(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Commercial viability: And that means ‘what’ exactly? [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-24 Commercial viability means the same as commercial success regarding that having to do with, what else?! “commerce.” This brings to mind an article published in The Fresno Bee written years ago by staff correspondent Tim Sheehan, about high-speed rail in Spain of all places. You see, Sheehan was, apparently, sent there by his employer in a fact-finding-mission-sort-of-capacity to learn and report on what makes Spanish high-speed rail tick. In other words, why it is that high-speed rail in Spain works as well as it does. The end result was a multi-page, multi-faceted, article detailing many of the fast-train network’s many advantages over other types of travel including that of conventional train, a portion of the total column space devoted to covering commerce and also, by extension, commercial viability, some of which had to specifically do with hotel bed numbers. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. That’s correct: the numbers of hotel beds. In one community that was profiled, it, of course, was situated right on the route of a high-speed train line that was so-served. As reported, the number of hotel beds in town saw an increase, that is, compared to a time just prior to when the fast train arrived in town. This was all predicated on the notion that, because of the influx of increased numbers added to the tourist and visitor ranks, this, in turn, prompted the jump in the amount of hotel stays. That translated into more hotel beds being added. And, that, apparently, had a direct cause-and-effect impact on local economic activity that, presumably, would otherwise have been absent had such train service not been made available in that profiled-in-the-article community. And, this is not the only example where passenger-rail service nudged upward economic activity in a locally served jurisdiction. In one Portland, Oregon, district, before a new light rail system came on line, for one commercial business, patronage activity, well, let’s just say, had apparently been a far cry from what it was while the new train line was going in. And while construction work was in process, additionally, sales were, no doubt, even more negatively impacted. But, once service on the line commenced, what with pedestrian access becoming less restricted, and due to the increased foot traffic that resulted, the affected store’s sales began to recover and perhaps even exceeded earlier expectations. The store was all about the stocking and cataloguing of books and reading materials. There were no doubt other area businesses that were impacted similarly. If that isn’t convincing enough, then you’ll no doubt want to check this out. This is what on Jan. 1, 2017 I had written in “Air of discontent: An 878-word opinion piece for the record books.”* “… In Sunday’s The Fresno Bee, columnist Bill McEwen penned what is titled: ‘Top 10 stories of the year.’ Coming in at number 8 is: ‘High-speed rail is battered, but lives on.’ “In this part, McEwen cites McClatchy’s Sacramento Bee political and commentary writer Dan Walters who opined: ‘All in all … it’s likely that the bullet train as envisioned, linking San Francisco and Sacramento in the north with Los Angeles and San Diego in the south, won’t materialize.’ … “Interesting how McEwen sees things. He wrote: ‘Walters is right. Odds are that Californians won’t get the bullet-train system they voted for in 2008.’ And, seemingly in the same breath, The Fresno Bee columnist proceeds to share with the paper’s readers that high-speed rail construction in the [San Joaquin] Valley continues with dollars in the hundreds of millions yearly being injected into the economy. Does that sound like a prescription for failure and grounds for not continuing to build the line beyond the Valley and through the Tehachapi Mountains and into southern California and across or through Pacheco Pass and into the South San Francisco Bay Area? Not in my book it doesn’t. If anything, sentiment like that kind seems to me to be just the type to inspire confidence. That right there to me is reason to keep moving forward.” If those aren’t testaments to the commercial and economic viabilities of passenger rail in the U.S. — and that includes light and heavy passenger rail alike — then what is?! * alankandel.scienceblog.com/2017/01/01/air-of-discontent-an-878-word-opinion-piece-for-the-record-books [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/10/24/2201413/-Commercial-viability-And-that-means-what-exactly Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/