Hot off the presses! Obama has announced a vision for high-speed rail corridors nationwide.

I also think it’s cool that this was posted on the White House’s blog.

I’m glad that the administration is paying some attention to transportation, but I’m actually a little skeptical of the whole idea. I don’t know much about the proposed link through Oklahoma, but I know the California idea has been knocking around for awhile now and people aren’t buying, especially since it’s going to link to a bunch of crap towns in the Central Valley, preventing it from being a true high-speed network (notice the image only has stops in SF, Sacramento, LA, and San Diego, and connects them all in a big loop). Florida’s plan has been controversial too, and I’m not surprised given the shady history of real estate speculation linked to transportation improvements that seem to dominate that state’s history. I’ll believe it when I see it.