"Maglev to Destroy Habitat, Climate" ?

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jok
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"Maglev to Destroy Habitat, Climate" ?

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"Maglev to Destroy Habitat, Climate" ?

By Randal O'Toole

A proposed maglev line between Washington and Baltimore will disrupt 1,000 acres of “parks, recreational facilities and wetlands,” according to a recently released draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the project. That’s a lot of land considering that all but nine miles of the project would be underground. While 180 acres are for a maintenance facility, the remaining acres represent a right‐​of‐​way that is an average of 750 feet wide.
[...] By contrast, airlines don’t need any right‐​of‐​way once they leave the airports.

[...]

NASA has facilities that “require minimal disturbances from vibration, artificial lighting and electromagnetic interference,” it says, and it opposes the location of the maglev because it will disturb those facilities. City of Washington planners warn that a proposed station near Mount Vernon Square would destroy the character of that neighborhood.

[...]

The project is economically dubious as well. It is currently projected to cost $13.8 billion to $16.8 billion, or $345 million to $420 million per mile. Of course, the actual cost will probably be somewhere between $20 and $30 billion. What do we get for that?

Currently, Amtrak’s Acela covers the route in 29 minutes at fares ranging from $19 to $44. Amtrak’s conventional trains take 37 minutes at fares ranging from $8 to $25. Buses take as little as 40 minutes at fares ranging from $2.50 to $20.

Maglev backers promise their line will take just 15 minutes and that fares will range from $27 to $80, with an average of $60. In other words, it will cost $8 to $36 to save 14 minutes, $19 to $55 to save 22 minutes, or $25 to $60 to save 25 minutes.

Clearly, the main users of the maglev line will be bureaucrats and lobbyists who will have someone else (mainly taxpayers) pay their way. What is less clear is why ordinary taxpayers should pay to build a line that they won’t ever use [...].
Soruce: Cato.org.: O'Toole, Randal: Maglev to Destroy Habitat, Climate. Online: https://www.cato.org/blog/meglev-destro ... at-climate. Accessed: 2021-04-07.
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Residents Oppose High-Speed Maglev through Prince George’s County

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2021-04-15_The Banner of Hyattsville
2021-04-15_The Banner of Hyattsville
https://www.hyattsvillewire.com
accessed: 2021-04-15

Some Route 1 Residents Oppose Proposed High-Speed Maglev Train Through Prince George’s County
Some residents along the Route 1 corridor are coming out against a proposed high-speed train that would whisk riders from D.C. to Baltimore in just 15 minutes. [...]

The preferred route would pass near NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, cut through the middle of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and cross parts of the Patuxent Research Refuge, raising concerns among Route 1 communities about the proposed train’s environmental effects. Others argue that high-speed rail reduces greenhouse gases by offering an alternative to driving.

Unlike the Metro lines through the area or the Purple Line light-rail project, the maglev has no direct benefits to Route 1 communities, since it would start at Mount Vernon Square in D.C. and stop only at the Baltimore-Washington airport and in Baltimore. [...]
https://www.hyattsvillewire.com/2021/04 ... lt-maglev/
accessed: 2021-04-15
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jok
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$10,000 for a legal challenge to the maglev project

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At its virtual meeting Tuesday, the College Park City Council voted unanimously to provide the city of Greenbelt with legal counsel funds to oppose a proposed maglev train project.

The proposed project would build a 40-mile high-speed rail between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. The council will contribute $10,000 in response to a request by Greenbelt to obtain legal counsel to oppose the project.

[...]

In a presentation to the College Park City Council, Glaros detailed the environmental justice issues that would arise in the area from the maglev.

One concern is the projected 23 million cubic yards of material that would need to be excavated to build both the underground and aboveground portions of the project [...]
George’s County residents have also raised concerns about potential challenges for stormwater management, noise and vibration, as well as water and power disruptions.

[...]

“This project would devastate Amtrak, and so folks that are interested in broader public transportation issues should be mindful of the broader ecosystem in which this train creates challenges for other systems that we know, value and use,” he said.
[...]
https://dbknews.com/2021/04/14/college- ... lt-maglev/
Accessed: 2021-04-15

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Eurorapid
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Re: "Maglev to Destroy Habitat, Climate" ?

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Community members say MAGLEV train would be overpriced, destroy local environments
Text by Anaya Truss-Williams

2021-04-23_protest against MAGLEV on April 13-2021 Photo courtesy of Richmond Forsen
2021-04-23_protest against MAGLEV on April 13-2021 Photo courtesy of Richmond Forsen
Photo: A protest against the MAGLEV train on April 13, 2021. (Photo courtesy of Richmond Forsen)
Source: https://dbknews.com/2021/04/22/communit ... ironments/
Accessed: 2021-04-23
local residents, transit activists, environmental organizations and local school boards want to stop the project that would be built in their backyards without permission before it becomes a reality.

Mitchell, who has opposed the SCMAGLEV for years but has become more vocal in the last year, calls the project “privatized public transportation.”

“It’s obviously not going to be affordable to a lot of people so I don’t understand how you expect to take a lot of cars off the road and be an alternative to driving,” he added.

[...]

District 6 Prince George’s County Public Schools Board of Education representative Belinda Queen said she is concerned about the noise and rumbling that could result from the 311 mph train running under schools and homes and how it could distract students.

“I understand that we need to move into the 21st century but not on the backs of our residents and citizens,” Queen added.

Janet Gingold, Prince George’s County Sierra Club Executive Committee Chair, said that while the organization supports high-speed rail, the SCMAGLEV is a project that they cannot get behind because of issues of inequity, misuse of public lands and the possibility of taking resources away from other transit.

[...]


“It doesn’t even stop in the county that it wants to build through,” said Temple Hills resident Janna Parker. “It essentially seems just like another project that is being done at the expense of people of color, in regards to their ownership of land and property as well as their ability to make decisions about what happens on the land and property they own, and subsequently should govern.”

Richard DeShay Elliott, who is running for the Maryland House of Delegates District 24 seat, said mass transit should be improved “for everybody before we even consider creating upper-class-only transit.”

[...]
Source: https://dbknews.com/2021/04/22/communit ... ironments/
Accessed: 2021-04-23
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Eurorapid
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Some Greenbelt Residents Oppose to Plans for High-Speed Maglev

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Some Greenbelt Residents Oppose to Plans for High-Speed Maglev Train
.
2021-05-24 NBC Maglev Protest
2021-05-24 NBC Maglev Protest
Source: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/loca ... n/2680880/
Accessed: 2021-05-24

“We are saying no build is the best,” Councilmember Judith J. Davis said.

[...]

Opponents of the paths proposed through Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties said the benefits come at a cost they’re not willing to pay.

“It happens to be in an area where the low-income people live, the underserved people live,” Davis said.

Residents are also concerned about losing greenspace with trails, flora and fauna. They worry that the train would interfere with protected lands, like the Greenbelt Forest Preserve, “the Patuxent national wildlife refuge and also there’s the issue of the train maintenance facility that they’ve proposed for the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center,” resident Kristin Fletcher said.

Environmental impact studies also acknowledge the effects on those areas and suggest ways to mitigate them.

[...]

With above ground and below ground portions, opponents look at the overhead infrastructure in Japan’s system for what to expect. The train may be the future of mass transit, but many in the area still aren't sold.

“You don’t need to destroy the present in order to have hope and promise for the future,” Fletcher said.
Source: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/loca ... n/2680880/
Accessed: 2021-05-24
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