been estimated that San Francisco’s BART rapid transit system consumed more energy in construction than the future diversion from automobiles would save (Dahl p4). Burning fossil fuels, a process that expends approximately two times as much energy as it produces, generates most Florida electric power. Electric propulsion thus loses some of its advantage over fossil fuel propulsion (Johnson 2). Additionally French Champagne growers claim that high-speed rail embankments trap cold air, threatening their crops. A similar effect in Florida could make preservation of adjacent citrus crops more challenging (Dahl 1). However, students are now being educated on the rail system and the positive effects it can bring to the environment by reducing pollution so more and more people are using the rail transit system. Ensuring that high-speed trains will be stable, designers have minimized the amount of fuel required to run the trains, both to limit pollution from the power plant that provides the electricity and to save on the costs of electricity. To achieve the greatest speed for the lowest cost, the trains, have to be aerodynamically designed to minimize the amount of drag that is produced when they race down the track (Raoul “Optimizing Shape aerodynamics” p1) Today in the United States there is a very big problem with transportation systems. The problem consists of overly populated roads; airways and our modes of transportation are destroying the environment and burning all of our fossil fuels. One over looked possible solution to the transportation problem in the United States is high-speed trains. Trains have proven to be an effective mode of transportation in many countries and also these same countries do not share the same transportation problems we have. The negative effects to the French Champagne growers have not been proven. They claim it does that but they are in a different part of the world and a different climate ...
