“This channel is about a lot of things. Fun is just not one of them.” 😂

As someone who has lived in Dallas with family in Houston for 20 years, I can say that a train would absolutely smash a plane on this trip like you said. I've flown to Houston 4 times and driven there 50+ times and no doubt a train would be way faster than both. also I'm a pilot so I'm literally rooting for the planes here but its still undeniable.

Texan college student here who often has to make the trip from Dallas to Houston. You are not mistaken, the high-speed rail option would absolutely CRUSH any other method of transport. Even when using the Dallas light rail to help with the trip, I wish every time I go to Houston that I could just hop on a dang train!

Native Houstonian and UH alum here. Awesome video! Carl needs to take into account the terrible traffic on I-45 between The Woodlands and Downtown HTX which will add 30-45 minutes, plus the cost of idling/moving 5mph for about 20 miles. Aaron needs to expect a delay at Hobby or Love Field because September can be really stormy in both cities. His ridehail would also spend 10-15 minutes navigating the traffic cluster at IH10/IH610 interchange. TCR is the obvious winner here.

One thing to factor into the equasion is weather. An early thunderstorm will play hell with air travel and could make driving difficult, meanwhile our train just cruises along without much difficulty...

One thing that i feel many people might miss out on when it comes to the pricing of the high speed rail, is that considering the half way stop in the Brazos Valley is pretty close to some college campuses already, I dont think its that far of a reach to assume they might have some sort of student discounts, making the trip between houston and dallas a bit cheaper. (For students)

Am Texan. In fact, this route is a major force in my life. I know it well. I have traveled it by all means except rail because that doesn't work. The last time I was in Houston, I flew to Houston from Dallas and drove to Dallas. The only things that are atypical are the flight numbers. In normal times, flights between the cities leave pretty much every half hour on the half hour. Those were COVID figures. I have seen this very matchup played on the field *many* times, and I never paid for it (not even the time I saw it at Ford Stadium: there was a guy with an extra ticket because their friend had to bail last minute, and I live in Dallas). I have not seen Houston host SMU since they built the new stadium, but I have seen a game there. The driving student would have stopped at either the two Buc-ees locations in Ennis and Madisonville or at the rest stops south of Corsicana and north of Huntsville (maybe a stop at Woody's in Centerville if they're well hydrated). Estimate 15 minutes for each stop. I would not want to drive from SMU to UH for a football game and drive back after. Not solo. Definitely not with a paper due on Monday. That's unreasonable. For the record, even 20-year-old me would have said, "are you kidding me? No, just watch it on tv at the campus bar." Maybe with two to three other drivers. The flyer would fly Southwest. I don't think you understand: *that route* has historically accounted for 40% of Southwest Airline's revenue--at least it did in the pre-COVID times. It's got mindshare. They're going DAL -> HOU. I believe that by the point the high speed rail line is active, Houston METRO will have BRT service to the station. If you followed that to Wheeler Station, hopped on the purple line, and got off at UH (which has a purple line station right there at the Cage).

I really liked your video! I also agree that TCR will be this fast and beneficial. I don’t mind Houston’s station placement as much because it’s intended to be served by the light rail system at some point and it’s technically nearer to the center of the Houston Metro since it sprawls so much north and northwest. Also, everyone knows that Carl would have stopped at Buc-ee’s in Madisonville!

5:44 Passing through the "scenic" I-20 interchange 😂😂😂 Your jokes are always so subtle, yet so good.

Carl is driving an F-150, not a Nissan Sentra. And he has to stop at Buc-ee’s. It’s required. And I don’t know what your assumptions were on speed, but Carl drove at an average speed above 75 miles per hour. I live in Dallas and travel to Houston for business. I currently fly. Can’t wait for the train.

So we're from Houston and my wife's family is from Dallas so, at least before COVID, it is a frequent trip back and forth for us and I can't wait for the new rail to open in a few years. And yes, it is as big a slam dunk as you see.. possibly bigger. A few notes though... on the rail... I would just stay all rail and use DART to the Texas Rail and on the other end take Houston Metro... there is decent bus service now and the light rail is planned to connect to the Texas Highspeed station by the time it opens. So will save another $25 (only $2-$3 for local rail at each end). On the airport.. you underestimate the time and cost a lot... security lines at both Hobby and Love are horrible.. need to add at least 30 min at each end so an extra hour to that air trip. On busy travel days it is actually faster to drive. And cost wise, there are standard rates for cab / uber fares mandated by the cities on both ends... is $30 minimum from the airport on one end and $35 on the other so basically double that cost of what you have to and from the airports for the air travel guy. And for the driving.. actual cost and time are both understated.. would add about $30 and 30 min .. and really there would be at least a pit stop at Buccee's on the way through so add another $10 because no one ever walks out of there without buying something. Also you might have looked at the Vonlane bus service which is a premium bus service running from Love Field in Dallas to Downtown Houston... for about the price of the train ticket they actually run faster than driving yourself because they can use the express lanes and saves about 20-30 min even on Saturday without traffic... and you can work on school since you're not driving. It may go away when the train opens up, but is a valid option now which we use frequently. BUT, all in all I like the idea of the race... great comparison and good line up on the results... Train will definitely be the way to go when it opens up. When I have traveled in Europe I have found it to be the way to go most of the time as is so much easier and more convenient and a little cheaper. Can't wait until we get it here in Texas!

Thank you for the work ya put into this video! I’ve been playing gigs in Texas for years- usually driving from Austin to Dallas or Houston or vice versa. It’s amazing the wear and tear on my vehicle, time and psyche those trips have taken on me. You taking into account the car losing value as you drive it is a clever factor I hadn’t really considered. This rail system cannot be built fast enough. Great video.

I hope to see more of Carl, Aaron, and Tracy in later videos. So we saw how they got there, what about heading back? If the game was an earlier start, Tracy probably would have finished the 6 hour assignment on Saturday. If she was a good student of course.

This was a very interesting video. I normally don’t watch these types of videos but the YT algorithm showed it in my feed. I also live in the greater Houston area so it’s relevant. Taking the train is definitely the way to go. As you’ve shown, there’s so much you can get done.

I loved the scenario that you created using these college students. It was quite a creative way and entertaining to demonstrate the different travel methods!

I live in Dallas and travel to Houston for work 20x/year. Your time estimates are good. I used to fly a lot at first, but quickly realized driving was more convenient and the time savings of flying was less than 15 minutes door to door. Definitely not worth flying for me. I am excited by the train's potential to save time and allow me to work while moving. My only concern is that I will lose some of the train's advantages when I factor in getting to the station in Dallas, renting a car in Houston, and driving to my final destination in NW Houston. I'm eager to find out if the final door to door time works out. I think it will.

As a former college student who has driven between Houston and Dallas several times, I've never made it without stopping for food +1-2 bathroom breaks. So I'd say this analysis is very generous to the car route. :')

I did the Dallas -> North Houston drive and it took me 3½ hours. Stopped at Buc-ee's for gas so all in all it was like 3:45.

Great video, especially using college students since they and younger generations may be more inclined to use rail when it's available. I think it's good to show the additional benefits to high-speed rail (i.e., extra time to do other things), however, it's one MAJOR assumption that any college student will be writing a paper on a game day, especially bringing their laptop to an away game with no place to store it during the game (unless they leave it in Carl's car).

As a native Texan I have spent years driving back and forth from Austin to Dallas imagining what it would be like if there was reliable train service. Totally does seem like a slam dunk. Now what you do once you’re stranded in a Texas city with no car is another question but still

If Carl is driving less than 90mph he's not really a Texan.

WRT to costs I think you are right about car drivers. Most people consider ownership costs like insurance and depreciation to be sunk costs, therefore they only consider the marginal cost of fuel (and maybe maintenance) as the cost of a journey. And this is probably a fair assumption, because you can only avoid the fixed costs by not owning a car.

Can't wait for the bullet train. I've enjoyed riding the Shinkansen many times in Japan.

To save money, a one way ride on the DART costs $2.50 and from SMU Station to Cedars Station takes the same amount of time as traveling by car. There is also a Love Field Station on the Dart that Aaron could take. However, to get there from SMU he would have to go south into downtown, switch to the Green Line ( a 20 minute wait) then travel north to love field. It would take 25 minutes to go from SMU station to downtown, 20 minutes to wait on the next Green Line train and 45 minutes to go up to Love Field Station. A student pass on the DART for a one way trip is $1.25 A Dallas to Houston ride generally takes 3.5 hours, add to minutes north to get to SMU, add 10 minutes south to UH so 4 hours for the drive.

Your video is great- I just subscribed. I make this commute up to 30 times a year. As a person who travels between the two cities and lives 5 miles from NW Mall, I am excited about rail and the fact that we are using a proven winner, the Japanese bullet train. Typically drive from customer-to-customer site as part of my job when I get to North Texas, so I am all about leaving the drive from Houston to Dallas to someone else. So sometimes I use Vonlane (Luxury Bus) but it is hassle getting an Uber from my NW Houston home. Another thing Carl would probably need to do is use the restroom. That's why we have Buc-ees in Madisonville so you would need to add 20-30 mins:) Their parking lot is usually packed. This new train will also make a Bryan / College Station an excellent place to live for people who do business in both places like me:)

Awesome video 👍🏾 I'm from Dallas, Texas and made Air and car trips very often, years ago, when I was in college... The key has to be the high-speed rail as the best. That Dallas-Houston flight is way too short for a plane. In this scenario, you could walk from SMU, (University Park/Highland Park) neighborhood...is like 20 mins. Walk...don't leave SMU neighborhood, and go to the SMU/mockingbird station...just go to Center point station. The rail is so convenient.. the Green Line in Dallas can get you from DFW to the Texas x OU game in about dirty minutes; maybe less. You would, as a college student, have to drive a car, pay for gas and the green line in Dallas, drops you right in front of the Cotton bowl...no need to pay for parking Great vid, I just subbed. Keep us posted on the Houston-Dallas bullet train progress. BTW...I was living in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. One time, I flew from Rio to São Paulo. I was there for a month. I rode the bus back from SP to Rio and it was a longer trip, but less hassle at the airport. Thanks for including the many variables as you travel...things, unexpected can add to you travel time and duration...at the airport, the luggage weight can significantly affect your cost. In a car, you may be making multiple food and gas stops... A train is slower than a plane, so you may be many hours without a smoke break...just my impartial take👍🏾

A year later a University of Houston student, we'll call him Booker, goes to the game, held at SMU's Ford Stadium. Months before he goes online and buys a Megabus ticket for $1. He takes Houston Metrorail right from the campus to the Megabus stop. He uses the entire bus ride for study time, aided by Megabus' free Wifi. He travels from the Megabus stop on Dallas DART to the Mockingbird station, right across from the SMU campus. Cougars win 95-21.

I know it’s a couple years old now but such a great example of why this needs to get done. Thanks! 🙌

As someone who lives in TX, specifically Dallas, it would be AMAZING to have a high speed rail go from the OK border to Houston. There is already a major interstate system running that length, now if only we could place a high speed rail to next to it, allowing for stops in Denison, DFW airport, Waco, then a branching station that splits the route into a route that goes to College Station & Houston, and another that branches to Austin & San Antonio. In the future we could begin a line that goes from DFW Airport out west towards El Paso, stopping at the major cities like Abilene & Odesa. This makes it such that someone living in Houston could literally work in the Permian Basin all week, and be home on the weekend without a 12 hour drive. Even if its a 12 hour train ride, its still more comfortable, less dangerous, less pollution, more economical/efficient than driving.

Air travel is a very uncomfortable means of travel with the only mercy being that an hour flight is tolerable but not more time than an hour. High speed trains are much more comfortable with more space and the opportunity to get up and walk around.

How is Carl trip cost $132? You can make it from Dallas to Houston with less than 1 full tank which doesn’t equal the amount listed

Just while you said ONE door per train car, the ICE-T on your video rolled by with TWO doors on the 2nd to last car. That was fun. Then ONE door on the last car, just to cheer you up. Good job

As a Houstonian, this is on point. My sister lives in Frisco (North Dallas Suburb) so this is a rather accurate representation. As an accountant, I"M SO GLAD YOU INCLUDED WEAR AND TEAR ON A CAR. As a former UH Cougar, GO COOGS! And yes, the train will absolutely be the best option for travel between the two cities. If you ever want to talk more about Houston and it's future plans, please feel free to reach out. I am biased, but I'll leave the analysis up to you. Cheers!

I’m an SMU student and it makes me so happy that you chose my school to be a part of your video! I’ve been binging your vids and was pleasantly surprised when you said SMU! Now I can apply this scenario to my real life when SMU plays Houston next season!

"The scenic I-20 interchange" hahaha

"This channel is not about fun" is an epic quote. I love it.

They’ve been talking about this for 10 years and, similar to inner city light rail, I don’t think it will ever happen bc many Texans see mass transit as an unnecessary expensive liberal proposition, but it’s actually very necessary as our population soars.. we can only widen freeways so much.

This was a particularly interesting race (vs the CA one) because I had been pretty pessimistic about the non-downtown location for the houston station, but this race helped me realize that what texas HSR is competing with are much more remote non-downtown locations (airports). I totally get the cost-benefit analysis of the location now.

I've driven and flown between Houston and Dallas many times. I can't wait for the high speed rail. I've still got friends in Dallas. Being able to take a day trip to Dallas would be fantastic. Your estimates seem accurate to my totally non-scientific self.

Great video! Love the cost analysis of each transport option. I love taking trains/public transport way more than driving. I thing people often forget to mention: not driving also saves you the hassle of stopping for gas, paying insurance, traffic, getting a tune-up, changing oil, fixing tires, annual registration, having to constantly pay attention and be awake to drive, and so on and so on and so on. All these things take a lot time, energy, and thought! For this alone, I take trains 🚊 😊

Wow I am really impressed your videos and so glad that I found this channel

Thanks for your detailed and informative presentation showing the tremendous benefits of HSR (High Speed Rail). As a Canadian having lived for most of my life in the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, I'd like to offer a slightly different perspective in that the proposed HFR project would provide a similar level of intercity rail service to that of Sweden, where their regular intercity trains travel conveniently, effectively, frequently and quickly at up to 180 kph (or 111 mph) and their so-called HSR (High Speed Rail) trains operate at top speeds of up to 200 kph (or 125 mph). HFR trains running at almost identical speeds of up to 200 kph (or 125 mph), considered HrSR (Higher Speed Rail) in North America, at hourly scheduled departures throughout the day, would serve more towns and cities than HSR, offer a level of sustainable, intercity mobility never before experienced in Canada, and, most importantly, would substantially reduce carbon emissions by a ratio of 30 to one, using electrically-powered trains, in comparison with a single occupant in an automobile. Therefore, 30 people would travel faster and in more comfort with HFR while creating the same carbon footprint as a lone person in a car! In numerous countries throughout the world, such as Germany and Sweden, fast freight, local, regular intercity, regional and HSR trains share a significant portion of their rail lines so as to ensure maximum efficiency and fair treatment for all. Since Via Rail only owns about 2 or 3 percent of the total rail network in Canada, it is therefore absolutely paramount that a shift to dedicated track ownership take place in order to prioritize right-of-way for Via Rail's passenger trains so as to maximize its effectiveness, potential and usefulness to Canadians. Without HFR, Via Rail will be forced to continue to operate on congested, privately-owned freight lines, and will ultimately disappear entirely since it will no longer be able to provide an acceptable level of service to Canadians; it is very close to reaching this point without adequate foresight and funding by our federal government. Unfortunately and inexplicably, our present government is endlessly delaying its approval of this HFR project since at least six years now, and counting, by continuing to rather fund recurring engineering analyses and studies, which have been, for the most part, already completed, while refusing to commit to an actual timeline for the beginning of construction. I strongly suspect that HFR is being delayed due to effective lobbying by competing interests that are doing their utmost so as to ensure that HFR never gets built and Canadians never get to experience modernized passenger rail as evidenced in other advanced countries throughout the world such as France, Germany, and Spain, just to name a few! There is a prevailing and completely incorrect view that providing modernized passenger rail will somehow negatively affect the bottom line for the status quo and that this must not be allowed to happen. In actuality, auto sales in the EU, for instance, are very similar in scope on a yearly basis to that of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico combined, even though Europeans embrace passenger rail far more than Canadians do. The fact is that Europeans own a considerable amount of cars as we do In North America, but choose to drive far less and take the train for medium- to longer-length journeys, the result of which Europeans have a much-lower carbon footprint per capita than we do! On the subject of airline travel, short- to medium-length flights are in the process of being eliminated or severely reduced in countries such as France and subsequently being replaced by modernized passenger rail, an effective measure that we should also be doing here in Canada to help mitigate the effects of climate change. We, in Canada, no longer have a national intercity bus service following Greyhound's departure a few short years ago while our passenger rail service, Via Rail, only operates an almost irrelevant service nationally with the possible exception of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, although it is still dreadfully slow, insufficient, skeletal, and unreliable at best for most travellers! It shouldn't come as a surprise then to learn that the vast majority of travellers either drive and/or fly in Canada as there aren't any other options! That's one of the main reasons why highway 401 is so congested to the point where traffic jams of 80 kms (50 miles) or more in length frequently occur, thereby costing our economy billions of dollars per year in lost productivity! In conclusion, HSR, or the proposed, much-less-costly HFR project, will, in all probability, never be approved in Canada, based on the past six years or more of inaction by our federal government, because of an obvious lack of leadership by our elected officials and short-term political thinking, to the detriment of sorely-needed, progressive, and decisive action.

Houstonian here - anyone that builds a car rental place near the high speed rail station in Houston is going to strike it rich. That location, even if somehow connected to light rail (doesn't go to that part of town now if I am recalling correctly) would be quite expensive to get to Houston by Uber/Lyft and once you're in town you pretty much have to drive from place to place. You can use Uber/Lyft of course but will be expensive to spend all weekend taking these since they calculate fare based on distance and places are still far apart even if close by taking the freeway (assuming no traffic). This lack of public transportation and ease of getting around is one of the biggest draws on high speed rail IMO - still rooting for it to get here ASAP.

I can tell you that business travelers are waiting for this. It is ideal.

Interesting video. Everyone I know drives so we'll have a car when we get to Dallas. And the drive goes fairly quickly and is usually pretty easy. We call IAH "Intercontinental" or "Bush". 🙂

One last thing to point out is that if they're driving down together, they split the car cost by 3 people; but if they all fly or take the train together, they each have to buy their own ticket. So road trips can save money still. (Albeit less time to work on that paper 😂)

for this trip the train wins but consider a weekend when you need to use transportation to get around to different places in Houston. It really depends on what your needs are. The train should be the most reliable time wise.

I've never even been in the usa and i really enjoyed this video! great work!

I live in Japan and frequently travel the 250 miles between Tokyo and Osaka. In this context, the automobile is not the first option. It takes too much time and the highways in Japan are tolled and expensive. Then there is the comparison between airplanes and HSR, which I also use most of the time. While airplanes are subject to delays and cancellations due to bad weather and other reasons, this is almost never the case with HSR. In addition, HSR is easy to use, cancellation fees are extremely low, and the seats are spacious and comfortable. For this reason, most people travel by HSR.

Ok Disclosure..., I'm an engineer that often works on large civil projects and state DOT projects. My wife is in upper management for one of the major airlines that flies between Dallas and Houston. Thanks for making the video. I strongly support high speed rail and would love for Texas Central to be built as I travel between Dallas and Houston about twice a month. Having said that, here are some issues of discrepancy I have found with your video and you asked for any Texans to point out where you got things a little wrong or went off the tracks. The main issue is the "cost" to drive to UH from SMU. You've concluded it will cost $138 (14:48) and with parking (14:53) it will be even higher, though free parking is nearby and used by a lot of people on game day and where a lot of tailgating happens. However, you point out that this trip is for personal/entertainment (2:15), therefore using government GSA reimbursement rates (6:11) would not be appropriate since they are not being reimbursed for this trip. The GSA rate is for reimbursement because you're driving your personal vehicle for business. I drive a large pickup truck or a minivan on my bi-monthly trip between the two city pairs. On the date you published this video, gas prices in Texas average $2.55/gallon. Currently gas is $2.97/gallon. Using the higher price today, and factoring in the cost of maintenance and depreciation pro-rated, the actual "cost" to me is $59 for this 247 mile trip. For Carl, driving an efficient Nissan Sentra, it is likely to be lower. So to conclude the "cost" portion, Carl's cost to drive a significantly lower than your stated assumptions because you incorrectly used GSA reimbursement rates for a person "non-reimbursalbe" trip. Therefore, his actual cost should be calculated, gas, maintenance and depreciation and that stop at Whataburger you mentioned :-) Regarding airfare, according to Cirium (A data analytics company that evaluates all airlines in the US and most other countries) that average airfare between Dallas and Houston using either set of airports for 2021 so far as been $117 one way since you're video does not include return trip info. The $50 you point to in your video (8:15) was for a month later than the date you published the video. While prices go up and down and you did find $50 airfares, that is not the average. This includes flights with American, United, Southwest and Spirit, which are airlines that fly non-stop between Dallas and Houston. The average price people actually paid for flights on game day, (the day you published your video) was $91. Lastly, I am doubtful student will take their laptop in order to do work because that will mean two of them will have to carry it all day long, and laptops are a common item to be stolen from people either by taking a backpack or breaking into cars. So no time savings or productively points. In Conclusion..... I still agree the train is a better way to go for this trip,... but disagree with some of your supporting facts or evidence. To make HSR viable, a few things needs to be solved. 1- the "fist and last mile" problem. While Dallas does have the DART trains (even though they are extremely dirty and smelly because homeless people loiter on them) that runs from SMU to Cedar station, Houston lacks meaningful light rail, or other train service. What rail there is in Houston, does not go anywhere near the likely Houston station. Having to spend more money for ride hailing at each end, plus the time it takes to get picked is a serious problem. What if I need to go a bit further away? Also, most ride hailing service have extremely limited service for patrons using a wheelchair. In Houston, neither Uber or Lyft will pick up a person in a wheelchair from the site of the proposed station. The pick up service area a limited to near downtown and the Texas Medical Center according to Uber. If we solve the first and last mile problem with expanded light rail in both cities, and put transit security on the trains, it will improve people's willingness to use them and thus the HSR also. According to TxDOT, the average time it took to be picked up in Houston was 14 minutes. In Dallas it was 12 minutes. (Pandemic times maybe). 2- frequency. First and last mile solutions needs to be available frequently and need to operate early enough each day and late enough each day. 3- There is no money with TxDOT do create and install some type of light rail service as they are currently trying to spend $9 billion to widen I-45 from downtown to Beltway 8 from 8 lanes to 18 lanes plus a myriad of other transportation related project, all involving roads, bridges and freeways. Thanks for making this vide, I hope Texas Central does build their train and I will be one of the first passengers. Though I will still need to drive sometimes.

As someone who lives in a country with HSR I have my doubts on train tickets being all that cheap, but even if the fare was 80 bucks instead of 50-something it would still be a very wise choice in terms of speed and useful time. Also I find it difficult to estimate the cost of car trips because you really have to ask yourself whether you'd still have a car for other trips if you didn't take this one by car or whether you're operating under the assumption that other modes of transport could replace your car altogether, and therfore how much of an impact your static ownership costs have on one trip (which is also the issue with justifying non-car trips to car owners). Also I find it absolutely mind-boggling to put an important train station six miles away from downtown where if you're not gonna catch another mode of transport you'll have to walk for another two hours just to get to the actual center of a city. Go anywhere in Europe by train and practically always you'll step out of the train station and already be in the middle of the city. Putting your train station way outside of downtown feels like breaking your leg to run a marathon.

I think the only thing this is missing is the constant road construction that added 2-3 hours to Carl’s trip.

LMAO. This was great! Love how you covered so many points or details that most folks do not take the time to consider or ponder.

the only problem with building a train between houston and dallas is you’ll need a car to get around either city lol

If/when they connect the TCR station to the light rail you could take the light rail straight to the UH campus (which currently has 2 light rail stops) making the trip significantly cheaper. Also, they generally jack up parking prices during sporting events.

Flying 2500 miles today, I think me and a coworker are opting for the train when we get there, lets discover the quality of Atlanta public transit.

BRT is starting service from northwest transit center to downtown Houston in anticipation of the high sped rail.

I have lived in Dallas most of my life (50 yrs) and have family in Houston... the train will beat every time. TRAFFIC in Houston is BAD and not much better in Dallas. It would take Carl about 30 mins, just to get out of Dallas and he would slow down considerably when he get's to Conroe and starts to hit the traffic there. Tracy should take a Dart train to Cedars ( the Mockingbird Station in literally across the street from SMU) and catch the train to Houston. I just wish they would consider putting in a high speed rail from Dallas To San Antonio with stops in Temple and Austin.

Public transportation usually always a better choice.

By the time the rail is built, it should be even a bigger winner. I-45 between Houston and Dallas is congested and one of the deadliest stretches of Interstate in the US -- and will only get worse, because TXDoT won't be able to increase capacity quickly enough (unless travel behavior is changed by the availability of the HSR). Also, in bad weather, the rail wins again, as it is less affected by inclement weather. A big thunderstorm would clearly slow down Carl's driving and could divert Aaron's flight (or even cause a ground-stoppage at the origin city). Carl has pulled into a Buc-ee's along I-45 to ride out the storm, Aaron is sitting on the tarmac at Love Field awaiting take-off clearance, but Tracy is streaking through the Texas countryside (possibly at a reduced speed, but still moving, nonetheless).

I'm worried that 90 minutes might be a bit ambitious for this project. HSR from Paris to Lyon (only a slightly longer distance) takes 120.

Cool concept on your channel. Tons of freeway construction all around the city that Google is often not privy to. Looking forward to the train! Also, I'll be at the game on 30 Oct 2021. GO COOGS!!!

Really enjoyed this presentation. I've lived in Texas for fifty years (I'm 61) and travel in this state has always been a tiresome and sometimes frightening experience. I've loved the idea of high speed rail for a long time now and every time I've ever discussed it with someone, they assert it will never happen because of the cost. God knows we waste taxpayer dollars on all sorts of useless things. Why not spend it on something useful? I've flown between Houston and Dallas (and even Houston and Austin) and it's never a fun trip. The airports are nightmares. I've also driven these distances and there's nothing to recommend it, either. High speed rail would be FUN and I could see myself making use of it (unless I had to drive to downtown Houston to board, which would suck, because I live 30 miles north of Houston and the drive is a horror show.) Really, the only advantage I can see for Carl is that he can stop off at Buc-ees and buy stupid junk, stuff his face with every variety of candy on the planet, and use probably the cleanest public restroom in the entire state. (Carl may arrive faster than you anticipated though, because everyone drives like a maniac on I-45. Even a Buc-ees stop won't slow him down much.) Other than that, high speed rail is vastly, VASTLY better than driving or flying. I don't fly anywhere anymore because it's become such a hideous process and I can't drive as much now because my eyesight is bad (and almost nonexistent once it gets dark out.) High speed rail would be a huge boon for someone like me. I wish we had it. If there were express trains and trains that made stops to pick up and drop off passengers along the route, that would be ideal. Please spare us the drive to Houston to catch a train.

My friends from Dallas who go to college with me in Houston almost exclusively take the bus. Very cheap, and since they don't need to drive, they have all the time to work on their laptops during the trip. The others mostly drive so that they can keep their cars with them on campus. I don't know anyone who flies. However, this is for people who permanently study, as opposed to people who go for football games. For football games, people always carpool for the atmosphere and to hang out with their friends.

you forgot that 45 in houston perpetually has an 18 wheeler flipped over blocking 5 out of 6 lanes

This example is all of my med school!

As a person who use the DART light rail system, it is absolutely “super” effective. The carts are frequent (every 15 minutes, more frequent than the buses that pass by every half and hour), they’re fast, and mesh well with the bus transfer centers (if they show up on time that is). T would totally use the DART light rail to get to the proposed high speed rail corridor.

As a finance guy, I am going to quibble on the car cost. It really doesn't represent the marginal cost of a single trip, so is not a fair way to cost the trip for comparative purposes. The GSA cost is for reimbursing people for the use of their car, an accounting cost for financial purposes from the point of view of the people not owning the car. Most of these costs still apply if you leave your car in the driveway and take the train. If you have a car and take the train, you should add the cost of having the car in the driveway to the trip cost, if you want to account the same way. Because the vast majority of cars are not driven until they are incapable of moving, the per mile cost is completely arbitrary. A high mileage car has a much lower cost per mile than a low mileage car. A better way to account for the car cost is by time of ownership. Mileage is used because it's easier to count, if less accurate.

I am really surprised that you showed Brussels-south in the video as one of the stations

If the train station in Houston isn’t downtown, you’re just going to get dumped in the middle of an Interstate. That really sucks…the beauty of the train is that you can then walk around the city..

I wrote a paper about this in college in the early 90s when I was lived in Dallas. My professor wasn't impressed and gave me a B.

How about doing the trip by Greyhound bus? Time would probably be similar to driving, perhaps slightly slower, but I’m guessing significantly cheaper than air or train, which might be important for students.

Dude, you remind me of an old friend. I really enjoyed this. DISREGARD: Sydney below. You are fun....

Leaving your house at 10am for a flight that boards at 11 is dicey.

Use to have to go to Austin to meet with PUC. I drove and my coworker flew. We timed it and I would beat him to the hotel next to PUC. I got to take unlimited items and drive anywhere I wanted. He had one carry on bag and stuck with no vehicle or a rental. This was before the 9-11 mess at airports.

Compensation rates for driving are probably not indicative of the actual cost, even considering maintenance, insurance, and other costs associated with vehicle usage. For an extreme example, here in Canada the federal government compensation rate for using one's private motor vehicle is about 80 cents/kilometre. This amounts to being paid $80 an hour while on a 100 km/hr highway, which is clearly higher than the actual cost of driving. I'm sure you're aware of the issue already, since you seemed to take those numbers with a grain of salt yourself, and I realize that it really doesn't change the final conclusion. Thanks as always for the excellent content, I am a fan of both your channel and Not Just Bikes, keep up the good work!

College kids are pretty well known for purchasing vehicles that are in top mechanical condition and then keeping them that way so l don't think there would be any significant maintenance costs and certainly no unexpected issues while driving a cheap car from city to city, possibly in somewhat warm weather. What could possibly go wrong? It's not like young folks often get pulled over either.

If Tracy was really all about the environment she could also take the bus from the proposed Houston station, down to Rice university lol. I've found Houston Metro buses to be quite undependable tho.

@Citynerd maybe a guide from Europe business travelers. I live in the western parts of germany around Düsseldorf and Cologne, everything in a radius of about 100km or 60 Miles, car is King, from 100km to 500km (about 300 Miles) as long as your client is near a major train station train is always the best choice. In Europe taking a train for business is mostly only used for long directions like Berlin to Paris or Munich to London.

I know you acknowledged this in the video already, but it just isn't accurate to use reimbursement based on average driving for a long trip which is going to put less stress on the engine, transmission, brakes, suspension (in most states anyway), tires, pretty much every part of the car - and have the best fuel efficiency for pretty much any non-hybrid vehicle. That said, definitely still a great case for high speed rail. I really wish CAHSR had been completed on time (based on the original 2008 schedule) because I've driven from SoCal to the bay area and back around 10 times in the last 12 months and I'm tired of it. Also, something that would be interesting to cover at some point: with so many cities having truly terrible transit infrastructure, I'd like to see a high-speed auto train implemented some day.

Amazing great perspective. Looks like the High Speed Rail will be very beneficial

Speed, schmeed. You can bike from Dallas to Houston in like 6 days, and if you can do that you can go in a direction that doesn't involve ending up in Houston.

As you pointed out if they had shared the car it would have been a lot cheaper. However, I lived in Houston for six years and never saw this happen, sharing the ride! I am back in the UK now and have just driven with my husband from Penzance to Aberdeen, the distance is about 800 miles. The petrol cost about 200 pounds and the total drive time 11 hours. Out of interest I looked up the train cost and time - four changes and 20 hours! Cost 260 pounds each, one way. The cheapest and quickest by far is flying

Three nits to pick with your analysis: 1. Carl drives a cheap car and he drives in Texas which consistently has some of the lowest fuel prices in the country. His costs will undershoot the GSA rates significantly. 2. The assumption that the rail ticket fare is similar to the air ticket fare is flawed. Real high speed trains are generally more expensive than air travel for similar distances. Two major factors here are: Air travel is subsidized by the government. And rail has expensive per-mile infrastructure that air travel avoids. For reference, consider fare studies in Europe between city pairs and between low cost air carriers and high speed rail. 3. The assumption that American high speed rail will run stations and boarding similar to the rest of the world is flawed. Long distance Amtrak trains currently have 30 minute pre-checkin procedures, and TSA is constantly working on ways to assert authority over security. It's possible that this private venture will avoid the checkin process, but it's also equally possible that they will get no say when TSA decides they need to implement airport-style security at the train station.

Umm, a person in Houston here. A rideshare/uber/taxi is not that cheap... double it at least. Now use the bus, it would be half that but take 3 hours around about.

Saturday morning at 10 am and able to go 30 miles in minutes? Where are you at? Start the race at 5 am and you can claim this. Traffic 7 days a week almost 18 hours a day at least.

I'm amazed how many comments I'm seeing saying that Carl would surely have to stop at least once. I would definitely not stop in a ~4 hour drive. I'd rather just get where I'm going. Just don't chug water before you leave and you're good.

The train time and costs are assuming we believe the numbers that likely came from their marketing department and assuming that plane and car costs will be the same when the train line is completed and at peak capacity. We may have self-driving e-cars by then, for example.

If some sections are not going well because of the opposition of land expropriation by polar landowners (forces opposed to high-speed rail), it would be better to build high-speed rails as underground routes in those sections. 50m to 60m deep. There is no reason why high-speed trains should be delayed because of some sections. S.korea(seoul-Busan Gyeongbu and Suseo-dongtan Suseo High-speed Railway), China, and even some other countries in Europe have high-speed trains made underground in some sections, but there is no need to build them only above ground or overpass. You can take a high-speed train in another country or look up an encyclopedia and actively deal with it. Because there is nothing wrong.

PS: thanks for the visual shoutouts to my alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin! Hook 'em, Horns! 🤘

Tracy and Aaron would probably really appreciate a car to get them around Houston

You left out the bus option in this video. I don't normally comment but i am planning a similar trip and are having trouble decided on which way is the best way to go. I am in Pittsburgh and need to travel to Philadelphia for a weekend. My options are train bus airplane or car. My biggest problem with train bus and airplane is once I am in Philadelphia, I am at the mercy of public transportation or taxis to get around the city. I do ride a bicycle but Amtrak doesn't know how to get a bike on the Pennsylvanian route. Downtown hotels prices are double compared to ones by the airport. Airbnb is a possibility. America lacks options like the hostels of Europe or the capsule hotels of Asia. I am interested in anyone's opinion. One way prices Car $50 gas 5 hours bonus of having a car to drive around Philadelphia Train $55-90 fare 7.5 hours Bus $50-80 fare 7.5 hours Airplane non stop $150 2 hours Airplane one stop thru Florida $50 10 hours LOL Spirit Air

I love Texas whataburger!!! The Texas triangle would be ideal! San Antonio to DFW to Houston.

Video idea : Train vs Plane vs Car - Florida edition ?

As a Texan, I'm gonna be very earnest here and just say that the state of Texas has severely shafted all of us. I have driven back and forth between Houston/Austin/Dallas for years and years and am just so annoyed that I have to waste all that time, money, and energy behind the wheel. TXDoT is literally prohibited by law from doing anything but build highways. Dallas to Houston would be a slam dunk for HSR.

A Toronto - Ottawa - Montreal - Quebec City somewhat high speed rail plan (Via High Frequency Rail proposal) recently went into procurement. Shamelessly requesting a video on that, where it would also be good to compare existing rail, because all those routes exist, but they're slow and at the mercy of a busy freight rail corridor.

Texan here yeah actually did get pretty much everything spot on the only noticeably off thing was that you called IAH Houston international when it’s actually called intercontinental

I've also thought of a high speed rail from Fort Worth to northern New Mexico; both Las Vegas and Santa Fe have short rail links to Albuquerque, but going directly to Albuquerque would seem to involve more mountainous terrain. Checking the current railway maps shows no current direct link. Most of the terrain, at least until you get to the northwest end, is open. Land acquisition costs would be much less than in east Texas, and less opposition from landowners. Lubbock could be a possible halfway stop, and its weather extremes might induce people in that area to use the rail.

I think all the most fun parts of Houston are in Galveston. I have to admit that part of me wants the rail to go a little further so I can be 2 hours from a weekend mini beach vacation. I wonder if Houstonians would like to go to Six Flags. Unfortunately, Arlington doesn't believe in public transportation.

The Texas Central HSR has a major disadvantage over car and air travel in this scenario in that, a year later, it still doesn't even fucking exist.😢