Choo Choo: China does what the US should

"China will spend $88 billion constructing intercity rail lines." This is a statement made in a recent NY Times article about how China is looking to avoid the global recession. From that $88 billion, $24 billion will be used to create a high-speed route from Beijing to Guangzhou.

In contrast, the US $825 billion economic plan allocates less than 5% to transportation with no assertions of large projects involving high-speed rail.

"China has already built as many miles of high-speed passenger rail lines in the last four years as Europe has in two decades. A new bullet train from Beijing to Tianjin, opened last summer, travels at up to 217 miles an hour; the top speed of Amtrak’s Acela Express trains in the Northeastern United States is 150 m.p.h., and it is only briefly attained."

Perhaps part of the US's "energy independence" can include public transit that citizens would actually use?