High Speed Rail – The “Jersey Shore” and “American Idol” Theory

May 10, 2012 at 10:05 am aepcentral Leave a comment

Matt Barcus
President, Precision Executive Search, Inc
Managing Partner, CivilEngineeringCentral.com
View Matt’s profile & connect with him on LinkedIn

MTV’s “Jersey Shore” would not be a success if people were not talking about Snookie & “The Situation.”

American Idol would not have been the huge success it was / is if people were not talking about Simon Cowell.

California High Speed Rail will ultimately be a huge success…because people are constantly talking about it.

So throw out all the research, that’s my theory and I’m stickin’ to it :)!   Anything so controversial just might be worth fighting for, and infrastructure as important as a US High Speed Rail Program, let alone California High Speed Rail, will one day come to fruition…and it will be successful!

Last week in the course of conducting a search for a client of ours I was fortunate enough to speak with an executive level rail & transit engineering professional who had 40 years of experience and who has had his mind or hands on some of the highest profile mega rail and transit projects around the world. During the course of our conversation we started discussing the California High Speed Rail program. I asked him if he thought that a full and complete California High Speed Rail system would every come to fruition? His response was an absolute, “Yes!”

We discussed how what the public reads and sees are the drawbacks and potential downfalls of such a program, and as a result, the public feeds into the negativity and a strong opposition is created.  The positive and meaningful impacts of such a project are never publicized.  As we chatted, this executive made a very telling statement I think in that he suggested that look, people are talking about it. If people were not talking about it, then he would be concerned. The passion FOR the project and the build out of such infrastructure is equal to or greater than the passion AGAINST it; we just don’t hear about it. And those in favor of High Speed Rail initiatives not just in California, but nationwide, need to get some air time.

Every major industrial nation has High Speed Rail or is building High Speed Rail connections.  Building out High Speed Rail is no small feat, but in my opinion,  the benefits outweigh the negatives, and many of the negatives can be overcome.  Spread the word about the benefits of High Speed Rail by sharing some of the information found here:

http://www.ushsr.com/benefits.html

http://www.elitegroup.tv/high-speed-rail/

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1957575,00.html

http://fastlane.dot.gov/2011/04/high-speed-rail-applications-draw-a-smart-crowd.html

http://dsc.discovery.com/cars-bikes/8-benefits-of-high-speed-trains.html

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