You don't have to link NY to SF. High-speed rail in the U.S. makes the most sense for linking the mega-regions. Chicago to Montreal is less than twice the distance from Bordeaux to Strasbourg and hits much bigger cities along the way. Birmingham, AL to Raleigh, NC is about the same distance hits similar sized metro areas.
Also: the fact that cars are driverless doesn't change the physics of 250 mph cars...
Actually driverless cars experience much different physics... Driverless cars can squeeze together much tighter drastically reducing wind resistance. Even the lead car will experience less drag because of vacuum effect. 250 MPH cars also need much straighter roads and allow for greater traffic flow which changes the economic modelling for highways leading to shorter journeys. Driverless cars also allow for greater degrees of sharing meaning that you'd only need a few 250 MPH cars shared amongst many individuals.
Of course you don't have to link NY and SF but that's what the map shows, well to be fair the map shows, NY to LA.
The rolling resistance of a rubber tire at 250 miles an hour is comically ridiculous. The Bugatti Veyron gets about 3 miles per gallon at 250 miles per hour.
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You don't have to link NY to SF. High-speed rail in the U.S. makes the most sense for linking the mega-regions. Chicago to Montreal is less than twice the distance from Bordeaux to Strasbourg and hits much bigger cities along the way. Birmingham, AL to Raleigh, NC is about the same distance hits similar sized metro areas.
Also: the fact that cars are driverless doesn't change the physics of 250 mph cars...
Actually driverless cars experience much different physics... Driverless cars can squeeze together much tighter drastically reducing wind resistance. Even the lead car will experience less drag because of vacuum effect. 250 MPH cars also need much straighter roads and allow for greater traffic flow which changes the economic modelling for highways leading to shorter journeys. Driverless cars also allow for greater degrees of sharing meaning that you'd only need a few 250 MPH cars shared amongst many individuals.
Of course you don't have to link NY and SF but that's what the map shows, well to be fair the map shows, NY to LA.
The rolling resistance of a rubber tire at 250 miles an hour is comically ridiculous. The Bugatti Veyron gets about 3 miles per gallon at 250 miles per hour.
And the map shows a lot more than just NYC to LA.