural America is covered in local airports. No large commercial carriers, but the airports exist.

    We need more rail. The argument starts from a bad premise.

      • rockSlayer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        Every county has a county seat. There’s nothing preventing the county seat from being a regional travel hub.

      • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        1·
        1 month ago

        Why not though? Honest question, I’ve been to an airport that had a terminal of around 30 square metres with decent passenger service in the EU.

        I’d say it’s the flying that’s not scalable, not the airport footprints.

        • BakerBagel@midwest.socialEnglish
          2·
          1 month ago

          Most municipal airports can’t handle jet engine planes around here. They are all just small body, single engine aircraft on poorly maintained and non-level runways. They are fine for recreational flights, crop dusters, or flight instruction, but most rural airports here are little more than a few hangers and an administrative building with a runaway.

          • ℍ𝕂-𝟞𝟝@sopuli.xyzEnglish
            1·
            1 month ago

            So the airport I’m talking about is Sønderborg, it also can’t service jets, the only passenger service operates 2-3 twin turboprop planes to Copenhagen and back. The airport is six hangars, the terminal literally is a single room with enough room for the passengers of a single plane.